A Battle On Two Fronts

Gaara grunted as looked over the sea of ice and storm clouds, staring towards the center of the storm. Ibushi glanced at the young Jinchuriki, irritation on his face.

"I assume you can't get a reading on the base due to this...ice."

"You would be correct," Gaara stated. "However this ice got into the desert, it clearly goes deep enough that I can't just go underneath it."

Ibushi frowned. "I didn't realize that Konoha had such a powerful Ice Release user in their grasp. I thought they were all killed during the Kiri Civil War. For them to be powerful enough to withstand the heat of the desert, they're a priority."

Gaara stood there silently, uncomfortable with the situation. He wasn't a commander, he didn't see why Ibushi was explaining this to him instead of the other Lieutenants.

"There's even a blizzard," Ibushi stated, frowning. "There's no way we can pierce through this without Konoha knowing. And we can't simply walk through it. We'd be too tired to launch any form of attack. It would be absolute suicide."

"Then what do we do," Gaara asked. Ibushi glanced down at him. Gaara shrugged. Perhaps he was overstepping his bounds as a mere Genin, but there did not seem to be any way of attacking the Konoha stronghold if they had this type of natural defense set up. If there truly was an Ice Release user of such power that Konoha had, they would undoubtedly start attacking them the second there was an anomaly detected in this kind of jutsu.

"Gaara, how much sand do you think you can control without going into Shukaku's spell?"

Gaara frowned. "I'm not sure," the redhead stated. "I've never had to use such an amount of sand before. If I ever transformed into Shukaku it was because I wanted to or because I slept. I'm not sure how much sand I can control by myself, even with Shukaku's natural abilities bolstering my own. No one has ever pushed me to that limit."

"Well you're about to find out," Ibushi stated. "Gather as much sand as you can. We have to take back that fort, and using your sand as a shield from this ice is the best way I can think to do it. Try and create some form of raft if you can. We can't take the risk of being hit with any of that ice."

"Understood," Gaara stated, clasping his hands together before he focused. Slowly but surely, tendrils of sand flew from the ground, swirling together. Gaara grunted as he felt the object grow larger and larger, becoming harder to control. With the amount of shinobi Suna had brought his construct would have to be massive. This would take a while.

Naruto grunted as Jiraiya sent him flying with another blow, this one hitting his stomach. Naruto flipped as he was sent flying backwards, landing in a crouch. He grunted, rising only to see Jiraiya standing in front of him, hand reaching down. Naruto grunted, reaching up and grasping the offered hand, Jiraiya pulling him to his feet. Naruto grunted, causing Jiraiya to chuckle.

"You know for two days worth of time you improved quite a bit," Jiraiya stated. "Nothing by leaps and bounds obviously, at least with taijutsu, but you've definitely fixed some of your errors. You're a bit more fluid in your movements."

Naruto grinned, raising his fist. "Of course! I'm gonna be Hokage one day so I gotta get improvements quickly!"

Jiraiya laughed at Naruto's actions, sitting down to look at Naruto's clones. "You've improved in your ninjutsu too," Jiraiya stated. "Even with you abusing your clones I didn't think you would be able to understand the Hien (Flying Swallow) that quickly. You're already capable of having it bend around your kunai. You're a long way to go from Asuma's level, but your progress is remarkable."

Naruto grinned, shrugging. "Of course, that's just how awesome I am."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Of course. The great Naruto Uzumaki, the brat that didn't even make the final exam of the Chunin Exams."

Naruto glared at Jiraiya, the blonde clearly irritated at the mention of his failure. "Well I bet you never made the final exams of the Chunin Exams either!"

Jiraiya snorted. "Yeah, because I was promoted in the field of battle brat. I was tested in way harsher conditions." Naruto frowned as Jiraiya's jovial expression slowly began to grow somber, sitting down with sadness on his face. "I wish you didn't have to go through those conditions if I'm honest. Min-"

Jiraiya frowned, catching himself. Naruto still didn't know who his father was, only knowing that the man was of significance. He couldn't go and drop bombs of that magnitude due to memories. Luckily it didn't seem like Naruto had caught it, likely assuming it was a mere slip of the tongue.

"You can tell me that twice," Naruto softly said, reaching up to place his hand above his heart. Terror rushed through the blondes body, and he started to breathe heavily. Jiraiya immediately caught on and placed a hand on the boys shoulders. The two sat there in silence for minutes until Naruto began to talk.

"There's something that Baa-chan and I didn't exactly tell you," Naruto stated, frowning. "About the mission in Uzu. We...well we weren't planning on it."

Jiraiya nodded, bringing the blonde close to him. The blonde was shaking. That was unusual. Jiraiya couldn't say he had talked to his godson much, especially considering their relationship during the month before the finals to the Chunin Exams, but he knew people. He knew battle. He knew terror, and he could read it as easy as day on Naruto. The boy clearly was horrified by something.

Whatever had happened on Uzu was clearly more scarring than either Tsunade or Naruto had cared to admit. That was a problem. Tsunade was the head iryo-nin in Konoha, and that applied to more than just physical wounds. Even though the Yamanaka were the leading experts in psychological wounds Tsunade was there to help shinobi would suffered mental trauma in any way she could. For her to not be helping Naruto, the only explanation was that whatever had happened was traumatic for her too and that she needed time to deal with her own problems.

That was the only thing that could stop Tsunade from healing someone. That wasn't exactly abnormal, or unreasonable. He couldn't have a medical professional running around with scars that would prevent them from doing their best work, especially in a field so serious.

Still, she shouldn't have hid whatever happened to Naruto from him.

"What happened?"

"The girl," Naruto stated, fear rising in his voice. The blonde tried to follow up for the next few moments, only for nothing to come out of his throat. Jiraiya turned Naruto, looking at the shaking blonde before he embraced him, rubbing his back.

"It's ok Naruto, you don't have to-"

"I nearly died!" Naruto shouted, pain engulfing his voice. "Aiko stabbed me through the heart! I'm only alive because of Baa-chan and the Kyuubi! The Kyuubi! Ever since the Chunin Exams started that's the only thing that keeps me alive! And sometimes that isn't even enough," Naruto screamed, his arms squeezing Jiraiya. The Sannin grunted as his back popped due to Naruto's strength but didn't comment, merely comforting the child as he vented.

"The thing that caused my life to be hell is the only thing keeping me alive right now! I'm a dead man walking! And now I have to go face people more powerful than Aiko because I'm a Jinchuriki. It's my job to fight those people or else other people will die! If I can die against Aiko, how can I possibly fight against anyone else?"

Jiraiya didn't say anything as Naruto cried into his shoulder, his clothes stained with Naruto's tears. Slowly the Uzumaki began to quiet, although his tears did not stop.

"You were in a war," Naruto said. "How did you survive?"

Jiraiya smiled, rubbing Naruto's back. "I was a lot like you actually. I had my fair share of near-death experiences. And much like you it was Tsunade that managed to save me the majority of the time."

"So you lived because of Tsunade?"

"I wouldn't say that," Jiraiya stated. "At least, not exclusively because of Tsunade. There this one time in Ame, during the Second Shinobi World War, I was sent to destroy an important military asset. I forget exactly what type of asset it was, they all kinda blur together eventually ya know? Anyway, it was me and a squad of about five other Jonin, the majority combat-specialized ones. I think there was like one medic on the entire squad, and they were no Tsunade."

Naruto nodded. Jiraiya smirked. He had his attention still, that was good. He didn't need Naruto falling into his nightmares. That would not be good.

"Well we planned an attack for about a week before moving in. We attacked at night, and it was going well, until we ran into two people we would rather not have met. Back in my day they were called the 'Rain Brothers', because of how their attacks worked. One of them turned the rain acidic, and the other could spread rain into a thick mist. They were Water-Release specialists. We had received intel that they weren't at the base, otherwise we would have attacked when they had left. They were too deadly. I got hit by it first," Jiraiya stated. The man slowly pushed Naruto away before he lifted his shirt, revealing a faded scar above his right kidney. Jiraiya pointed to it.

"They focused the majority of the attack on me. I was considered a massive threat to Ame, because I survived the fight with Hanzo. This is the remnants of what that attack did to me. It nearly killed me if I'm honest. The acid burned straight through my clothes and would have killed me. I was unable to move you see, the pain was that immense. I was gonna die there, but one of my allies was a Fuuton specialist. He redirected the rain away from me. He provided enough distraction for the rest of the squad to move in and kill the brothers."

"I don't get it," Naruto said, confused. Jiraiya had clearly finished explaining, considering he let his shirt drop.

"It's simple," Jiraiya stated. "At the time I told you that story I was one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha. I stood up to Hanzo and survived after all. In a direct fight I'm pretty sure I could have taken the brothers too. The point was that I couldn't be prepared for everything. I couldn't stop everything. I couldn't beat everyone. I had to rely on my teammates. And that's what you need to do. You can't survive if you're alone."

Naruto blinked, the words slowly sinking into his head. Jiraiya smirked, placing a head on Naruto's head before ruffling his hair.

"And you're not alone brat. You've got Kakashi, Anko, Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Tsunade, Hiruzen, and you've also got me."

Naruto smiled, looking at the ground.

"So I just have to rely on everyone else to cover me like I would cover them?"

"Exactly," Jiraiya said. "There's a reason why Konoha focuses so much on teamwork. Because at the core of Konoha's battle strategy is the fact that we work together, and cover each others weaknesses. You're training to cover your ass and protect as many people as you can right? Especially after what you just experienced."

Naruto nodded, causing Jiraiya to smirk. "You think you're the only one? Please brat, if there's one thing I saw in your generation this year at the Chunin Exams, it was the desire to improve yourselves. I've heard about all your exploits, all of you. Everyone is improving. If you want them to have faith in you, you have to have faith in them kid."

Naruto clenched his fists, looking up at Jiraiya, determination in his eyes. Jiraiya smirked.

"Never give up hope. Rely on your friends, and have faith in them. They will keep you strong in war, as you will keep them strong. They are your drive for fighting. Get stronger for them, fight for them, kill for them, and die for them," Jiraiya stated, before he looked Naruto dead in the eye, his eyes becoming steely hard.

"But most importantly, live for them Naruto," Jiraiya stated. "War can destroy the strong Naruto. War took the life of even the most fearsome of Hokages Naruto, but remember what you told Hiruzen," Jiraiya stated. "When you were a child, when you were nothing more than a headstrong brat with nothing going for him but a large amount of chakra. Do you remember what you told him when you burst into his room one Saturday night?"

"That I would be the best Hokage," Naruto stated softly. The blonde remembered the day as though it was yesterday. Hiruzen had laughed and said he believed in him.

The only person then who had.

"So be the best," Jiraiya stated.

Naruto stared at Jiraiya, shock written on his face until he saw Jiraiya smile, the age of the man seeming to catch up with him in the fading light of the evening. The lines on his face. The places where just enough makeup could be seen to be hiding small scars. The man was tired.

"I believe in you."

Clenching his fists Naruto could only nod.

"I will survive this war, and I will be the best damn Hokage Konoha's ever seen," Naruto cried out, determination back in his voice. "I swear it on my Nindo way!"

Jiraiya smiled, embracing Naruto once more.

Neji grunted as the shinobi did the heavy lifting as they marched towards Yamiji Village. He frowned, his Byakugan straining to see the area around him. Ever since Hoheto had realized that he was a Hyuga he had been placed rather close to the front of the procession, in order to use his Byakugan to scout for any threats that may be looking to set a trap and warn them beforehand. However, due to the relative peace of the trip he had nothing to do but watch the army march.

It was an interesting view. The Daimyo's men, despite being overall much weaker than shinobi, were doing none of the heavy lifting. At first it had made sense to him, after all, there were only so many horses to pull the supplies, so naturally shinobi would be the ones to carry them. They were physically much more capable than the samurai. However, upon a few more moments of thought the decision became increasingly confusing to him. Why would the samurai not bring enough horses to pull the supplies by wagon? Why were the shinobi, much more vital military assets, draining themselves before a battle? He couldn't understand the logic behind it.

The Hyuga glanced to Hoheto, the man resting on a horse next to him. He noticed idly that Hoheto had created space between them, and with a jog he rushed to catch up. He didn't quite like the gesture. Hoheto was his superior, and it wouldn't due to have him think that Neji believed himself to be equal. But he couldn't allow any enemy to get a sneak attack on the man, the Daimyo was far to important for that. He doubted anyone could bypass his Byakugan, but the Daimyo was far to important to risk even the slightest precaution on.

Hoheto glanced down at Neji, the man eyeing him closely. Neji, not making eye contact, kept his eyes focused in front of him, although he could see the man's gaze due to his Kekkei Genkai. When the pressure of the mans gaze became to much Neji stole a glance upwards, causing Hoheto to smile. Embarrassed, the Hyuga started to slow down, not wanting to upset the man only to feel a hand on his shoulder.

Neji blinked, looking up at Hoheto, the man smiling down at him.

"Don't be afraid now Hyuga," Hoheto stated. "What's your name?"

"My name?"

Hoheto laughed, the nervousness in Neji's voice coming out quite clear.

"Yes your name young one! Come now, tell me Konoha has shinobi that are more confident than you! That girl from before was quite a bit more confident."

Neji blinked, unaware of any girl that had been in the Daimyo's presence. "Neji Hyuga, Daimyo-sama."

"Neji Hyuga huh," Hoheto stated. "Interesting name. I remember hearing it once before. You wouldn't happen to be Hizashi Hyuga's son would you?"

Neji winced, a frown forming on his face. Hoheto noticed this, a frown forming on the mans face.

"Yes, I would be," Neji responded throatily. He hadn't meant to come off as disrespectful, but the man wasn't exactly bringing up good memories.

"I see," Hoheto stated. The frown on the mans face quickly morphed into a smile, this one not filled with mockery but of understanding. Once again a hand placed itself on Neji's shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze. Neji grunted, wanting to shrug it off, only for the mans words to make him pause.

"Your father was a great man. A free man. You are the spitting image of him. And if you're anything like him, you will undoubtedly grow into a great man. Live up to your fathers legacy child."

Neji was silent, merely looking forward.

But the urge to brush the man away disappeared.

Tsunade grunted as she unwrapped her bandaged hands. The blonde stood in front of the sink, staring at them before turning the faucet on. Clear water sang down the sink, Tsunade instantly beginning to wash her hands. The blonde woman grunted, fear beginning to creep into her eyes. She began to wash her hands more vigorously, the blonde getting more and more aggressive with her movements. She grabbed some hand wash, liberally dousing her hands like she was preparing to set them ablaze, before submerging her hands in the water again. The woman panicked, washing her hands to clear them even more ferociously than before until she lost control briefly, her hand swinging out and smashing against the mirror next to the sink, cracking it.

Tsunade paused, turning to look at the mirror and staring at the shattered reflection that gazed back at her. She frowned as she saw a piece of her fall out and shatter on the floor. She would have to clean that later.

Clean herself.

Tsunade raised her hands in front of her face, her eyes watching as they trembled in front of her. The image was still in her mind. Dan, Nawaki, and Naruto. All three of them, their dying bodies, their corpses, she could see them all so vividly. She could see the inability to save them in her hands.

'Two of them,' Tsunade's rational mind thought. Naruto was alive. Breathing, with Jiraiya. She hadn't failed him too.

Smiling softly the Sannin crumpled to her knees, ignoring the jagged blades of glass that bit into her skin. She could even ignore the blood leaking from her form. She hadn't failed, not all of them.

Tenten frowned as she heard it. The explosions from outside, the cries of terror, and the god-awful killing intent that was flooding the fort. There was no doubt in her mind what was going on. Orochimaru's second strike had come. The girl groaned, sliding out of bed, despite the pain from the wound on her shoulder telling her not to, glancing at the samurai laying in the medical wing. She had to fight. If she didn't they would all die.

The cries of battle outside, and the sheer weight of death in the air was permeable. This wasn't like the attack from before. This assault was shinobi, it was obvious. With only samurai and a few other shinobi stationed in the fort, there was no way they would be able to live through the day without some form of backup arriving. Hopefully her weaponry could provide that backup. She grunted, stumbling over to a chest, opening it to reveal an assortment of weapons, likely her gear along with several samurai's own weaponry.

She frowned. She couldn't use the bow and arrow, her shoulder wouldn't allow weapon would have to be one handed. The only ones suitable for that though were shuriken and kunai. Tenten grunted. There were only ten explosive tags left in this chest. There were probably more in the fort, but with all the wounded here this was probably just in case a last ditch defense needed to be placed here. There was no way she'd find more ammunition without finding the armory. That would be impossible.

Grunting Tenten got to work, wrapping the explosive tags onto kunai before pocketing the shuriken. She would have to be extremely accurate in her state. She had to take out large swaths of enemies, and run from anyone who came near her. She couldn't defend herself like this. She couldn't even use Black Angel if her life really depended on it in her condition.

Tenten sighed, walking to the door.

With a grunt she slowly crept out of the room, stumbling towards the stairs. She had a job to do.

Sasuke frowned. He saw it, the growing monstrosity of sand out in the distance. He knew what that meant. Suna was here, but more appropriately, Gaara was here. That was a problem. Gaara was far to powerful to let him do what he wanted. Even though he was technically a genin he was still very much a Jinchuriki, and any Jinchuriki had to be dealt with the most extreme of prejudice.

Sasuke immediately left his perch, shooting over to find Ko looking over a table, a map on it.

"Ko!"

"Yes Sasuke?"

"There's a mass of sand forming on the edge of Yakumo's jutsu," Sasuke explained, gesturing to the growing clump just barely visible on the horizon. Ko frowned, narrowing his eyes, before he activated his Byakugan, his eyes widening.

"Such chakra..."

"He's a Jinchuriki, his name is Gaara," Sasuke stated. "What do we do?"

Ko frowned, nodding. "Good job bringing this to my attention Sasuke. I'll alert the base. You go find Yakumo, tell her to increase the intensity of the blizzard in that general area. Also, give her a soldier pill. I'm sure keeping this whole genjutsu lasting can't be easy for her."

Sasuke nodded, rushing off to find the powerful genjutsu-wielding girl. It wasn't long before he found her, perched on top of the largest watchtower of the fort, a canvas in front of her that she was idly painting on.

"Yakumo," Sasuke stated, getting her attention. "Ko said to take this soldier pill," he stated, holding the pill out. Yakumo merely nodded, popping it in her mouth without much hesitation.

Sasuke frowned. "You see the giant pile of sand forming over there in the distance?"

Yakumo nodded. "Of course Uchiha-dono. I've noticed it for a while now."

"Ko said to increase the power of the blizzard in that general area. Don't let the Suna shinobi gain any traction. The person making the sand move is Sabaku no Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the Ichibi. He's a serious threat. The only person to defeat him, at least on record, is Konoha's own Jinchuriki."

Yakumo nodded, grabbing her paint brush and beginning to paint. Sasuke frowned. "I thought you were going to increase the intensity?"

"I am," Yakumo stated.

"But, you didn't use a paint brush in the fight against the Suna shinobi from earlier."

"No," Yakumo stated. "My illusions in that battle were fairly weak. If they had tried they probably could have shattered it. My power is severely limited without some form of medium to focus it through. For me, it's this paintbrush. All I need is a canvas. Give me that, and well..."

Yakumo grew silent as she drew the blizzard changing, instead in that area becoming a torrential downpour. Sasuke could not believe his eyes as the real world shifted to obey Yakumo's commands. The clouds above grew dark, a massive downpour of rain crashing onto the sand Gaara was drawing up, undoubtedly making it harder for him to control as the water made it heavy, sloppy. It visibly grew slower and some parts of it began to fall to the ground.

"Good work Yakumo," Sasuke stated, a smirk on his face.

Gaara grunted under the force of the downpour of rain. So the Konoha shinobi had noticed, and apparently their Ice Release user was a master in Water Release as well, or they had another master of the element, as the water was becoming increasingly more difficult to fight off. The sand was more difficult to control. It's response time was slower. Heavy. It required more chakra to even maintain.

"Under this siege I won't be able to keep up without using Shukaku's power," Gaara told Ibushi. "If I had already made the majority of it before the rain that would be a different story, or if the enemy hadn't already set up the perimeter, but against without those conditions."

"I understand," Ibushi stated. "Drop the barrier, there's no need. The rain itself isn't harmful. It's to stop your sand, and there's no point in you expending chakra for no use. There are other ways to force the tree huggers out."

Gaara nodded, letting his control instantly slip, breathing out a sigh of relief as the swell of wet sand fell back into the desert. Gaara glanced at Ibushi, interested in what he had to say next. The man glanced to a shinobi next to him.

"Get the artillery. We'll shell those Konoha fuckers."

"But sir, Kazekage-sama said-"

"We won't destroy the fort, that's not the goal," Ibushi stated. "We're not launching explosives, we're launching chemicals. We couldn't aim accurately with the explosives due to the rain making the ground less stable. Chiyo made poisons, let's put them to use. They're airborne, we don't need to be nearly as accurate."

The shinobi nodded, rushing off to find the head of the artillery unit. Gaara glanced at Ibushi. "Are you sure this is wise commander? It will undoubtedly sour our relations with Konoha."

"Our relations are already shitty," Ibushi stated. "A couple more dead shinobi won't mean much. Of course that water will make things a tad more difficult. The poison will mostly be swept into the ground, but any that makes contact on those tree huggers, well, they'll be critically poisoned."

Gaara frowned. "Understood."

Sakura grunted. She was struggling. Ameno was still far ahead of her in the competition. She wasn't close to matching her in the sheer number of points and the final test was coming up, this time with Tsunade personally watching over the test. With her being tied with Shikamaru, there was absolutely no way that she could catch up to Ameno unless she completely failed the test. But there was absolutely no way she could ensure that that happened.

Of course she could cheat and ruin Ameno's practice by cheating, but that would be particularly uncalled for, especially against an ally.

So how did she win? There was no way she could catch up in points statistically, the final just was not worth that much. There was only one other way for her to do it.

Sakura had to impress Tsunade personally. She had no idea how to she was going to do that, but that was what would have to be done.

Sakura nodded. It was time to start building her strategy.

Tenten grunted as she ducked underneath flying debris from an explosion caused not to far in the distance. Orochimaru's shinobi had already broken through the fort's damaged walls and they were wasting absolutely no time in making sure that they swarmed her Konoha allies. Bodies of dead samurai littered the streets, shinobi with the musical note emblem emblazoned on some part of their body laughing and attacking more samurai, only for a large eruption of wind to shred through a massive group of shinobi, cries of pain echoing from the area.

Tenten smirked.

Hayama was clearly giving them a hard time. That's good. Gaku likely was proving to be difficult for them to defeat as well. Tenten grunted, watching the Oto shinobi before her horde together before rushing towards where the great blast of wind came from. Tenten smirked.

One kunai throw later and that group of shinobi was gone in an explosion of blood, guts, and gore.

With that kunai Tenten also realized that she had to move. There was no way that after that explosion she wouldn't have to move, the Oto shinobi would be drawn to it just like they were drawn to Hayama's explosion of wind. However, just as she began to stumble away, there came a hollow that was much louder than the explosion she caused, followed by screams for help.

Tenten smirked.

She was positive that Gaku had heard her explosion with his advanced hearing and was trying to draw a bigger distraction because of it. He was making an assumption that she was the cause of it.

Tenten's smirk deepened. Gaku was smarter than she gave him credit for. Tenten kept moving, hiding away into the shadows of buildings. She still had to be careful. Her explosion would have drawn some form of attention, even with Gaku and Hayama fighting intensely against the Oto shinobi. Even if it didn't, multiple shinobi would be moving through her area to reach the duo.

Tenten clenched another kunai, patiently waiting. She had to be careful. If it was a small group of shinobi she would have to use shuriken, if it was a larger group she could use a kunai. Tenten grit her teeth, watching a fireball blaze through the street next to her, the heat emanating over before she saw shinobi sprinting through the street. Tenten grit her teeth.

Time to move.

Tenten grunted as she walked towards the group of moving shinobi, grabbing a cluster of shuriken before setting them loose, the blades whirling through the air before connecting the the Oto shinobi's neck, puncturing the jugular and causing the shinobi to drop to the ground spasming as they bled out. A loud cry caused Tenten to fall backwards, fear in her eyes before she heard footsteps.

She had been seen. Her heart began to beat faster as she heard the chorus of footsteps thunder down the street, chants of "Kill the Konoha bitch!" echoing into the night. Just as she saw the shadows of the Oto shinobi a howl scattered their cries, Gaku's ninken tearing through the group like a bullet before appearing in front of Tenten. The ninken barked, walking over to the girl and forcing her onto its back before it leapt onto the top of a building.

"What are you doing," Tenten stated, a pained expression on her face. The ninken was just trying to help but that amount of pressure on her body still hurt somewhat. The ninken, incapable of talking, merely pointed its head to where Gaku was, the man having several cuts and scrapes on his body despite the fact that he was fighting off dozens of Oto shinobi by himself. Clearly he was stronger than any of them individually, but the sheer number was beginning to wear on him, that much was obvious.

Tenten smirked, drawing a kunai before she let fly at one of the sides of the circle that entrapped Gaku.

"Gaku get down!"

The Konoha shinobi wasted no time following the order, despite not having known who it came from. Luckily enough for him that managed to save his life. The following explosion charred the battlefield, sending debris along with pieces of bodies flying overhead. Approximately a third of the group surrounding Gaku had been obliterated by the explosion and the flying debris. Gaku was lucky that he hadn't been hit.

Tenten smirked. "Explosive tags are way more useful against clumps of enemies. Individuals can avoid them easily enough, but if they're concentrated in large groups and taken by surprise you can't really go wrong."

Gaku's ninken barked, causing Tenten to rub its fur before it leapt away again, this time to get out of reach of a group of Oto shinobi rushing the duo, killing intent clearly leaking off of them. Tenten grunted, drawing shuriken and losing them at the following shinobi, forcing them to take a slight detour that put some space between them. With a smirk on her face Tenten noticed that was all the ninken needed, increasing the distant in a short few seconds.

The only thing that remained of them were the screams of rage as Gaku began to howl with laughter, screams of pain coming from that direction. However, just as Tenten turned around she saw another group of Oto shinobi moving in towards them. She frowned. They were swarmed, there was no way around it. They had already been overrun by the sheer amount of Oto shinobi, they wouldn't win in a battle of attrition. Few samurai were left to even distract the shinobi from the real threats on the battlefield, the Konoha shinobi.

Something had to be done to shake the Oto shinobi, they had to be routed.

Explosions were good at causing that.

Tenten leaned towards the ear of Gaku's ninken, determination on her face. "Hey boy, if you know where the armory is take me there. I might be able to get some more explosives, which would be really useful right about now alright?"

The ninken barked, changing direction instantly, and suddenly the chase was on. Tenten grunted as she barely deflected a flurry of shuriken from the Oto shinobi pursuing them. She winced the pain in her injured arm beginning to blaze as the action began to reopen her severe wound. She grit her teeth, noticing blood bleed through her clothing. The genin sent a quick prayer up to whatever gods were watching.

She needed to survive until she reached the armory.

Sasuke frowned as he saw the group begin to shuffle on the edges of his vision. There wasn't much he could see, it being so far out that he could only see blurs, but he could tell the difference between man and machine.

"What is that," he questioned. Yakumo didn't bother responding, merely frowning.

"That machinery definitely can't fire accurately. Your water won't let it," Sasuke stated, frowning. "Do they really intend to use artillery anyway? I would think they'd want to recapture the base rather than tear it apart."

"Everyone!"

The two genin glanced downwards to see Ko glaring forwards, the attention of the Konoha shinobi resting entirely on him. "Whatever you do, do NOT let those barrels explode near your! Take them down mid-flight path! They are dangerous!"

A unified "Yes sir!" echoed throughout the fort just as the barrels could be seen sent flying. Sasuke frowned, activating his Sharingan, drawing a kunai.

"Don't say I wasn't useful Ko," Sasuke muttered, launching three kunai at three of the seven barrels sent flying at the fort. Each of the kunai hit their mark, detonating in a blaze of glory soon after Sasuke made the tiger seal. A chorus of applause erupted from the fort, only for it to quickly fall away as four of the barrels continued towards the fort, although their path was somewhat altered by the force of the explosion.

A storm of shuriken released by the Konoha shinobi flew through the air, aimed to perfectly intercept the barrels only for a storm of wind to push the barrels ahead faster than expected, undoubtedly sent by some Suna shinobi. Sasuke grit his teeth, beginning to weave through handsigns until he saw the environment change once more. The heavy rain turned into a thunderstorm as lightning struck down, detonating another barrel prematurely, this time the green gas that came with its destruction visible to the Konoha shinobi.

"Good work Yakumo," Sasuke muttered. "Careful everyone! I think that's some sort of poison! Do not let those barrels land!"

As the three remaining barrels came ever closer Sasuke let his jutsu fly. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique)!" The blazing ball of fire hungrily soared towards the barrels. Yet Sasuke didn't count on how the environment would react to his fire. The wind currents reacted violently with the multiple different forces acting on them, causing the barrels to fly higher than expected and out of range of Sasuke's attack.

The Uchiha grit his teeth, watching the barrels sail over the fort. There was nothing he could do if they exploded now, but they were too high. They wouldn't reach the ground in time to have the poison effect the Konoha shinobi. No instead they landed behind the fort, creating a large cloud of green gas that wouldn't harm them. Or so he thought.

"Everyone!" Ko called once more, drawing their attention. "Be careful. We deflected the volley, but we cost ourselves our retreat. We must hold, at least until the cloud is gone. Yakumo, force the Suna shinobi backwards! Don't let them fire another volley!"

Yakumo nodded, immediately getting to work, beginning to draw on her canvas. Sasuke could only stare at the Suna shinobi in the distance, a frown on his face. They couldn't advance, not through Yakumo's terrible weather conditions. She could kill them in an instant, and they probably had theorized that. Yet to retake the fort they had to be able to advance. The ballistics weren't enough to damage the force by itself.

What was their next move?

"Sir it looks like the canisters landed behind the Konoha force!" a call from a Suna shinobi came. "We've cut off their retreat, but we didn't hit our intended target!"

"Great," Ibushi muttered. "We don't have enough canisters to keep firing volleys like that. If they keep up this level of defense there's no doubt in my mind that they'll be able to weather the storm and deflect all of the canisters. We have to force them to bring down this weather. Their shinobi can't keep up this storm indefinitely. This has to be draining their chakra immensely. Everyone go on standby! Gaara, with me! If they launch an attack it's up to you to deflect it understood!"

"Yes sir," Gaara stated, the cork of his gourd falling into the wet sand below.

Hayama grunted, his wind-coated blade bisecting another Oto shinobi before he leapt away from a blast of water that threatened to push him into a horde of Oto shinobi. The Jonin landed on a building, frowning as he saw the Oto shinobi roar and leap at him. The man quickly stabbed his sword into the roof before weaving through handseals, his eyes sparking with rage.

"If I fall today it will not be forgotten. Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)!"

The massive blast of wind sent the Oto shinobi who leapt towards him flying back to the ground, cuts and scrapes covering their body before Hayama spun, grabbing his blade and cutting a kunai in half as an Oto shinobi tried to sneak up behind himm. The Konoha Jonin then leapt forwards, running his blade through his enemies heart.

"Cover your killing intent, then you may have had me."

The advice fell on dead ears.

Hayama turned to see the horde of Oto shinobi beginning to scale the building, either by jumping straight to the roof or by scaling the wall. A frown crossed his face, the man charging chakra into his legs violently, the sudden explosion sending him rocketing into the air, away from the overwhelming threat. The man quickly drew two kunai, wrapping explosive tags around them before he launched them towards the horde. Without a moments hesitation he blitzed through handseals as a follow-up, a grin on his face.

"Fūton: Reppūshō (Wind Style: Gale Palm)!"

Launching his hand forwards, the winds increased the speed of the kunai, giving the retreating Oto shinobi no time to avoid the explosion, screams being heard as blood splattered all over the buildings. Hayama frowned as the smoke cleared. A sizable whole had been generated in the horde, but it wasn't nearly as much damage as he had anticipated. Something had blocked the majority of his attack, and from the crystal jutting from the ground he could only assume that it was that.

"You all fall back, you'll be of no help here. This man is Hayama Shirakumo. He is far above any regular shinobi's level."

Hayama frowned, especially seeing the Oto shinobi listen to the voice. He couldn't help but glance upwards to see a woman on top of the opposing building. This woman was clearly powerful, likely the leader of the entire assault. "I'm flattered, but I'm afraid I don't know you."

"Of course you wouldn't, I'm not well known. I assure you thought I'm no lightweight like those weaklings. My name is Guren. And I am going to kill you."

Hayama clenched his fist, gritting his teeth at the woman. He didn't doubt it. He was low on chakra from handling all of the previous Oto shinobi. He probably only had a good four more jutsu in him if he wanted to maintain his Hien (Flying Swallow), five if he deactivated it. Gritting his teeth Hayama took his stance. This kunoichi was likely at full power but it mattered not.

If he wanted to end this attack he had to defeat her.

For Konoha.

For the Daimyo.

Gaku grunted, carving in half another Oto shinobi with his claws, a frown on his face. There were too many, that was clear to him now. The Oto shinobi would easily overwhelm them. The majority of the samurai had been annihilated by the first Otogakure strike force with those monstrosities. The creatures weren't strong enough to pose a threat to any medium-level Chunin shinobi, but that wasn't their point. They were supposed to kill the majority of the samurai and trigger traps, leaving the second strike force the opportunity to attack before their numbers could be replenished and they could refortify.

Gaku had to hand it to him, Orochimaru was a brilliant man.

The Inuzuka Clan member ducked just as a blade swiped through the air where his head once was, before he leapt upwards, ripping the mans throat out before he began to spin, a tornado of claws, fangs, and deadly force as he barreled through a squad of Oto shinobi, blood covering his form as he landed back on his feet. He grit his teeth. The Otogakure shinobi weren't anything special either. They were actually incredibly weak. The only thing that made them threats was the sheer size of them. Orochimaru must have recruited practically anyone and just let them through their bodies against his opponents, a slow grind until his enemies finally fell. It was wasteful, but for someone like Orochimaru they wouldn't hesitate to use a strategy like this.

That did mean that overall this war with Orochimaru would end fairly quickly, as he wouldn't be able to keep up the sheer number of bodies to throw at his opponents. Gaku shook his head, realizing he was getting ahead of himself. It was improper of him to focus on the end of the war if he wouldn't even make it out of this battle. So he had to, simple as that.

The Inuzuka Clan member leapt into the air, noticing the direction the Otogakure shinobi had flooded in from. They came from the West of the border. That was fine. The capital was South of here, so if they could retreat in that direction they would be fine. That was fine. The only issue was that Orochimaru definitely knew that, and was probably part of the reason they were dealing with such a large amount of Oto shinobi. If they were all focusing on the enemy shinobi before them due to the constant fear of death by overwhelming numbers they would never be able to retreat. And if they defenders of this of the fort died Orochimaru gained the perfect staging ground for his war against Konoha. If he managed to gain enough traction there was no doubt in Gaku's mind that Kumo and Iwa would join.

It would easily be the beginning of the Fourth Great Shinobi World War, and unlike the other three, Konoha would not be prepared. It had only just recently begun starting its war engine again, mainly by being shocked into it. Iwa and Kumo had kept the war engine continuous since the last war. There was no doubt they were better prepared. Konoha would burn if a serious war broke out again.

But holding the fort was an impossibility. Retreat was the only option, hopefully allowing for them to regroup with the Daimyo's forces to retake the fort and hold it for the remainder of the war. Gaku grit his teeth. There was no use in everyone dying in a pointless battle. He had to cause a big enough distraction for everyone else to retreat. Gaku nodded, grabbing three kunai and wrapping explosive tags on them before launching them into the air. At their explosion he nodded, that was the signal.

Konoha would know to retreat.

Popping a soldier pill, Gaku grit his teeth, feeling his reserves replenish. In the meantime he had to make sure everyone else got out. Gaku clenched his fists.

'Forgive me Takamura,' Gaku thought. With that he dashed into the fray, the embodiment of death to the Oto shinobi forces.

For Konoha.

For the Daimyo.

Gaara grunted, watching as the skies began to change from, the storm clouds drawing closer to the Suna froce.

"Lightning," Gaara stated.

Ibushi nodded. "Indeed. I doubt our wind users can stop a blast of lightning. Everyone pull back!"

The Suna force nodded, beginning to move backwards. The artillery unit was the slowest, as they had to move back the massive artillery. Ibushi sighed. "Oh do we pierce this storm without just waiting it out?"

Ibushi frowned, before his eyes widened and he smirked. "Gaara how deep does the ice go?"

"Deep enough that I can't sense underneath it."

"How long would it take you to carve a tunnel in it?"

Gaara smirked, and immediately got to work.

I hope you guys enjoyed the scene with Naruto and Jiraiya. I really tried to encapsulate how Naruto would and should be feeling after the events on Uzu. I mean, he did almost die, and while he is a shinobi, so he's more battle hardened than a lot of kids, he is still at the end of the day, like twelve to thirteen. That isn't something that can be brushed off. And I feel like one of the people who honestly can relate to that the most is Jiraiya. And considering how important Naruto is to Jiraiya well, it just made sense for him to be the one comforting him. My one issue with this is that it felt kinda awkward with the vibe of the rest of the chapter, with it being relatively battle-centric except for the scene with Tsunade, Sakura, and Neji (although Neji's scene is technically leading to a battle). I feel like it kinda detracted from it. What do you guys think?

This chapter is mostly a set-up for the real battle that's gonna happen next chapter. This will pretty much be exclusively focused on Sasuke, Tenten, Gaara, and the people in the battles around them. Hope you guys enjoyed.

You'd be surprised what happens next pretty quickly actually.