Chapter 27
Adventuring
Land of Earth
Kosaten Village
Naruto arrived on the edge of the cliff overlooking the village, it was different from the other he had seen as this one was not built into a mountain but instead, more normal being laid out in a grid-like pattern built around the famous 'Crossroads' 4 large roads that crossed each other at the centre of the village, they were set in the cardinal directions and from a distance, it looked like a nice place.
Well apart from the raging fires and churning lava on the ground, Naruto's eyesight was not the best but he could make out two sides in the battle, one side was slinging fire and lava about like it was nothing and the other were playing instruments in response which to Naruto just seemed pathetic but he noticed that some of what was obviously the Kazan Clan where attacking thin air or they were dropping to their knees vomiting blood.
'Are they using music to attack them or is it from Genjutsu?' Naruto questioned himself as he looked down observing the battle.
'I'm not getting involved in that, I'm sick of getting dragged into battles between Clans now.' Naruto was getting venomous in his thoughts now.
He continued to observe the battle and it looked like the Kazan Clan were going to win this battle, the music users were simply not strong enough in direct combat which didn't come as a surprise to Naruto since they had to learn how to play instruments on top of the normal training Ninja underwent to learn how to fight and use Chakra.
The battlefield was half music and half explosions it was such a strange kind of noise as they clashed together and battled for supremacy.
The ground began to rumble again and Naruto was curious about seeing what type of Ninjutsu was used to cause this kind of damage.
Naruto then realised that it was a mistake to do as the cliff he was on began to vibrate violently and then the entire ledge area that Naruto was standing on gave way and began to rush down to the ground at high speed.
"Why did they use a Doton like that?!" Naruto screamed as he fell with the cliff, he was clinging to a large piece of rock that he was previously standing on.
'What kind of Clan uses Jutsu like this for a skirmish! They're destroying the village as well!' Naruto thought as the wind rushed all around him.
Naruto realized why they started with that when many of the Kazan Ninja began spewing fireballs up at the falling rocks and making them ignite in flames.
He scrambled and pulled out a scroll that would seal fire within itself and then Naruto pulled out a load of kunai and each one of them had an Explosive Tag wrapped tightly around the hilt and threw them at rocks that were now looking to fall onto him.
The explosive kunai did their job and knocked any rocks that would have landed on him out of the way, Naruto then noticed he was getting very close to the ground now so he jumped from the rock he was clinging to and landed on the roof of a nearby building then he fell through the roof and down onto the inside of it.
"Ow! Urgh!" Naruto groaned in pain as he lay on a wooden floor, the only light was from the hole in the roof that was shining on him and the other from a nearby window.
"That sucked!" He grabbed his injured ribs and pulled himself up to his feet by grabbing a nearby table.
He peeked out of the window and unsurprisingly he could only see dust, smoke and fire, it looked like they dropped half the cliff onto the town then set it on fire.
"Which is what they just did." Naruto groaned again and collapsed against the wall sitting against it while he tried to get his breath back while not coughing because of all the dust and smoke.
He decided to take stock of his current situation, he was in a building in the middle of what was essentially a warzone between two Clans, one of them used an esoteric style of Ninjutsu while the other Clan relied on pure power.
'This is terrible, why do I have such bad luck.' Naruto complained mentally as he regulated his breathing.
Naruto remained there leaning against the wall recovering for a while, he was waiting for the battle to end to make his move while also hoping that they didn't use any more crazy destructive Ninjutsu and destroy the house he was in.
'How long has this been going on for? Usually battles between Ninja last minutes not hours.' Naruto thought as he listened to the continuing sound of the battle between molten rock and music.
'This can't last much longer.' Naruto peeked out of the window again, the dust had cleared and settled but he couldn't see anyone around.
Hours Later
Naruto was proven wrong as the fighting went on for 3 more hours before everything finally went silent, sun was starting to dip in the sky by the time everything finished.
Naruto was no Sensor-Nin but even he could feel as all the different Chakra signatures began to leave the area eventually, he had fully recovered by that point he even checked lifted his shirt up and inspected the damage and his entire left side what he landed on was just a huge purple and yellow bruise but it did look worse than it felt since he could breathe again he came to the conclusion that no ribs had actually broken.
"About time they finished." He muttered looking out of the window at the empty streets.
He had been doing nothing but waiting for the fighting to the end and he had gotten very bored but now it looked like he finally had a chance to getaway.
"Better be careful they could have left traps behind or even a read guard." Naruto said to himself as he opened the window and dropped down into the silent streets.
It was deathly silent in the village, there was no more rumbling, explosions or music echoing throughout the streets of the village as it had been earlier.
Naruto crept through ruins making sure to keep his Chakra suppressed and staying within shadows and behind cover in order to make sure he was not spotted, his other main task was keeping an eye out for traps which was another reason for his slow progress. There was no way he was going to trip something and end up getting hurt again or worse killed.
Naruto had learnt his lessons well and he tripped no traps and was not discovered by anyone as he made his way to the edge of the village, he was currently heading in the western direction he knew that the Kazan ruled in the east and the Tsuchi ruled the north and the south was the Diamyo's territory so the only direction he could go was west for now with all the smaller Clans of the country.
After that display, Naruto did not think he was prepared enough for taking on a Kazan Clan member when they had no qualms about devastating one of the most important villages in the entire country. From what Naruto had read Kosaten Village was like the heart of the country as it connected all four parts of the country and it was also where all the trade passed through.
'The Kazan Clan have some balls taking out a village on the main trade route in the country.' Naruto thought as he navigated the devastated village.
There were entire sections of the village which was just completely levelled to rubble, he could see that the rock for some of the buildings was still red hot from the use of the Yoton Ninjutsu and that was not even mentioning the bodies that littered the entire area, there was all manner of wounds on the bodies, most of the music users were simply melted which was vile and Naruto wished he never looked at it, but the wounds to the Kazan Clan members who were all dressed in red and brown while the other Clan were dressed more randomly and it seemed like they did not have a uniform like most Clans did to denote their affiliation.
"This place looks like a warzone, just pure brutality.' Naruto thought looking over the destruction and damage, once again he saw the Ninja world in full without the bias of having his own Clan.
'How can people just do this to each other for money? Is the Clan really so important that it's worth this kind of death and destruction?' Naruto thought looking out over all the dead bodies, he had no idea if there were any civilians were mixed in with the Ninja he hoped not and they were evacuated before any fighting broke out between the two Clans.
'This can't go on, people cannot take this kind of fighting anymore.' Naruto's thinking was getting darker the more he surveyed the battlefield that was once people's homes.
Naruto eventually reached a huge collapsed building it looked like it was once dome-shaped and seemed to be a giant theatre or at least that's how it looked to Naruto, obviously he had no actual idea but with how big it was and how it seemed to be popular since there was a lot of destroyed food stands in the surrounding area.
"God!" Naruto gasped at seeing just a field of bodies, it looked like the music-using Clan lost badly going by the sheer amount of bodies.
Naruto trudged through the mess of people and limbs and tried not to look at anything except the horizon in the distance, the sun was setting so dark was settling over the area now and that made things better for Naruto since he didn't have the light reflecting off all the kunai, shuriken and all the other Ninja tools catching his attention and drawing his eyes to the bodies or limbs holding them.
As Naruto hit the outskirts of the village he saw that the decorative pillars had collapsed they lined the road on either side and all of them were destroyed and lay across the ground.
"Urgh." A gurgling groan rang out in the dead silence and Naruto's instincts homed in on one of the collapsed pillars.
Someone was alive but injured near or under that pillar and Naruto's instincts screamed at him to just leave, that it was a trap and the person was left deliberately alive with some sort of trigger on them which would kill them and any would-be rescuers.
But Naruto was not smart and he walked over to the pillar where he heard the noise and looked over it and saw someone trapped underneath.
It was a girl to his surprise, she was unconscious and her lower body was under the stone pillar. She was wearing a hat which was lying next to her and revealed dark pink hair which was spread out all around her, she had a flute of some kind held loosely in her left hand and she had long eyebrows.
But the most eye-catching thing about this girl was the blood leaking from her mouth and due to the way she was laying with her head tilted back the blood was running down from her mouth across her eyes and into her hair where it was dripping onto the ground steadily, it had already formed a small pool in a crack on the ground.
"Damn it, why do I do this." Naruto complained as he formed a brand new Hand Sign creating a cross with his hands.
"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu." He said and an identical Clone appeared next to him.
"Pull her out when I lift this up." Naruto instructed.
His Dad had taught him the Kage Bunshin during their week together and Naruto was surprised to see that it was basically an improved Blood Clone, though it had a higher Chakra requirement because it split a person's Chakra evenly but it did everything the Blood Clone did, it shared memories and it could take a hit before being dispelled.
Naruto moved around the pillar so he was standing over the girl then he grabbed the stone pillar and lifted it up with a grunt and his Kage Bunshin quickly grabbed the girl and pulled her out from underneath the stone.
"Grgh!" Naruto groaned and he dropped the stone pillar which crashed into the ground with a dull thud and broke apart even more.
Naruto took stock of the girl and noticed that her legs weren't completely crushed rather it looked like she was just trapped under it without it crushing her.
"That's a relief I suppose. But what do I do now." Naruto wondered as his Clone checked over her.
'This really is a bad habit.' He thought watching the sun dye the sky a deep red colour.
"That's a bad omen." Naruto muttered, Ninja were usually not a superstitious people but in times like this Naruto could not help but feel that it really was an omen for what was to come.
"Ah." He sighed and looked over to the girl who was looking a lot better after being bandaged up and was no longer dripping blood down her own face.
"I suppose I should find somewhere safe before she wakes up, and I can question her about what the hell is going on here." Naruto said and he nodded to his Clone who nodded back in acknowledgement.
"Someone is bound to come and see what happened here." Naruto said and he and his clone who was carrying the girl disappeared in a burst of smoke using the Shunshin Jutsu.
Land of Fire
Nara Clan Compound
Deep within the Land of Fire there was a section of one of its many huge forests, within this part of the forest resided many deer and it was within this part of the deer rich forest that the Nara Clan Compound resided.
For centuries the Nara looked after their part of the forest and the deer within, in fact, they developed their famous Shadow Ninjutsu in order to restrain the deer without anaesthetic or traps in order to extract medicine from their horns.
It was here where a very important meeting was occurring between many Heads of the smaller Ninja Clans within the Land of Fire that had not been dragged into the Hyuga-Uchiha alliance in the west or brought under the Senju's dominion in the east.
"So are we all agreed?" Nara Shikaku current Head of the Nara Clan asked the assembled people.
They were currently all sitting around a huge oaken table deep within the Nara Clan Compound there were more than 10 of some of the most powerful people in the Land of Fire assembled here.
"Yes, It is a clear alliance of necessity when faced with the prospect of another Uchiha-Senju war." Aburama Shibi, leader of the Bug using Aburame Clan said flatly adjusting his dark glasses.
"Just a shame that the Sarutobi Clan have refused to get involved." Yamanaka Inochi sighed from his place at the table. He was the current head of the mind-reading Yamanaka Clan who had been in one of the longest-lasting alliances in the world with the Nara and Akimichi even now all 3 Clans were allies.
"Hah! That old monkey won't move for anyone and no one can make him either!" Inuzuka Tsume barked a laugh at the thought with her one-eyed wolf looking dog next to her.
"The Sarutobi Clan's complete neutrality is well known and respected I never expected him to come, though we are missing many small but strong neutral Clans like the Shimura, Ryu, Onikuma, Rinha, Izuno and Kurama." Akimichi Chouza said worriedly.
"Bah, Danzo's just a bitter old man, the Ryu won't move from their cave, the Rinha and Kurama are arrogant bastards and I don't like the Izuno!" Tsume said dissmisvely.
"All of them have a strong fighting force and would only be a benefit to our unaligned alliance." Shikaku pointed out.
"They don't have to respond right away, give them time and I think they'll see it's the only way to maintain their independence." Shikaku said with a shrug as he leaned back in his chair.
"Hopefully, if we have all of us together then the Senju and Uchiha won't be able to move easily against us." Inochi said.
"Have any of you heard the news from the Senju by the way?" Chouza asked them.
"News? Like they've finally made their move?" Tsume asked him.
"No. It appears someone has agitated all of the small Non-Clan Ninja in the area against the Senju Clan and now their embroiled in a guerilla war against hundred of independent Ninja or Clans who have lost their lands due to the Senju's expansion." Chouza explained gaining everyone's attention.
"That is...fortuitous timing." Shibi said slowly almost disbelieving it.
"Hm." Shikaku pondered over this new information while the others did the same.
"So does that mean our alliance isn't needed if the Senju are busy dealing with that?" Tsume asked looking around.
"I don't think so, this could easily be put down and the Senju will move out again." Shibi said reasonably after all that was the might of many small Ninja compared to the Clan of a Thousand Jutsu, no the Senju would win this little campaign and get right back to their war with the Uchiha.
"Someone is moving in the shadows." Shikaku announced cutting off any further discussion.
"What makes you say that?" Inochi asked him, while he trusted Shikaku's intelligence the man could sometimes make inscrutable leaps of logic.
"There have long been rumours of an underground organization manipulating Ninja Clans for years, though it has never been proven the fact that there is such a rumour means it must have started somewhere." Shikaku began explaining calmly for everyone's benefit.
"Another war would be a death sentence for Ninja and no one wants a war and yet Senju Nawaki is insistent on avenging the Senju's losses during the Great War and when he is finally in a position to do so there is suddenly all these mercenary Ninja taking up arms against them." Shikaku said nodding.
"I suppose it could be years of resentment coming to a boil but the more probable answer is that someone or some people with a lot of capital have hired the mercenaries to take action and disguise it as revenge." He finished his explanation.
"That is indeed a very logical answer." Shibi agreed with a nod.
"But how do we prove or even prepare for that?" Chouza asked looking around.
"We do nothing, so far it is only action against the Senju which will distract them from waging war with the Uchiha and the Hyuga." Shikaku advised.
"So we wait and see? I don't like it." Tsume was ever eager for a fight, the wild woman was famous for that kind of temperament.
"It would be the smartest thing to do, even if we announce our neutral alliance it won't change anything." Inochi said.
"I agree, we should let all the large Clans know that we will not be pushed around any longer and our combined might can equal theirs. And if we are lucky then the rest of the independent smaller Clans will join for protection." Shikaku said standing up.
Their resolution was united and clear, no more would the Uchiha and Senju run roughshod over the Land of Fire, no more would they subjugate smaller Clans and make them vassals in service to their own Clans.
The time of the Uchiha and Senju Clans ruling the Land of Fire was fast coming to a close and this was the first step to that end.
AN:
Here you all go chapter 27 hope you all enjoyed this and look forward to chapter 28.
This story is so fun to write you guys have no idea and I'm so glad to the people who review and follow this fic, I'm really grateful to all of you it gives me the motivation to continue. And we see more of the backstage politics going on in the Land of Fire which is still a powder keg even with a certain group attempting to run interference and bleed off the Senju aggression.
Also yes Naruto finally has the Kage Bunshin, originally he wasn't supposed to get it until much later but like I said the plan changed when I impulsively introduced Jiraiya early and that training week with Minato was the perfect place for Naruto to learn it.
Translations:
Yoton=Lava Release
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu=Shadow Clone Technique
Shunshin Jutsu=Body Flicker Technique