Guren glanced at Naruto and then looked ahead. She still couldn't figure out the blond. Strong with obviously hidden agendas. She wouldn't bat an eye to say he had something which Konoha would probably not agree with. If he suddenly departed the village, she wouldn't be shocked either. There was something in his mind that he didn't want to show anyone and she was dying to know that.
But she couldn't ask the questions because the damn Hyuga kept an eye on her. He was as frustrating as her lack of action. It was war and yet she hadn't been able to brutalize and murder anyone. She needed to release this energy she felt from within.
"You do know that I can tell you're staring at me with negative thoughts," Neji stated, his tone cold. He wasn't even looking at Guren but at the trees ahead.
Guren very much minded the slow pace. If they were quicker, they would have reached their enemy and she would have been doing a good she was proud to complete.
"I wasn't hiding my dislike of you." Guren replied indifferently. "Besides, you are in the way."
"Of what?" Neji asked with narrowed eyes.
"Her quality time with me," Naruto answered with a look of amusement. The real story was on Guren's curiosity over his thoughts. The thoughts he had yet to share with her.
"Don't be full of yourself."
"I don't think she really likes you." Neji said to Naruto. The blond was often trying something cheeky. But Guren was always forceful in her response. He knew, Naruto was only just amusing himself but there was a lingering thought from a lost part of him that said the blond may have some seriousness in him.
Relationships? Neji had never thought of such things. There were bigger things to worry about. He was still growing. He could think about those matters at the right time. Either way, it didn't change the fact that there were those in his age group who had already started. Given his role in the Hyuga, be couldn't do as he pleased either.
"I'm starting to think so as well. But oh well, I did try. The worst thing you can do for yourself is waving the white flat without even trying. You'll always kill yourself thinking if I'd tried, she could have said yes."
"There is finality in that. But some people do prefer to excite themselves in such hopes of not knowing."
"A new name for cowards?" Naruto asked with a raised eye brow.
"People protect themselves in different ways."
A coward was a coward. But perhaps he wasn't the one to judge the life style of others. People dealt with situations differently. They coped differently. If their methods worked to preserve their happiness, sanity, who was he to question it? Cowards were the ones to live longer anyway. The brave died young. They were the ones who jumped into pits of scorching flames. The other group was always cautious.
"Don't we have important issues to discuss other than how people react to situations?" Guren asked. They were at war and moving towards an army and these two were busy about a pointless subject.
"Are you really itching for battle that much?"
"Of course I am."
Neji shook his head. He hadn't seen it but just the way she spoke, he had concluded Guren was a sadistic person. It was what you expected from someone who made Orochimaru lunch and kissed the very ground be walked on. What was surprising about it was that Naruto seemed to be able get along with her. With the blond's moral code, he'd thought such a thing would be difficult but here they were. Unless of course, Naruto was only tolerating it because he had another agenda.
"If the Jinchuriki is in place, we have to try to do something to separate her from others. If she occupies us, we won't be able to deal with the Kumo forces. Which are our biggest concern." Neji glanced at Naruto. "Can you figure of a way to keep her away?"
Yugito had some others had separated from the main company. Naruto knew that. He had used Sage Mode to detect this much, hence a change of direction and the slow pace.
"Not at the spot. But we only have to stop them from crossing the border. We don't have to do anything extreme."
What was he saying? Nothing extreme? There was no time for kindness. If they just told them to go back, they were going to come back with an even bigger force. Naruto amazed himself. Even at this time, he was still capable of such a naïve way of thinking. When was he going to grow up and learn that there was a way that things have to done?
They had to stop Kumo from crossing the borders and that was their role. The people they were going to face weren't going to be kind to them. Naruto just hoped he wouldn't come across any of the people Yugito had with her when he confronted Kumo shinobi before. There would be sparks. When you kill someone, their friends always thought of vengeance. In this life, you kill and you will have other people trying to kill you.
"Separating them would be easy…" Naruto modified his response. "Once we move closer, we'll be able to tell if she is with them or not."
"I hope she isn't so we can handle things quickly and join other battles. I'm sure the others are having a hard time. We are stretched."
Guren sighed. She felt like she had joined a losing team. Konoha already engaged two enemies in two fronts–great nations each with two Jinchuriki. It was going to take some doing to win with those odds staked against them. She wasn't about to sacrifice her life and leave Yukimaru to the mercy of the Leaf.
"Do you think we can win?"
"Everyone is always confident they will win." Neji replied.
"But in war, everyone losses something. I suppose in your case, you're worried about whether you'll make it out alive. Nobody can make that guarantee but we hope that we will see the end of this," Naruto said confidently. "You're not allowed to flee from battle."
"And get hunted? You forget that Yukimaru is still at Konoha."
Naruto smiled. "A hostage situation, huh?"
"No thanks to you." Guren glared. "If you had fought me fairly, things wouldn't have gone the way they did."
"I have never seen anyone who cries as much as you do just because you lost a fight," Naruto replied with a shake of his head. "Regardless, we simply have to do the best we can and make sure we come out alive."
C came to a halt. He knew they were heading straight to a couple of chakra signatures. Powerful ones at that. But he hadn't thought one of them would be this powerful to make even him uncomfortable. And he was usually hanging out in the presence of Jinchuriki.
Perhaps they shouldn't have separated from Darui and Yugito. But the man had been called by the Raikage and Yugito accompanied him. She was supposed to be moving back toward them. But at this rate, they were going to engage before she returned to them.
"Something wrong?" Samui asked carefully. There were men behind them. On her leadership they trusted.
"Yeah," C nodded. "It is just three of them," he frowned. Why send only three to face an army? Kumo would only do something like that if it was Bee or Yugito but perhaps Konoha's Jinchuriki was among the three. It could explain the large chakra reserve.
"Just three?" Samui was worried now. Konoha has always had those powerful shinobi. She didn't want to face a problem now. Not when they just started their march.
She smiled, what was she thinking? This was a war, not a joy ride where she picked and chopped which routes and pieces would disturb her. Nothing was of choice. If the enemy moved, they too had to move. You didn't pick your opponents. Sometimes, you just picked which shinobi had to be sent to die. She had been warned such decisions would have to be taken. This was no time for emotions. No time for being nice. There was no honour in war. Only winners and losers.
"How far are they?"
"Not far."
"And Yugito?"
"Not far." C replied. "They appear to have just slowed their pace as if they are not in a hurry. They've been coming toward us, so I'd imagined they also have a sensor."
If there had been a scout who was relaying information to them, C would have sensed them. It was apparent that they couldn't avoid their opponents. "Let's prepare for battle here," she ordered. And then turned to get everyone to focus. Their enemies would be approaching.
"Just so you know, one of the might be a Jinchuriki."
Konoha Jinchuriki. It was Naruto. The same person who killed Omoi after lecturing them. Karui wasn't going to be pleased to see him. He was powerful. Facing him without Yugito would be suicidal. He'd been smart enough to take a Jinchuriki from their hands and then flee without getting drawn into battle.
Samui glanced toward Karui and the men. If they arrived first, they had no other choice but to attack. No, they couldn't jus let them get to them without making plans for them. They had to set up ambushes for them.
"Let's make a plan to slow them down until Yugito arrives. We do not want to face a Jinchuriki."
Sensing movement on the left, up from the trees, Guren slammed her left foot on the ground. A man jumped from the tree, lunging toward them. A crystal spear sprouted from the ground and skewered the man. It just pierced through his abdomen. But the man wasn't dead, yet. Even as his blood decorated the crystal. He hurled something toward the group.
A smoke bomb. It went off, forcing the three to jump into the trees. They didn't allow themselves to be separated. They jumped into the trees, with Guren glaring at him.
"How do we get ambushed when we have a sensor?"
Naruto shrugged. "I'm not switched on. You should be asking the all seeing Byakugan why he isn't watching our shoulders."
"I didn't know I was supposed to be your guard."
"He is feigning memory loss," Guren replied. "So, leader, what should we do?"
There was a hint if sarcasm in her tone. But she was still serious. After all, he was the leader of this team. He activated his Byakugan and looked around, searching for traps, the number of enemies that they faced. It shouldn't have happened. But Naruto was the one who decided they should slow down. He didn't want to suspect that Naruto had them slow down just for something like this to happen. After all, if the blond had kept his Sage Mode, he would have sensed this attack coming. And they would've been able to dismiss it.
Given that they were not attacking. It seemed like their mission was just to stall them for a little while. If they planned on really ambushing them, be attacks would've have come already.
Neji glanced at Naruto with questioning look. If they were stalling, they must be something they are waiting for.
"This isn't exactly an ambush," he said.
"Does it matter? They are the enemy and we must deal with them."
"Just be silent for a moment," Neji shut up Guren. The woman glared at him but he dared her to add anything in response. "They are likely looking to stall. If so, why? We must know that before we decide to engage them."
Naruto sighed. Well, it couldn't be avoided. "They are likely waiting for a Jinchuriki to join them. They must have a sensory type of shinobi among them."
Neji narrowed his eyes. "Then this is the best chance for us to attack them before the Jinchuriki joins them." He turned to Guren. "Deal with them quickly. There are about 15 of them hiding in the trees. We want to quickly move ahead."
"Where are they?"
Neji pointed ahead. "They are not really separated from each other."
"Small fish sent to sacrifice themselves…" Guren said before creating five crystal clones. "Let us just move ahead. The clones will deal with them. I want to face the main stars rather than wasting energy of sacrificial lambs."
Last time, Neji thought. This was the last time he wanted to be teamed up with this woman. She just wanted to fight and inflict pain on people before killing them. She didn't care about anything or the bigger picture. She really wasn't a Konoha shinobi. There were a few bad people, but she took the cake.
Tenten felt a little bit of nausea flying over thousands of shinobi forces. Iwa was just below them. She on a bird that could be hit by anything. If that happened, she would be hitting deck and no doubt, she would end up getting butchered, that is if she survived the fall.
She glanced at Sai, who looked so comfortable with flying she wouldn't think that he was riding above enemy lines.
"Do we have to so high?"
"If we go lower, we risk getting noticed. We don't know if they have sensory type of shinobi or not."
It was merely a precaution. Nobody was surely looking up for shinobi. Konoha wasn't known for such attacks. Kakashi had explained that this was a tactic that had made the Sky Nation very powerful. Shinobi were not used to anything flying and thus didn't have protections against aerial attacks. Iwa was however familiar with flying shinobi. Their Kage have had the ability after all.
Sai had never thought that Kakashi would actually come with this kind if strategy. It was something he thought only Danzo could imagine. The Jonin was a nice person. But then again, this was war and Konoha was stretched fighting on two fronts with four Bijuu to potentially fight against versus their one. Obviously, they had to use tactics.
"Get ready!"
Tenten nodded and unrolled her scroll. Kunai wrapped with explosive tags were sealed within her sealing scroll. Sai had a similar one. But he was also going to use his own jutsu to make things happen.
"Hold on tightly. We going to be moving quickly to spread around."
"Got it."
Tenten didn't waste time on Sai's signal. The kunai started to fall like rain. She just kept on dropping them, without glancing at Sai as the bird sped through the moving forces of Iwa. It became chaos when they started to notice the projectiles.
A chain of explosion followed the moment they noticed. They had to set them off. She didn't look down. She couldn't afford to look down. There were people there. And she couldn't count the number of kunai she dropped. All of them exploding not at once but in a chain. One after the other.
She heard the cries. The screams as each explosion went through. This was war. Nobody ever signed up for something like that. It could have been her down there. She could have been there, running for cover. Only to step into an exploding kunai.
They were right when they said war was not pleasant for anyone.
Tenten glanced at Sai as they raced to safety. He didn't look shook. His expression never changed. She couldn't compare to him. They went back to where Sai had taken her – Gai's group.
Upon landing, Tenten felt sick. Perhaps it was all the flying. Sai just jumped off. Then again, it was a normal thing for him.
Sai didn't say anything to Tenten. There was no need to say anything. He had a mission and that was to report to Yamato about what was happening on the other side. The man was waiting for him at the centre of the camp.
"You returned. Senpai's plan went according to plan?"
Sai nodded. "It should leave them scrambling for cover and force them to move back. Those who survived at least."
Yamato nodded. But they still needed to get into Kusa. And they had to see any of Iwa's Jinchuriki. If they showed up, it was going to be trouble. There would be much loss in the side of Konoha. And there was no Intel on how Naruto was doing. No, they couldn't expect the blond to be fighting at all battlefields. They had to pull their weight.
"Where is he?"
"He has decided to sneak into the capital to check the situation. He went in with Sakura and some others. He will give an instruction once things are secure."
"He is moving dangerously."
"The other unit didn't fair well. He had to take the extraordinary step," Sai answered. Not everyone was winning. And not everyone was losing. You won some and you lost some. A strange concept he was adopting here. With Danzo, failure was not tolerated. "I'm going to collect some tags before launching another attack. But this will be on Kumo. Iwa will have become clever to this but not Kumo."
Naruto stared at a clearing ahead, the enemy was lying in wait. There was need to say anything. They just had to go in and attack without any mercy. But there numbers were a little too much. Not even Guren was willing to jump into that battle. She would get worn out before finishing it and they would just end up killing her. They needed to trim down the numbers. Was there a need to even just trim the numbers? They just had to stop them, and he could go full out and just lay waste to the battlefield. There would be no need to fight. A quick end. A quick death.
Yet, a part of him wanted to speak to these people. He wanted to see how Samui reacted to his presence without giving Guren the chance to practice her sadism.
He shook his head. He was not the one making the decisions here. The leader was Neji. He would decide. And at this rate, Naruto didn't feel like making an argument for any particular strategy. He just wanted to end it all as soon as he could.
"How far as the Jinchuriki?" Neji asked.
"Not far. She is moving in too quickly…" Naruto thought Yugito had already put on the armour of her Bijuu's power to increase her speed. A rematch, huh?
Neji studied the battlefield with his Byakugan. He never thought he'd be in a position to make an order for Naruto to go loose. But this was the only choice. Konoha was already stretched. They had to go and join other battles. If they could reduce this army before Yugito arrived, it would make things easy.
He deactivated his Byakugan. "I don't have to tell you what must happen. Konoha needs us in other battles. We need to move out as quickly as possible. The only way to do so is to handle this as quickly as possible."
"In the most brutal way possible, huh?" Naruto asked, he had his back pressed against a tree. He was ready for such. There was no time for anything sentimental.
"Are you going to go alone?" Guren asked.
"You want to join me?"
"Of course. As long as you watch my back."
"Can't promise that. But you can join if you want. I'll have to do a little bit of damage first," he closed his eyes. Yugito is wasn't going get here before he did that. He'd been hoping she'd be around and he could force them to turn back.
That would've just been misplaced kindness. But a decision be could have taken. He laughed inwardly. Naïve even at this stage? Perhaps the Kyubi was right and wasn't ready for anything.
"Don't move. But Guren, watch Neji for a moment. They just won't leave you two alone. Some shinobi may come after you."
"I have taken that into consideration."
"He is coming!" C shouted.
Samui took a stance. A thousand men behind her and just one man coming to face them. It was a laughable situation. But this was the advantage of a Jinchuriki. They had to face through this situation. If this was a normal battle, there may have been room for negotiations but this was war. There was no talking with the enemy until they have either surrendered or become cornered like a rat.
"Get ready!" She raised her sword, getting ready for anything. She hoped it would not be that mist anymore. It was a dangerous mist that filled everyone with hallucinations. Unlike Genjutsu, they were a bit tricky to escape.
Naruto was running toward them, alone. She watched him charge ahead, an expressionless mask on his face. He didn't just lunge at them. He disappeared from sight in a blur.
"Above!" C shouted, having followed the blond by tracking his chakra.
Naruto closed his eyes. "Kyubi."
The crimson chakra of the Kyubi burst out while he was floating above the enemy lines. A large cloud of smoke occurred. A frightening roar caused the men below to scatter. Nine tails blasted the smoke away, as the monstrously huge beast crashed down.
It landed on some men. Its paws crushing whatever was within it. The Bijuu lifted its right paw, slammed it into a group of shinobi. They were sent flying along with debris – alive, dead and broken. The process was repeated three times.
He then swept through the ground. It peeled chunks of earth, along with many shinobi. They could only cry, and try to jump away as the Kyubi cleaned everything caught in its sweeping paw.
Its tails swung wildly in some swift motions giving rise to powerful gusts of wind. The powerful gusts propelled wide, slamming onto crowds of shinobi. They were sent into the air, flying away as if they were flies.
Samui could only watch as the monster wasted the battlefield. It was just crushing and swatting away her men as they were nothing. It didn't even make a sound.
"C…" she said to the Jonin beside her. "C!"
C turned to Samui. How was anyone to supposed to fight that? The Kyubi just brushed off any attack that hit it. It was just doing what it wanted. Trying to fight was just a hopeless exercise. Was this what other people experienced when they were fighting Bee?
It was only then that C realized why Samui was calling her. There was chakra that was starting to fill the entire area. What was it, ash? They'd been so absorbed in seeing the Kyubi and trying to avoid it that they didn't realize that this wasn't the main attack, but a diversion. This was Naruto's chakra. The ashes were obscured by the rising dust the Bijuu was making in its rampage.
"Order everyone to clear!"
C shouted, and then the Kyubi disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Boom!
The horror. Both C and Samui managed to jump away along with a couple of hundred of shinobi when flames exploded in their midst. The intense flames created turned out like sea of scotching inferno. Many more were caught within the flames.
When C landed a distance away, his eyes narrowed, widened a second later. the moment he landed, a kunai pierced through his chest from behind. It had been hurled at him with incredible speed that he couldn't avoid it. The kunai pierced through his chest, leaving a gaping hole, blood gushing out. He fell on his knees, wretched in pain and then threw a fit of coughs.
"C!" Samui rushed toward him.
She was going to lose another one of her friends. Just like that. Where was Yugito at this point? "Medic!"
She was calling for one, but seeing the hole on his chest, she knew it was hopeless. This was an attack that had been aimed to kill him. They must have realized he was the sensor and decided to take him out. A cruel strategy but a good one. Only for the enemy at least.
"Would you go back to Kumo if I told you to do so?"
Samui twisted around, seeing Naruto slowly walk toward them. He had killed so many of them and he was asking them to leave? And why that damn look on his face? He looked almost sad even when there was nothing but steel in his tone.
"At this point, there isn't much of choice…" Samui replied bitterly. It was only when in such a situation could any message go through. The winning party obviously used their standing to force issues. But for them, attempting to fight anymore without Yugito would simply be to digging their graves.
"Are we going to just let him walk away?" Karui asked through gritted teeth. "Look at what he has done? Look at C!"
Naruto smiled sadly seeing Karui. He could understand her anger. But it was only going to get her killed. He held out his right hand.
"If I do let you go back, as long as the war continues, you're just going to go regroup and try again. The best option would be to eliminate you right here and now…" Naruto said in a cold tone.
Guren landed beside him. "I thought you'd never ask for me. I was getting bored watching you have all the fun," she said with a wide grin.
"Lock them up in a crystal prison."
"Why? We can finish them."
"Now!" Naruto said forcefully.
Guren knew there was something up. Both she and Naruto jumped back to create some distance. As she was jumping, she did hand seals. When she touched down, she slammed her hands to the ground.
Naruto didn't get to watch the crystal rise from the group. He was alerted to movement and only turned his head to this right. He met Yugito's foot. It slammed on his face with the strength of Gai. The kick sent him flying sideways like a bullet.
While still airborne, Yugito appeared above him, swiping her hands down. He quickly tried to block her attack by folding his hands across his face. Her attack was more than that. Her extended nails cut through his skin, exposing his flesh on the wrists. They also cut through his chest toward his abdomen.
The woman then kicked him to the ground.
Naruto winced in pain as his back brutally crashed to the ground. He was buried deep, leaving a crater formed. For a moment, he didn't move, but was forced to lift his knees to block a lunging Yugito from crashing into him with both her legs. When she collided with his shin, he growled painfully as his body dug deep into the ground.
The woman was just being merciless.
While she was still above him, Naruto clapped his bleeding hands.
Yugito shifted her eyes to the left side. A clone appeared beside her in mid-air. It was twisting, its right leg swiftly moved toward her temple. She saw the attack again and ducked under the swing before jumped away from the attack.
The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Slowly, Naruto tried to get up, ignoring his aching body.
Seeing Naruto get up, Yugito lunged at him with her Bijuu's chakra starting to leak out. She landed in front of him. The second she did so, she saw his body shift backwards, trying to get away from her. But she stretched to her limits, lifting her right foot. But she didn't get anywhere as she was suddenly frozen from her legs.
Naruto didn't need a second invitation. It was almost as if he saw this coming. A merciless punch gutted her. Yugito gritted her teeth, pain shooting through her spine. Her whole body trembled. When Naruto caught her on her throat and started strangling her, Yugito tried summing her Bijuu's chakra to transform. It was happening and then Naruto slammed his fingers on her chest. The flow of chakra was cut off and he let her go.
Yugito fell, crystal still on her left foot. She clutched her chest firmly. She felt it tightening as if there was something spreading through it.
She looked up at Naruto and asked through gritted teeth. "W-what did you do to me?"
"I wish I could fight you, Yugito-san. But I cannot afford it. There are more Jinchuriki I must still face." Naruto said apologetically. "The right method is to capture you or just kill you. But I cannot kill you. I don't want to. So, I'll just take you out of battle."
"W-what did you do to me?"
"A Jinchuriki's biggest weapon is his Bijuu's power. I'm Uzumaki, that isn't a problem for me. If I can get a hold of you, I can cut off that link," Naruto explained lightly. "If I leave you here, someone could undo the seal. Doubt it. But anything can happen."
"Why does it hurt?"
"A less painful method is to use your own seal. But I don't know its location. I would rather not undress you just for that purpose. I used a rather forceful method," he showed her his palm. There was the number 2 printed in black. "The easiest off releasing yourself is to chop my hand off." He turned to Guren.
"You are too nice. She is an enemy, and must be killed." Guren said forcefully.
"Just lock her up. I'll have a clone take her to Konoha camps." Naruto said indifferently.
Guren shook her head and did what Naruto wanted. After a moment, she watched a clone pick up the woman and then depart.
"Let's go back to the Fire Country." Naruto said waving her to follow him.
"Sure…"
They found Neji waiting for them for them, surrounded by ten dead shinobi. The Hyuga looked ruffled up a bit. The only person who didn't show signs of battle was Guren. Naruto had to get rid of his shirt since Yugito cut through it.
"You know she killed everyone in that thing, right?" Neji said, staring at Naruto.
"What?"
"She created the dome to imprison them. But then had everyone crystallized before snapping her fingers. They all shattered like glass…" Neji explained.
When Naruto turned to face her, Guren waved her hand. "I didn't kill everyone. There are survivors. That's why I'm keeping that. But it won't hold for too long."
Naruto just shook his head and did not turn to glance at the jutsu Guren had created. There were bigger worries than this woman's murderous intent. He had to move ahead. For war wasn't waiting for anyone to gather their thoughts.
"We are most likely going to go our separate ways since Kumo won't want to cross into the Fire Country." Naruto said to Guren. "I hope you do behave."
"She has to go with you."
"Had enough of me already, Hyuga?"
"Yes." Neji was quick to say.
"I'm probably going to focus on finding out where Iwa's Jinchuriki are. If we can remove them from the picture, it should make things less worrisome."
Neji agreed. He could feel the worries of those fighting in Earth frontlines. There was always the fear that a Bijuu could appear and do what Naruto just did. It was fine when it was happening to the enemy. Neji shuddered at the thought that even Konoha's forces could face the same dread. No, they could be facing it now.
"What of Kumo's other Jinchuriki."
That was one Naruto didn't want to fight if he was being honest. Bee had the experience and he held with Eight-Tails within him. Naruto didn't want to face up to that situation. It would be brutal. Forget that he had two Bijuu within him. He didn't want to spend chakra unnecessarily. And fighting Bee could force that situation.
"Most likely moving with the Raikage. I heard that was the same thing even in the last war. They apparently combine into a deadly team."
"That isn't good news. Isn't the Raikage supposed to be the fasted man alive?"
"Yup. We could do with the Yellow Flash right about now…" Naruto said with a smile. "No doubt, Iwa will start experiencing some post war stress."
"And you accuse me of sadism."
Naruto's eyes flashed toward Guren but he didn't say anything to her.
Tsunade looked at the reports, wondering if she should just go ahead and join the battle. Things were not looking good around The Land of Mushrooms. Onoki surely hadn't been just sitting around enjoying peace. He'd preparing for another war. Its tragedies aside, Konoha had been sitting pleasantly, enjoying peace hoping it lasts forever. Not in this damn world. What had her sensei even been thinking when he relaxed things to this level? When the village lost the military power of the Uchiha, he should have done something. But he did nothing and she was feeling the pains of that hole. It needed to be plucked, but unfortunately, Iwa was filling it up with defeats.
She got up from her chair and looked at the village streets through the window. Shikaku was in battle, having set up camp within the Fire Nation. But because of Danzo, she couldn't move out carelessly.
The streets were peaceful nonetheless. You wouldn't think there was war. In this parts, it never came. The Leaf didn't even have a history of being invaded – bar that one incident with Sand. Nobody has ever defeated it. They fought bloody wars while everyone here went about their normal lives. Some still lived in fear nonetheless. Someone could just spring out of nowhere and start killing them.
"Shizune," the Godaime said as her assistant walked into the office. She had recalled her from the medical camps because there was something they needed to do.
"Tsunade-sama?"
"If I go into the battlefield, Sakura has to move out. You'll remain at the medical camps… But I've just received a warning from Danzo telling me we may be targeted. We have to move camp."
"Danzo warning you?"
"He may be crazy but he wants konoha to win. My loss at this stage would be a huge loss to Konoha and it would be a huge boost to both Kumo and Iwa."
But the message didn't say what she had to worry about. What could it be? It would be surprising for Iwa to send assassins to take her out. In some battle, you take out the commander, you win the battle. But in this battle, even if she were to end up dying, Shikaku would still continue to lead. No doubt, Danzo would be scheming his way into the Hokage tower while the war raged on. For now, he would just sit back in his little hole and make sure that Sasuke was ready for battle.
A messenger appeared within the office, giving her a message. She read it and then frowned.
"Kakashi is looking for reinforcements." She said. "How is it going with Neji?"
"No report is coming about any Kumo movement into the Fire Nation."
It didn't mean anything. She didn't think something would have happened to Naruto. She could be wrong. This was war. People died. Tsunade shook her head. She shouldn't make herself gloomy by thinking about such things. Naruto was fine. He was alive.
And she would see him again.
Tsuande walked back to her chair and put on a thoughtful look. "We don't know what attacks will come. You'll have to move out separately from me."
Kurotsuchi frowned hearing the news that Konoha had managed to sneak into Kusa and the capital. This was bad and they couldn't move carelessly because of Konoha's aerial attacks. Those damn sneaky attacks. They had cost them. So many lost without even fighting against anyone. For Konoha to resort to such tactics just meant the village was really stretched.
"If they take Kusa, it will be bad for us."
"What should we do?"
"If they take Kusa. It acts as a base. They can heal their wounded and get supplies. Our original goal was getting Kusa either way. If we cant get it, them neither can Konoha. But some of our men are fighting there, not in the capital."
The man shifted uncomfortably hearing those words. There was just a hint of evil in them that just made one fear for the worst.
"Summon one of our Jinchuriki."
Sasuke stared at Danzo, wondering why he was still being kept within this place when he could be fighting. After all, Naruto was already in battle. The blond was surely running loose. He needed to be out there, fighting. For whatever reason, Sasuke just wanted to unload on someone because he was frustrated.
"Why am I still here?"
"Because it is not yet time for you to be out there."
"What are you waiting for you?"
"The right time. Konoha is a little backed, but it will pull through. We must not waste time in using this chance to get the best of Tsunade."
No doubt, she was going to allow the Kage to live. That Konoha was going to win the war was without question. Danzo was certain it was going to happen no matter what was happening as things stand. But it was what happened afterward that he worried him. To the victor the spoils of war go. In this regard, it was the Jinchuriki. Konoha was in a position to collect not just one more but two more Bijuu in this war and it would make their position unmatched.
They could go on to rule afterward. Of course, Tsunade wouldn't go that route. Not with Hiruzen's teaching. This was why he had to move things on his own. He would make sure things worked out for him in the end.
"Why does it sound as if you're plotting something?" Sasuke asked with narrowed eyes. He wasn't blind to the fact that the man coveted the position of Hokage. And was actively trying to get it from Tsunade even when they appeared to be working together.
"The Princess is too soft. She has taken many of Hiruzen's teachings to heart. When konoha wins this war, both the Tsuchikage and Raikage must die. It makes things easier to manage when Konoha the enemies are dead…" Danzo said. "With Kumo, the Raikage's brother must also die, even when he is a Jinchuriki. He is too powerful to be left alive."
"You want me to move in without the Hokage's order and do this."
"Yes."
Sasuke just shook his head. He was going back to train and wait for the order to come alive. He didn't necessarily care for Danzo's schemes. As long as he got out. He was nonetheless keeping a close eye.
"We must talk about your former friend."
"Naruto?"
Danzo nodded. Naruto had questionable motives since his return. He just couldn't come to trust the blond. He wasn't the same kind hearted child anymore. There was something inside his head that made him wary. "You have to keep an eye on him after the war. I do not trust him."
Sasuke found it amusing. Naruto not being trusted. He'd never thought he would live to see that day.
"It isn't my job to keep an eye on him. If you didn't trust him, do something about it."
"But only you can do something. I doubt he will turn against the Leaf, but he is a flight risk. If he tries to leave Konoha, he has to be stopped and only you can do it."
"Sure I'll stop him for you."
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Kakashi didn't need to be told why Sakura was calling him. He could see it with his own eyes while standing stop of a building. Damn Iwagakure. He had been dragged in battles and now he had to face this thing.
What was coming toward the capital was a Bijuudama. A huge one at that. It was coming in fast. If that thing exploded in the capital, it was going to cause massive damage and kill innocent lives. It was too late to even call for civilians to try to evacuate. What was this strategy? If we cant get it, then you too can't get it?
He'd been worried about when Iwa Jinchuriki would appear but he didn't think in this way. This was worse than one appearing in the capital to attempt to wreck havoc.
"What are we going to do?" Sakura was in a panicked tone.
She was not ready to die. Not yet. She didn't have a family of her own and she had yet to surpass her master.
"I'm going to blast it with Kamui. Go down and be ready for anything…" Kakashi ordered, lifting his headband.
"Hai."
He'd been using the Sharingan a lot since the battles started. It was draining his chakra.
He ignored the panicked cries before below. People were running about like headless chickens. They were afraid for their lives. He hoped nothing as bad as a stampede occurred in crowded spaces. It would have been better if they couldn't see the tailed beast bomb.
Then the Jutsu neared, Kakashi focused, his Mangekyo Sharingan activated. Kakashi focused large amounts of chakra to activate his jutsu. "Kamui." His eye bled, and he fell to one knee, breathing heavily. He'd made it as big as he could. To avoid only taking in just parts of the jutsu.
The ripple pattern appeared in front of the tailed beast bomb. Like a magic trick, the large swirling vortex warped away the jutsu before it could reach the capital. It was there and then it wasn't there anymore.
But Kakashi was feeling the effects. He'd not made Kamui was big as that before. Any half hearted job and it would have exploded before it could be fully warped away.
While the panic died down, Kakashi looked up.
Another one
This had to be some joke. If his Sharingan wasn't activated, he'd like to believe it was an illusion. If he used Kamui in the same manner, it was going to prove fatal for him. But if he doesn't, this whole place was going to burn. Those things had enough power to wipe out a mountain. A city of humans was nothing. But if he stopped it, and died, they would just launch another one.
What will his death achieve?
End chapter
Some characters will die.
Anyway, I'd been thinking that i couldn't continue with this story and thought of updating to state my intentions. But I was convinced against such and we go again.
I'll try to post the next one in a week or two.
The Omnipresent Sage