WAR NEVER ENDS – THE FUN BEGINS
The Hidden Leaf Village
A deathly silence descends upon the village. Even the regular civilians can see the impending threat hovering above the village. A trailing cape of gold fluttering on the back of a flying woman. This could only be a general. It is however, not the same general they have fought against before, this is a new development. The shinobi who travelled to watch the captained six contest are especially stunned. They are the only ones whom have ever seen a general fight and lived. If someone like this chose to destroy the village, what would they be able to do about it?
"I don't suppose that any of you have a plan to defeat a general" Shinki asks as he looks to his fellow Kage. He is the only one amongst them who has not seen a general defeated. In his mind they are still invincible overlords, bringing death and destruction with them everywhere the go. In his mind, the Hidden Leaf has just been condemned to the same fate as his own village.
"Of course not" Tsunade snaps in reply. It seems that the situation is just what she had always feared. A great threat has come to village and she is not strong enough to stop it. "How are we supposed to fight against someone like that?".
Hiruzen is the most experienced amongst the Hokage, he takes his moment to tell them what they have always known. "There is only one way that we can fight against a foe like this".
All his comrades look in his direction, like children at a parent.
"It is something that all of those four know very well. It is a lesson that we must take to heart now". The others all know the four that he speaks of, of Naruto and Hashirama, of Sarada and Boruto. "We must never give up".
Shinki is heartened by Naruto's mantra, filled with an unexplainable sense that they will pull through this.
"We can't attack first, we must only retaliate if provoked" Tobirama declares, bringing the conversation away from a sentimental tone and into a more practical domain. "If we are lucky, General Clyde will be friendly with this general, perhaps she won't attack the village".
The general in question is General Georgia. A general with a fearsome but selfish reputation. She is disliked almost universally by her subordinates, enjoying a life of comfort while they do all the work. She has worked hard all her life to obtain a status like this, a status where she is able to act how she wants without impediment.
Normally General Georgia wouldn't bother with a small job like this, there is no way that she would run to a local village in the middle of nowhere and bother with less than formidable foes. However, this is a very special case for her, a very personal case.
With a smile she raises her hand into the air, a ball of energy forming in her hand similarly to the formation of a tailed beast ball.
Mauve energy.
Poison.
"This feeling is very familiar" Minato remarks as a shiver travels down his spine. "It's the same power I was hit with before. It's Martin's power".
"I remember this terrifying poison". A cold bead of sweat rolls down Tsunade's back as her memories of that day return. Her grandfather had been awake for days on end, healing Minato constantly. When he passed out she had tried to hold the poison at bay but couldn't do it. For a poison to overcome a medic of her abilities is truly frightening. "In the end I couldn't cure it, only Naruto could".
"We can't let this poison hit the village". Tobirama imagines a terrifying scenario in his head, a village full of poisoned villagers. If a colonel using this poison could almost kill Minato, a general would kill the villagers instantly. "Minato, no matter where she throws it, we must teleport it away using the flying thunder god technique".
This technique is the 4th Hokage's specialty. "I've got it" he declares as he readies an array of kunai. He has defended the village from attacks like this in the past, he is determined to do so again now.
As Georgia throws the ball of poison down towards the village, a glint of satisfaction shines in her eye. She is satisfied, she has waited for this moment.
Minato throws both his arms outwards, skilfully and perfectly tossing the kunai to surround the poisonous attack. Together with Tobirama, it will be simple to teleport this away.
Then Georgia's attack changes. The General clicks her fingers. Her perfectly whitened teeth showing as she grins at the villagers down below. Scared. Intimidated. Horrified. 'Farewell, monkeys'.
The massive ball of mauve spreads out, changing form into a net, covering the entire village.
"No way" Minato starts.
Tobirama is just as alarmed. "We can't possibly stop something like that, there's no chance".
The 4th Hokage quickly calms himself and gathers the invaders' power on his hands. His element is wind. The howling of wind sounds as more and more energy gathers on his hands. "In that case we will have to push it back with force".
"There is no way we will be able to do that?" Tsunade admits as a look of hopelessness enters her eyes.
"We at least have to try". Kakashi follows his sensei's example, gathering what power he can to his hands.
Lightning. His element is lightning.
First a few crackling bolts of energy. The energy in his hands quickly grows to a much greater level. A level great enough such that the coverage of the lightning exceeds the size of a chidori.
BOOM!
The struggling Kage are woken up by the sound of a thunderbolt.
An enormous bolt of lightning descends from the sky, destroying the net of poison in a single tremendous blow.
Once more silence descends on the leaf.
After a moment, Minato turns to his student with surprise all over his face. "Kakashi, did you…".
"No, that wasn't me" Kakashi admits.
A voice splinters the silence of the village below. Another voice.
"General Georgia!" the voice comes.
Georgia looks left and right, up and down but cannot find the source of this masculine voice.
"It's been so long since we last saw each other, in that time you have truly become a bully" the voice continues.
Tobirama feels he recalls something. 'This voice, it seems awfully familiar…'.
BOOM!
Once again, the sound of thunder overawes the village. This time accompanied by a streak of lightning from the village itself, up into the sky just opposite Georgia. The lightning bolt then stops, right in front of her. It slowly begins to transform, from the elemental power of lightning into the form of a man.
His short silver haired and scarred face are a distinctive reminder to the Hokage. They have seen this man before. They have battled him before.
"It seems we have made contact at last".
Tobirama realises where he has heard this voice before.
It is the voice of Colonel Peterson.
Peterson cracks his knuckles and grins at General Georgia.
"Now" he proclaims, "The fun can begin".
Georgia's expression coveys her anger, the twitching of her lips showing her temptation to berate this man before her. Never has she had to endure such disrespect from a colonel before. Just who does this man think that he is. She is not used to hiding how she feels, though, in the face of the enemy, she wants to appear calmer and more collected than this. She takes herself in hand, she needs to be more sensible than this, using her full power to overcome this situation would be a true waste of her abilities.
She lifts her hand to the side of her head, twirling a small lock of her perfectly kept blonde hair. She looks Peterson over, checking that she hasn't missed anything about him, that nothing is out of place. His cape is silver and his uniform has the number 2 emblazoned on it. His insignia and his uniform's age suggest that he is under General Clyde's command. Nothing is out of place.
"Hmm, you are quite strong" Georgia finally remarks while she looks down her nose at Peterson, "That last feat showed that you have remarkable strength, you are nothing like the monkeys down below".
"I'm flattered" Peterson sarcastically notes.
"Who are you" the General snaps, "A colonel?".
Peterson keeps his sarcastic smile as he points to his rank and cape. "A number 2 on my jacket, a cloak of silver and you believe me to be a colonel? General Georgia, your eyesight is as good as ever".
"Watch who you are talking to peasant" Georgia shouts as she rudely points her finger towards Peterson. "I'm a general and you are but a measly colonel. Your face is already ugly and scarred but I am sure nobody will care if I add a few of my own".
"Oh?".
"Nobody concerns themselves with their colonels enough to notice" Georgia arrogantly grins as she flicks her hair backwards and eyes Peterson, "Except perhaps, General Clyde?".
"Of course" Peterson ascents with a nod, "Our general is the best in the entire military".
Peterson's approval for Clyde's leadership was not born of slavish obedience nor of bad experiences in the past. Clyde has done a great deal to help him, whether it be training or personally. This is not only true for him, it is true for all the colonels under Clyde's command, there had never been any complaints, until one Colonel Martin came along. Clyde enforced his subordinates' faith in him during the captained six contest, even pleading with Uzumaki Naruto for their lives while he faced death himself.
"I remember you now" Georgia narrows her eyes and casts her mind back, she has seen this man before. "Yes, you were one of Martin's fellow colonels, you serve under General Clyde. Your name… Peterson".
Peterson bows ironically. "I am flattered that someone with such a high status can be bothered to remember me".
"HA". The poisonous General laughs as she throws her head back. "Don't kid yourself, I spend no effort remembering you, it is simply coincidence".
"Hopefully you will remember me after today".
Georgia snorts. "I know you are not as academically capable as myself so I am going to make this easy for you to understand. Even if you are to ally with the locals, even if Clyde were as strong as Lara you still couldn't win".
She continues, "You are destined to die here, no matter what you do".
Peterson's head tilts to the side slightly as his smile greatly decreases in size. It is still detectable though, he's the only one here with inside information. The subjects of his gaze are gathered on an unremarkable street, looking up at the sky above.
"You are still underestimating the locals" Peterson explains.
"You will insist on helping the monkeys?" Georgia growls.
The silver-haired colonel redirects his attention away from the locals and back to their assailant. "Yes, I will".
General Georgia quickly activates her golden poison cloak. A golden cloak, it is a power-enhancer which only those who have reached the rank of general can use. It represents the pinnacle of understanding in the studies of a single element. That is to say that Georgia can use the power of the element 'poison' to the very highest level possible. She wafts her hand towards Peterson sending a small scattershot attack in his direction.
Colonel Peterson is quick to retaliate, he gathers lightning on his hand and swings it at the incoming poison attacks. As his cloak slowly starts to appear, the poison attack hits, engulfing him in a globe of purple.
"Peterson…". Tobirama feels helpless.
"Damn, he's fighting for us" Minato grinds his teeth.
Tsunade snaps them from their regretful thoughts. "Look…".
Peterson emerges from the attack mostly unharmed.
His cloak is finally up.
A golden lightning cloak!
'A golden cloak' General Georgia starts. 'Impossible, he's a colonel, there is no way he…'. She suddenly understands, "Peterson, you're…".
"Did you think that it was a mere coincidence that I was able to stop that last attack" he asks as he flashes a cheeky smile to his opponent, "Your eyes are not failing you General Georgia, your worst nightmare has come true. I have understood the final stage of lightning".
Georgia coats her hand in the poisonous energy and Peterson reacts like a shot. He repeats his earlier travel method, transforming into lightning and arriving in flash right before Georgia's eyes. Faster than most people in the village can follow, they both maximise the energy they are pulling out from their body's and slam their element clad fists together.
Screams sound throughout the village as their fists connect. The power of the blow is tremendous, reminding the Hokage of what it was like to witness the battle between Naruto and Clyde. This is what they have to protect their village against. This is the next level.
Peterson throws rapid punches at Georgia. He has spent less time at the General level and is therefore theoretically the weaker of the two. However, his element is 'lightning', an element that leads to a fighting style focused around speed.
Despite Peterson's great speed, Georgia is able to evade his attacks. Indeed, her experience is nothing to be overlooked. She expertly shifts the momentum through her midsection, skilfully evading to the side of Peterson's fist each time he throws a punch. She waits for the perfect moment to counter.
The moment arrives.
Peterson throws an imperfect punch, leaving an opening around the outside of his arm near his elbow. Georgia makes full use of this opening. She catches hold of his right arm and using her elbow tucks it into her side. Peterson tries to use the distraction of his own opening to throw another punch but this is also imperfect. The general grabs hold of his left arm as well and uses her grip on both arms to pull Peterson towards her. She uses his incoming momentum to land a vicious headbutt, the sound of their skulls crunching together horrifying for the villagers down below.
Peterson hurtles back through the air before coming to a halt, he refocuses on Georgia. She is not an opponent he can afford to go easy on. He creates a hand-sized ball of lightning and throws it at her head. The attack is even quicker than his punches from before and she can do nothing as it bounces of her forehead. Peterson executes this attack five times in succession before it is interrupted.
Georgia has had enough. She slaps the ball down towards the ground, narrowly missing a group of villagers. She holds her right hand out, gathering poison energy and moulding it into a sword. The sword has no hilt, she does not intend to use it for sparring. Instead, she casts her arm forward, launching the sword towards Peterson with incredible speed.
Peterson knows that if this sword is to hit him it will be fatal. This could be his last moment alive if he is not careful. He gathers lightning energy in his hands before launching it emphatically towards the sword. A continuous stream of lightning stretches from Peterson's fingertips to the sword, pushing against it, slowing its approach. Until the very last second it is still on course to hit him but by expending a great amount of energy, Peterson is able to push the sword off course, making it miss him.
A huge bang can be heard from outside the village where the sword finally lands.
That is the attack Peterson avoided, the attack that he exhausted himself to evade.
"I am disappointed Peterson" Georgia spits as she creates another sword of poison, "Despite making this breakthrough, you are still so pathetic".
Peterson knows that he cannot compete with Georgia for energy in this manner.
Despite that, Georgia doesn't mind, she is determined to battle with Peterson using this method. She knows that he won't be able to endure many more attacks like that. So she casts her arm forward again, to throw her sword.
Before she can cast her sword forward, she notices that someone has appeared next to her. They arrived so suddenly that they must have teleported. This man is Senju Tobirama and he is not alone.
Beside Tobirama is Minato. Tobirama takes hold of Minato's wrist and swings the blonde Hokage towards Georgia as fast as he can. In Minato's hand is a deadly attack, a rapidly spinning rasengan. It is not enough to kill Georgia but it would certainly hurt if it were to hit her. Minato thrusts the rasengan towards Georgia's face, distracting her from the sword throw she was previously executing.
Georgia sidesteps the incoming rasengan, comfortably dodging to its side. If she can avoid Peterson's attack she can definitely avoid that. Something catches her eye as she dodges, a slight grin on Minato's face, as if she is already caught in his trap.
As Georgia looks over her shoulder she notices that Minato wasn't her only assailant. From the other side, the 3rd Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen attacks with his fist clad in a thin layer of crusty earth.
Hiruzen's element is 'earth' and the overwhelming strength of this attribute is its raw power. The moment his fist connects with Georgia it creates an impact far greater than any rasengan could have done.
Georgia is sent spinning forward, taking three seconds before she can balance herself. She turns around to see what she is facing. These three are on Peterson's side and what's more, they are flying. There is only one way that they could possibly be flying.
'These locals, they understand our power' Georgia starts as she looks back at Minato and Tobirama, 'The first one was so fast, I am sure that he was using the power of wind and that guy…'. She looks back to Hiruzen, 'He definitely just hit me with an earth attack'.
Minato notices that Georgia is trapped in her own thoughts, he creates a rasen-shuriken and launches it her.
Georgia wakes, her eyes showing her anger as she slams her poison sword into the rasen-shuriken, destroying it as if cutting through paper. Looking at her three new opponents she decides that discretion is the better part of valour and dissipates the energy that constitutes the sword.
"Consider yourself lucky. Your friends have saved you today Peterson" Georgia proclaims as she points at the colonel, "However, Lara has decreed that you will all die. It will definitely happen".
The generals gaze then lands on Minato, "You too monkey, all of you had better say goodbye to your loved ones because your days are numbered".
Leaving a threat behind General Georgia turns tail and flees.
She has gone.
Minato breathes a sigh of relief but Tobirama is slower to relax. "Peterson, what is going on?".
"If you haven't already worked it out, that general was connected to a former associate of mine" Peterson explains, "That was Colonel Martin's sister".
Minato now understands that familiar sensation from before.
Georgia is Martin's sister.
"Martin's sister" he mutters, "That guy who almost killed me".
"I don't really have time to explain this in detail" Peterson continues, "I have to report what happened here to General Clyde".
"You have to give us more than that" a voice calls from behind Peterson. The colonel turns around to see that it is Kakashi. "We really are in the dark here".
"Please, anything you can tell us would be a great help" Hiruzen adds.
Peterson groans, explaining the whole situation to the locals would take him longer than he has. "I'll tell you this much. You should prepare your armies and gather your greatest warriors".
"We thought that a war was coming but that's no longer true".
"It's already here".