Naruto: Tornado of Souls V2
Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I'd like to thank Twisted Pxl for inspiring some of the ideas for this chapter. I'd also like to thank Lord Farsight and Solvdrage for their input. I now present chapter 12. Enjoy!
Last time:
Rice Country, The Village of Oto
Orochimaru looked over his maps with a bit of grim satisfaction. The cost had been terrible but the scorched earth strategy did what he needed; it bought him the precious time he needed to get everything out of Oto Village of research value. Kabuto was moving the experiments north all the way to the unused facilities Orochimaru set up there a decade ago in case of a disaster. 'The defense of Oto Village is going to cost me fifty to seventy-five percent of my regular troops. After the village falls and Jiraiya discovers the underground prison complexes Konoha will be too bogged down to pursue me further.'
Looking at the map of Fire Country Orochimaru saw his scouts were monitoring a full second Konoha division heading north to reinforce the first under Jiraiya. 'There is no helping it. Even if Jiraiya stays put and waits for the second division the most time it will buy me is two days. Konoha is simply too strong and that damned Suna is staying out of it entirely. Oto has lost this war. That doesn't mean I can't make Jiraiya pay dearly for every square foot of ground in Oto Village though.'
Tayuya and Jirōbō arrived shortly thereafter and saluted. "The fortifications inside the village have been completed as you ordered Orochimaru-sama." said Tayuya.
"Good." said the Snake sanin. "I take it you have news for me as well Jirōbō?"
The largest member of the Sound Four nodded. "The lines a mile behind the wall of flame in the south are moving on schedule my Lord. Unfortunately we lost a lot of laborers due to smoke inhalation."
"They are of no consequence." said Orochimaru. "That line has to hold Konoha back until we seed the area surrounding Oto Village with traps and reinforce our strong points." The Snake sanin pulled out a map of Oto Village. "Since your task is completed Tayuya; I'm putting you in charge of setting up the surrounding area. Jirōbō, head south and motivate those workers to hurry up. We have lots to do and little time to do it in."
Time was running out and the Snake sanin needed to move fast….
Chapter 12
Konoha, Mission Hall
Kurenai led her team plus Neji and Tenten into the Mission Hall and reported on Mizuki's violent removal from the playing field. Needless to say written reports were required and the group of five genin and one jonin were soon at it…
'How can this be?!' thought Neji. 'Hinata-sama's destiny was to be a weakling and a loser. Fate cannot be changed! What is going on?' The Hyūga prodigy had no idea how he could accept this… After seeing Hinata destroy the mutated Mizuki; Neji was in shock. He'd heard gossip around the compound that the Hyūga Heiress had revealed that she was much stronger than she ever let on but Neji knew her fate to always be weak was unchangeable.
Now the Hyūga prodigy could only stare in shock at his cousin from across the mission hall where Team 8 and Team 9 were filling out their after-action reports regarding the recapture of Mizuki. Neji was dumbfounded by Hinata's appearance as well. The Byakugan Princess cremating Mizuki alive was hard enough to swallow without her turning into some stunning vixen of a kunoichi overnight. The last Neji heard (not that he cared) was Hinata hadn't fully recovered from the Chunin Exams. Now he was worried at what she might do to him…
Tenten had seen Hinata since her injuries and knew the Hyūga Heiress changed her look a great deal but the Fire Juken had Tenten dazzled and a tad frightened. 'Hinata must have held back at the Chunin Exams because she would have killed Neji with that kind of power.' The weapons loving girl wondered, 'Just how long has Hinata been hiding this away?'
…
Hokage Tower
Homura and Koharu were on a stage in front of the Hokage Tower and had the unenviable job dumped upon them of dealing with the fallout of a bunch of high-strung, wartime genins beating the holy hell out of a mob of convicts trying to break out of prison that morning. It was bad enough that Team 7 pretty much used the two crooks they apprehended as training dummies. The coup de grace was the Hyūga Heiress publicly roasting Mizuki like a barbeque contest was being held….
"Every war has some group of humanitarians spring up out of the woodwork, but this takes the cake Koharu." said Homura tiredly.
Koharu shook her head. "I think Hiruzen is still holding a grudge against us Homura. This new group calling themselves PANIC is just ludicrous! I mean…prisoner's rights?!" Below the stage they were on was a group of people waving banners that proudly said:
PANIC
People
Against
Ninjas
Immolating
Convicts
Homura sweat dropped and rubbed his forehead. "Yes, I do believe Hiruzen is quite irritated with us having to do public relations with these idiots. This is a ninja village damn it! Where are they coming from talking about human rights?!"
Hearing the angry crowd roar both Homura and Koharu realized that the microphones were already on and every insult they just rambled out was broadcast loud and clear…
Pity the Hokage's advisors for they know not what they do…
….
Up in his office Sarutobi Hiruzen heard the broadcast as well as the rather negative reactions of the crowd. "I am surrounded by idiots…" he thought aloud.
…
Mission Hall
Team 7 came up to the mission hall having heard about the horrible way the escaped criminals were treated. Kakashi nonchalantly brushed through the noisy people and entered the building where Iruka was handing out patrol routes for the various genin teams. Naruto took the lead and came up to Iruka. "Hi Iruka-sensei! Team Seven is here for a village patrol mission."
Umino Iruka looked up and saw Naruto was beaming. He also saw that Naruto's two new teammates were very attractive girls. Kakashi half waved and nodded to go ahead and proceed. It was just a patrol mission after all. Iruka looked at three missions on the desk along with another marked as a priority. He asked, "Kakashi, would Team Seven be up for a short C-rank? The Village of Midori to the south sent a request for an animal control mission. They claim some kind of beast has been going after their livestock."
"Doesn't the war and village security take precedence?" asked Kakashi puzzled.
"Whatever it is has the whole Village of Midori petrified." said Iruka. "It's possible this is Oto creating unrest and it needs to be investigated per Hokage-sama. Gai's Team 9 is still undermanned so I thought I'd see if your reorganized Team 7 was up to it. If you don't think they are ready for a field test then that's fine Kakashi… But you might risk being heckled by PANIC if you stay inside the village… Your little group did beat those two convicts senseless. It won't be long before you are celebrities you know."
Kakashi gave a double eye smile and said, "You know, a short and easy mission down to Midori Village might help my team a lot. It's only about 45 minutes from here." Turning to his team Kakishi said way too happily, "What do you say team?" as he nodded 'yes' repeatedly.
"Of course we will gladly accept this mission Kakashi-sensei." said Pyrrha in her always polite tone.
"I'm in." said Blake quietly. "We need to get out and move anyway."
Naruto gave a thumbs up and said, "Let's do this. It's probably just a pack of wild dogs or something." He didn't notice Blake cringe a bit at the idea of wild dogs.
"We'll take it Iruka. No need to PANIC." said Kakashi. Everyone present cringed at the jonin's bad pun. Sweat dropping, Kakashi said, "Yeah…Anyway, pack for two days just in case. We'll meet at the South Gates in an hour." Team 7 saluted and took off in a cloud of dust.
Iruka asked, "How is the new Team 7 doing Kakashi? Is Naruto okay?"
Kakashi said seriously, "I honestly couldn't ask for a better group of kids. The old Team 7 was a dysfunctional mess. Naruto and the girls move like a well oiled machine and they've just started. All of them are improving by leaps and bounds." Kakashi waved and disappeared in a body flicker.
Iruka smiled to himself. "I'll have to visit Naruto when he gets back. He looked awfully happy with his new teammates."
…
Konoha South Gates
An hour later Kakashi showed up in a body flicker and saw all three of his genin were armed to the teeth as wartime regulations required. "Is everyone ready to set out?" asked Kakashi. "It's less than an hour at a moderate pace." Assuming a diamond formation, Team 7 took off towards Midori Village. The trip proved to be without incident. When they arrived the first thing that Team 7 noticed was a stench of death and a lot of property damage. The villagers were actively moving the carcasses of dead sheep and goats that the villagers were known for raising. There must have been thirty animals around in various states of dismemberment.
"Damn." said Naruto. "No wonder they called for help."
The villagers soon greeted Kakashi and his genins and directed them to the Midori Village Elder. Naruto made about fifty shadow clones to help move the animal's bodies and the villagers welcomed the small orange army's help. "That's some ninja trick young man." said the Elder to Naruto. "I'm Watanabe and as you can see our little village is in a bit of distress. Over the last week we've had attacks from a bear sized creature that seems to be hostile to the people here. It seems intent on destroying our livelihood and has demolished a great deal of property."
Kakashi looked around and said "Just one animal did all this? Not a pack of them?"
Watanabe shook his head. "We tried to drive it off but on the first night we confronted it the creature went berserk at the sight of our people. Our hunting party had to hole up in one of our barns and reinforced the door until the creature left. It must have torn up that barn door for nearly an hour howling and carrying on before it left. Since then it's returned almost every night after dark. Last night it broke into one of the animal pens and you can see the results." said the elder as he waved towards the dead livestock. "We've been barring our doors while the thing runs amok outside. It seems intent on killing the villagers but we finally boarded up the three largest houses for protection and all of my people have remained safe thank the gods."
"Can you tell us what the creature looks like?" asked Pyrrha. "It sounds like we need to get it tonight before it can do any more damage."
"Well, it's black as a shadow and has claws. The creature also has red eyes and makes an awful sound when it howls. I've never heard or seen anything like it. It's about the size of a large bear but it's built too skinny to be any sort of bear. It has really long reach and can walk on its hind legs or on all fours like a bear too. Truthfully we don't know what it is. Come look at the damage it did to the barn on the first night and tell me if it looks like anything you've seen."
The four ninjas soon were standing in front of a large barn door that looked like it had been attacked with bladed weapons. "Well, they are definitely claw marks." said Blake. She placed her hand where one set of gashes converged. "There are four fingers and an opposable thumb from the way these scratch marks are shaped. The hand of this creature is at least three times the size mine are. Could it be some sort of ape like creature? Regardless we aren't dealing with a regular hunting animal here. It's a predator but nothing native to these parts."
Naruto ran his fingers over the claw marks. "This was done with raw physical power. The cuts don't show any signs of chakra being used. If this door hadn't been so thick to keep animals from bolting I'm sure it would have ripped through."
"The scratch marks are all so random." added Pyrrha. "Whatever kind of animal it was must have just been slashing wildly at the door. If it had concentrated its efforts on one area instead of lashing out blindly then I'm sure it could have broken through. It's big and strong but not particularly smart."
Kakashi nodded in agreement with his student's assessment of the situation. "Just remember that it's very dangerous whether it's smart or not. The kind of claws we're dealing with here look to be about the size of kunai knives and obviously it has the strength to use them."
…
Konoha, Hyūga Compound
The Hyūga Elder Council was having a discussion about Mizuki's little misadventure that the Heiress Hinata so thoroughly brought to an end. The Head Hyūga Elder said, "It seems our assumption that Hinata was holding back a great deal was correct. My grandson Neji witnessed her incinerating her former Academy Sensei. To say she has revealed her abilities is an understatement. Neji was justifiably shocked as he defeated her previously. He said Hinata-sama burned the man alive and that It would have been far more merciful to kill him."
"For our Branch House Prodigy Neji-san to make such a statement is quite unprecedented; don't you think?" asked Elder Majo rhetorically. "It seems that burn scar you have decorating your chest was just a love tap Elder Hiraku. We are all indeed fortunate that she did not come after us with wrath." 'Especially me; I saw the report on Mizuki. It would be a mercy killing if he died.' Majo thought with a cringe.
"My granddaughter Hinata is first and foremost a proud member of the Hyūga clan and this further exemplifies that fact." said Hiashi's Father proudly. "In spite of the fact she made….examples of Elder Hiraku and his grandson she did no permanent damage. It's painfully obvious that she could have done so effortlessly. The Clan has been exposed to her power in a very public manner. I don't know what made her decide to reveal her new abilities but we should show our support of her actions. She is among our strongest."
Elder Hiraku growled and said, "I'm forced to agree but I still believe this could have all been avoided had she not hidden her abilities. She has many grievances with us and I have no idea how we can get back in her good graces." Then he added, "Hiashi-sama did say she was out for blood; specifically ours."
Minako nodded. "It would be in our best interests to start treating her as the proper Heiress. For a long time she's been treated with disdain directly or indirectly by our actions. Hanabi-sama has shown favor and fully supports her older sister. I believe we should do the same."
Hiraku said in a sour tone, "So what do you suggest Elder Minako; do you want to bake her a cake?"
"Stop pouting like a child Hiraku." said Elder Majo. "Acting so petulant simply doesn't suit you. You are just embarrassed at how she defeated you so easily." Hiraku just glared.
The Head Elder sighed, "Regardless of our various misgivings, Elder Minako is correct. We need to show our support for our Heiress."
…
The Village of Midori
Team 7 made sure everyone in the village was secure and perched up on the rooftops of empty building to lay in wait for their mysterious target. Blake's superb night vision gave her a huge advantage and she was closest to the main entrance of Midori. Pyrrha and Kakashi were near the center of the village so they could respond rapidly in any direction and Naruto was at the smaller exit to the village at the opposite end from Blake. Both village entrances were forested but on Naruto's end it was much easier to see because the forest wasn't as dense and there was a large grass field beyond it where the animals the villagers raised often grazed. Given the moon was full that night the visibility was excellent for the four ninjas and Kakashi wondered if spotting the creature would be easy….
Flashback….
Watanabe said, "Stealth? Well, it is completely black but it's not particularly quiet. It tends to show up without too much noise but once it's in town it's extremely loud while it's wreaking havoc. The animals you helped us clean up were all slaughtered by it last night. The noise lasted a couple of hours before the thing left town. It fed on a couple of the animals but it seemed more interested in wanton destruction than food. Whatever it is seems too bent on destruction to be a normal animal. It's more like the thing is on a mission to destroy Midori if you ask me…"
Flashback end…
Kakashi sat thinking to himself, 'If it actually was a ninja operation they would have hit things of value or targeted families to spread fear. All the evidence we saw is something you would expect a rabid animal to do. Well, a severely nocturnal rabid animal anyway…'
Naruto was lying on top of a house on his stomach facing the smaller village entrance and watching keenly. He'd already heard several animals moving around in the surrounding forest but none of them were particularly big or noisy. He focused chakra in his ears to improve his hearing but the nighttime noises of the forest seemed peaceful enough. 'I wonder if this critter is even going to show up.' thought Naruto. He looked at his watch in the moonlight and thought, 'Well, it's just after midnight. I really expected something by now.'
Blake was at the other end of the village in a crouch. She was on top of a barn which gave her an excellent view. 'My instincts have me on edge.' thought the feline faunus girl. 'Maybe I'm just high-strung tonight but something tells me it's coming.' She thumbed the hilt of her katana as her amber eyes scanned the area intensely. 'Sure wish I had my Gambol Shroud. It's superior to hauling a kusarigama and a separate katana.'
Pyrrha was perched on the roof of one of the three occupied houses. She was sitting and focusing on the noises around her. The redhead wasn't quite as on edge as the other two genins because Kakashi was nearby. He was only two houses over and looked like he was taking a nap. 'It seems Kakashi-sensei is making himself comfortable. I'd fall asleep if I laid down in that position.'
At 1:00 AM Kakashi called his genins on the radio to make sure they were all awake and alert. "This is Scarecrow; everyone check in."
"This is Maelstrom." said Naruto. "I really expected a visitor by now."
"Shade reporting in. All is clear at the front gate." said Blake. "Our quarry isn't following the pattern the villagers mentioned. Do you think it realizes we are here?"
Pyrrha said, "This is Gladiator. I think that the idea of our target sensing us is unlikely. It wasn't scared of a large hunting party so I doubt four ninjas would deter it."
That's when they all heard roar and their eyes widened. "This is Maelstrom, target sighted!" said Naruto excitedly. "I'm going to intercept it outside the gates and knock it back into the field where we have some room to fight."
"Kakashi said, "Confirmed! Everyone move to back up Maelstrom at the gates."
Naruto saw something black as pitch crashing through the trees towards the village gates. He channeled chakra into his hand and formed a rasengan before he charged in. The creature's startled red eyes locked with Naruto's blue ones a split second before Naruto hit it square in the center of its chest. The torque from the spiraling sphere sent the creature flying back through the trees and it tumbled out into the field before shaking its head to regain its bearings. It was obviously hurting from the blow. In the bright light of the full moon Naruto could see the monstrosity clearly. The ten foot pitch black creature had a face that looked like a white bone mask with red markings on it. It also had red eyes that seemed to burn with malice. Out of its black fur stood bone protrusions and spikes along its back, arms and knees. Worst of all it had massive claws on both on its 'fingers' and 'toes.' It growled angrily at Naruto who was trying to figure out what the hell it was.
The others landed behind Naruto a second later. "Th-that's a beowolf!" said Pyrrha in shock rather than fear. "What on earth is one doing here in Fire Country?"
Blake was already a blur in motion and slashed at the beowolf with her kusarigama. The creature was smart enough to try and avoid the slice but Blake's aim was true and she took a chunk of meat out of the creature's arm that made it howl in pain.
Pyrrha drew her sword and shield and Naruto threw three kunai followed by a gale palm jutsu. One missed but two of the kunai shot clean through the angry creature causing a lot of damage although neither actually hit a vital spot. The creature painfully slouched over on all fours and was about to charge Team 7 when Pyrrha's tsurugi pierced it's skull with a magnetically enhanced thrust from the red haired Gladiator…. Then the pitch black creature collapsed and fell over dead on its side. Its body evaporated much to Naruto's shock but when it disappeared the body of an ordinary gray wolf was left behind.
Naruto went to move forward but Kakashi stopped him and said, "Good job team. You handled that well." Kakashi rubbed his chin as they looked over the wolf's corpse. "I knew the sound of that howl but this was still unexpected." he said in a curious tone.
Blake gathered up her kusarigama and asked Kakashi, "How could a creature of Grimm be here?"
Kakashi said, "Well, we theorized that the power Ruby Rose unleashed when Pyrrha was killed sent both Cinder and Pyrrha souls across from Remnant to this existence in that instant. The same power sent us later Blake. There were masses of Grimm there that were obliterated by it but as far as we know they have no souls. Truthfully we don't know how or why they exist. I can only surmise that this one came here from Remnant the same way we did but why it merged with the local wildlife is arguable. That beowolf Grimm obviously possessed a normal wolf and when the Grimm was killed it evaporated leaving the wolf's body behind."
Pyrrha looked at the dead wolf and said, "Grimm exist due to negative emotions and completely evaporate when they die. This Grimm is clearly different from the ones in Remnant if it left behind any physical form."
"Perhaps Grimm can't exist in this reality without a physical form." suggested Blake. "The spirits that make up Grimm have to latch on to an existing life form to manifest themselves."
Kakashi nodded. "That sounds reasonable but it's still bad news regardless. We have no idea how Grimm reproduce or if a finite amount arrived here. This may be the only one but somehow I doubt it." Looking about he said, "There were no signs of other Grimm in the area but this one was physically much larger than the wolf's body it possessed. Physiologically it moved in ways a wolf could not so a Grimm's existence isn't entirely defined by the physical form of the creature it possesses. We need to report back to the Hokage what we've found."
"Should we take this wolf carcass back with us for study?" asked Pyrrha. "All the damage to the body corresponds with the damage we did to the larger Grimm's form on a smaller scale."
"That's a good idea." agreed Kakashi. "Let's seal it in a scroll."
Naruto said, "Not to interrupt but could someone tell me what the hell we just killed?"
Pyrrha looked embarrassed, "I'm so sorry Naruto-kun."
The orange loving ninja said, "You don't have to be sorry Pyrrha-chan. I just wanted to know. Is this something from your world?"
Blake nodded. "Our world was inhabited by creatures of Grimm. That was what we fought against as hunters and huntresses. That particular type was called a beowolf. It was different from the ones in Remnant though."
Naruto tilted his head to the side and asked, "How so Blake-chan?"
Kakashi said, "In a nutshell Naruto; Grimm completely evaporated when they died in Remnant but this one left behind a physical body. I can't explain it other than to say the beowolf mutated so it could survive here. Bloody evolution." grumped the jonin.
Team 7 quickly sealed up the wolf's remains and headed back into Midori Village. They stayed on guard until morning just in case.
…
Konoha, Hyūga Compound
It was morning and Hinata got up early and was sitting down to a quiet breakfast of cinnamon rolls with some tea. She was eating in the kitchen before she went out to meet Kurenai-sensei and her team. 'Yesterday was an adventure with all the protesters and all. If I hadn't stopped Mizuki he could have torn a dozen civilians apart. Kurenai-sensei said these sorts of things blow over after a week or so…Or ANBU makes them go away. Seriously, this village is a military dictatorship! If I was in charge…I'd make them obey. Oh well. The Clan seems to be showing me a combination of fear or respect since I revealed my power publically. I need to sort that out. On the positive side; at least the Elders are leaving me alone.' She heard a whisper of fabric and activated her byakugan. 'I guess I spoke to soon.' Hinata didn't turn her head as she sipped her tea. "What brings you down to the kitchen so early in the morning Head Elder? Don't you usually dine with you little clique in the Main Branch dining room after the branch house members have made your breakfast?"
Hiashi's Father barely hid his cringe at the acerbic greeting his granddaughter gave him. "Actually; I thought I'd see how my lovely grandchild and Heiress is. I rarely see you these days. May I join you Hinata-chan?"
The Heiress gave him a withering stare with a spark of flame in her pearl like byakugan eyes. "You may do as you wish Elder."
The Elder sat down and said, "I see you are having cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Did you get them at a bakery? They look delicious. I wasn't aware that our cooks made them."
Hinata pulled her cinnamon rolls back possessively from her Grandfather and said, "I got up and made them this morning myself. I see no need to have others cook for me."
"You and Hanabi-chan would always be welcome to dine with me in the absence of your Father." said the Head Elder kindly.
The Heiress suppressed a growl and thought to herself, 'I'm in no mood to fight with this old man this morning. I really want to see what his game is by interrogating him but the clan is currently a bit uneasy about my actions. I can't risk further instability by beating the Elder's head like a drum no matter how much I want to. I wish Naruto-kun was here to talk to.'
Seeing his Granddaughter was deep in thought about his suggestion (or so he thought) the Head Elder said, "All of the Elder Council supports you and wishes to reconcile with you."
Hinata polished off her meal and said, "Do you seriously think I'd believe that? The Elder Council only wishes to protect their places of power within the Hyūga Clan. I don't intend to spend any more time than necessary around you or them." Hinata washed her dishes and said, "I don't have time for this. I have duties to attend to. I'm sure you do as well Elder." She left with a soft sway in her hips and her Grandfather confounded.
'What am I going to do with that girl?' lamented the Head Elder.
…
The Village of Midori
Once the people of Midori Vilage were all up Kakashi explained to the Village Elder Watanabe that it was a creature from outside the Elemental Countries called a beowolf. "The creatures bear an extreme hostility towards humans and are very, very dangerous." said the jonin. "It's bad news seeing one here in Fire Country. I'm going to put in a request to the Hokage to have the situation fully investigated."
"I'm just glad the beast is dead." said Watanabe. "So they are some sort of spirit or demon?"
"We really don't know their true nature I'm afraid." said Pyrrha apologetically. "The important thing is you should call for professional ninjas or samurai to fight them. They are too strong for civilians to handle."
Watanabe nodded "I can't disagree with that. You all did a good job last night."
After the Elder signed off that they'd completed their mission Team 7 headed home wondering what the appearance of the lone beowolf portended…
…
Konoha Village
Team 7 made the easy trip back to Konoha and quickly signed in before turning in the completed mission papers. Iruka was talking to them about the beowolf. "Well it's nothing I've ever heard of. Are you sure this should be escalated to the Hokage's attention Kakashi?"
Kakashi said dourly, "I realize Hokage-sama is very busy with the war effort but this is of extremely important."
Iruka nodded. "I understand Kakashi. I'll have it on Hokage-sama's desk with the morning reports. This report is disturbing to read anyway."
…
Rice Country, The Village of Oto
Tayuya came into the main base where Orochimaru had his headquarters. The redhead was steamed. 'Mother fucker! Kabuto's slipping off with the supplies that I need to set up a defense with. I need to talk to Orochimaru-sama before four eyes takes everything we've got left.'
As she rounded a corner down into the planning room she heard Orochimaru say, "Concentrate your efforts on curing Kimimaro, Kabuto. The rest of the Sound Four are going to be sacrifices in this war. I already have new cursed seal subjects to take their place. Kidōmaru, Sakon and Ukon failed me utterly and the idea of Jirōbō and Tayuya being anything more than glorified fodder in this conflict with Konoha is a pipe dream. They are failed experiments and like all failed experiments should be discarded."
The redhead's heart nearly stopped as she heard her master consign her to death without a second thought. Her brown eyes widened and she held her breath as she silently slipped back out of the underground headquarters. 'Orochimaru-sama is setting Jirōbō and I up to die! I need to tell that fat ass so we can –No, Jirōbō can fuck himself. He'll never believe me. I'm out of here.' Ten minutes later she arrived over at the command tent she had been working in to enhance Oto's defenses. Tayuya gave her underlings several tasks to do so that she was alone in the tent. The redhead carefully rolled up all the maps she had of Oto Village into a scroll. Every last trap was shown in them as were all the underground passages.
She strolled out of the command tent and told her second in command. "I'm going to go south and get some supplies and workers from Jirōbō. That fat-ass is where the supply problem is, not Kabuto. It will probably take a few hours so post four guards around the command tent. Nobody goes in there without my say so. Those documents are too valuable to risk anyone seeing them; got it?"
Getting a quick and frightened affirmative from her subordinate Tayuya set out towards the area Jirōbō was working in. 'With these maps I can pay for amnesty from that fucker Orochimaru. All I have to do is hand them over at the Konoha Command Post and I should have a ticket to safety. I hate traitors more than anything but Orochimaru-sama and four eyes betrayed me first.' she thought angrily. With a purpose in her step Tayuya walked out of sight and then took off at ninja speeds towards the Konoha army…and hopefully freedom.
…
Rice Country, Southern Regions
"The Second Division will be here to reinforce and resupply us by this time tomorrow Jiraiya-sama." reported a chunin.
Jiraiya was looking at the dying fires that Orochimaru's forces set up the day before. "We're going to have to make a move today." said the Toad Sage. "We've already given the snake too much time to mount a defense as it is." He motioned to his strategist Shikaku. "Let's take a look at this map now that the fires are starting to smolder."
…
POSTSCRIPT:
Yes, a creature of Grimm has appeared in the Elemental Nations. What will that lead too? It could be a fluke or it could be the first of many. Time will tell. A beowolf isn't enormously strong so Team 7 was able to dispatch it fairly easily. Next chapter we will be getting back to the Konoha/Oto War in Rice Country among other things. See you next time. Blue out. 7/19/16
Updated 4/4/22