C6, Of Knowledge and Action
"Talking." 'Thoughts.'
XX
Washi and Yugito walked into a very special room of the Main Water Country Den that held the transportation device known as the Gateway, upon entering the room they noticed their Mentor Raven who was currently at this time double checking his seals work as they would be needed to operate the Gateway correctly and to repower the system upon its restart.
Washi walks up to him and then said in a curious type of voice, "It looks exactly like the one back in the Spring Country Den, but I thought you said you had to reactivate it on both sides within a day or we would have to wait a another week to even attempt to reopen it once more Mentor."
Raven could only smile to his young student and then said, "You are forgetting my young apprentice that we are of the Uzumaki Clan, and I heard quite a few times that we were capable of the impossible."
It was at this moment that both Washi and Yugito notice an Eagle the size of a small pit bull standing in the room with armor adorning its chest but still allowing the graceful raptor to soar through the skies when need be, Raven made a simple nod of the head to the small Eagle which it then disappeared in a puff of smoke holding in one of its talons a strange looking scroll that Washi instantly recognized as a storage scroll.
Raven set up and positioned himself a good distance away from the front of the Gateway and folded his arms across his chest and then said, "If everything went as planned all we have to do wait and just give it a moment."
Yugito could not help her curious nature and just had to ask him, "Wait for what Mentor?"
But before he could say anything to her the Gateway came to life in a brilliant flash of light shining bright rays of light into the room illuminating it more than before, right at this moment an exact copy of Raven himself walked out of the Gateway bound to them and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
After this occurred the Gateway seemed to shut itself off and then seem to have a kind of life to it as Raven walked around the Gateway and then turned to his two older students and then said to them, "I had one of the Eagle clan send a scroll with a shadow clone sealed inside it to the Spring Den so that the Gateway there could be reactivated from that side as I had already prepared this side beforehand, but we now have a link to the Dan there and its archives as well as the weapons hidden there that will assist us in the coming months."
It was clear to Raven that both of his apprentices were quite impressed by the Gateway and it's capabilities, it was at this moment that he noticed Yugito studying the Gateway's unique design with a great sense of curiosity and decided to ask her what was so interesting about it, "What pray tell on you so fixated on my young apprentice."
"What are those up there indicating Mentor?" She asked of him.
Raven then looked up at the Gateway to see what she was talking about and was surprised by what he saw as well, "It would appear that these two are not the only gateways left, those two indicators that are lit up indicate the gateways that are active or ready to be reactivated."
"You said that the only other Gateway was located in our former village of Whirlpool that's now nothing but ruins, how is possible?" Washi asked Raven with curiosity.
Raven entered what his students have come to call his thinking pose and eventually came to a theory that explains everything, "It is quite possible that the area that the Gateway is house inside is still in one piece, that area in the old village is known as the Soul Sanctuary and was also where we held many of our extremely valuable pieces of equipment, knowledge and lost technology that we have kept hidden from our enemies as well as holding the legendary Animus itself."
Washi then realized that something must have happened long ago to make his Mentor think that this area had been completely destroyed by the fires of war, "You weren't able to reactivate the Gateway, to see if the Soul Sanctuary was still intact were you Mentor?"
Raven nodded to this and then said, "I'm afraid so, after the network went off-line I had to wait and see if anyone had survived the massacre of our home and would contact me. But by that point it was already too late to even attempt to reestablish a link with any of the Gateways."
"How do the gateways work mentor." Yugito asked him.
Raven turned to the Gateway and then began his explanation about the devices capabilities, "The Gateway uses a massive amount of Chakra that it absorbs from the environment around it, and it can then be used to create a one-way trip once a week to another receiving gateway in the network. As you have just seen my shadow clone activated the Gateway and traveled here before dispelling himself in the process that means that at any time we can open the gate from this side to send people or things through within a 30 min. window. After one week the Gateway can then be reopened once more for transport."
"What about the other Gateway that hasn't been activated yet?" Washi asked him.
"As long as the current gateways remain open we have a three-month window to go and find and then activate the last Gateway in this system's network, but before we can even attempt to go to the whirlpool ruins there is an item that must be retrieved here first before we can begin and without it cannot leave on a successful journey without it could take longer than the window we have available now." Raven said to them.
Because of this Yugito had become even more curious about what her mentor was talking about, "What's this item you talking about Mentor?"
"The item in question is a knowledge scroll that is hidden in one of the many hidden tombs of our clan here in the Land of Water, the scroll that we are after in this tomb is in fact the operation and creation manual to the Gateways themselves as well as a map that shows the entrance to the Soul Sanctuary. No matter what we do that scroll must be found and brought back here immediately, until now there has been no immediate rush to retrieve it but that has changed as of now."
Washi had a feeling that this would require his special skills and was another reason that his Mentor had not gone for them right away, "You know where the entrance to the tomb is, but could not retrieve it?"
"Yes, I believe it is time to retrieve it today if possible."
"Well then what are we waiting for, the sooner we get the scroll the faster we can get to the Hidden Whirlpool village." She said was some excitement and then noticed the look upon their faces realizing that this was their ancestral home in here she was talking about it like an exciting tourist.
She came to the realization that what she had said was as bad as if someone had told her that the Hidden Cloud had been destroyed and now it was a tourist attraction to be seen by everyone, "I didn't mean it like that I'm sorry, but we do have to hurry I take it?"
He looked into her eyes and then said, "There is nothing to be sorry about Yugito, because now there may be a chance for the Hidden Whirlpool to rise once more. We will have to charter a ship to take us to the Land of Waves, the village ruins will lie on the other side of the island near the whirlpools that once gave our country its name."
"We need to get the scroll right now then, because I have a feeling that if we need it all of a sudden that are enemies will also be looking for something else entirely and could come across it." Washi said as he began to walk out of the room only to come face-to-face with one of the recruits who was keeping an eye on things at the shipping docks and it was clear from the look on his face that he had something to report.
"Mentors, I bring grave news."
XX
Hanzo also known as the old man to many in the neighborhood was just getting everything ready for the night so he could go to bed and sleep soundly knowing that he had given the Leaf Ninjas a fighting chance against the Templars and had given his life's work to someone who would appreciate it and use it for good, he then looked out one of his many windows to see that the sun had finally set bringing the cool darkness of night and the contentment it would normally bring to a land at peace.
On fortunately for him his contentment would not come this night as he heard a sound at the front door and turned to investigate only to see five men standing before his front door with a clear look of evil intent and malice about them, but the old man knew there was still one more as he felt the presence of one more and turned around only to see one of the most evil men he had ever laid his eyes on in his long life and instantly knew who this was, "I'm sorry but my shop is closed and I am preparing for bed, so if you would be so content to see your selves to the door?"
The man he had turned to see was none other than Bane who was also known as The Civilian to many in the Land of Water, he had been reading one of Hanzo's many books and then turned his head to look the old man in the eyes, "This won't take long old man I just want to know some thing's, for example what were the foreign ninjas doing here?"
Hanzo had decided to play dumb figuring that this would allow him to go to bed without any problems and to dispel any suspicion towards the Leaf Ninjas as well, "Are you talking about those people who came to buy some of my books, I must be getting older than I thought I didn't even notice they were foreigners… Excuse me what you doing in my shop?"
Bane was not amused by Hanzo's decision to try to play the old sick man card and decided to let him know it, "I know you know who I am old man, so don't fuck with me. Now tell me the real reason they came here or you will regret it!"
Hanzo stood to his full height and then looked the bounty Hunter right in the eyes and then said, "We are all destined for God young man."
Bane only gave the old man a cruel smile and then said with a sense of cynicism in his voice, "Spoken like someone who has enjoyed a long and fruitful life, but I bet that there's someone you care about."
"My family is all gone to God's hands; you have nothing to threaten me with, Templar."
Bane was surprised to see that he knew so much about them, "So you know a bit about me and my religion do you old man?"
Hanzo however only wanted to give them a piece of his mind knowing there was no escape at this point, "Yes I know of your kind, I know that you claim to serve order but all you bring is chaos, do you know why?"
Bane had to admit that he was a little bit curious about this and nodded his head to the question in which that Hanzo decided to give his answer, "It is because religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed, all men including this one."
Hanzo pointed to himself and then pointed his finger directly at Bane, "As well as the man standing before me now, I have seen more order and peace as well as freedom and chaos than what your people try to bring to the world. Because of that very reason I know you will fail and that the Assassins will ultimately win over you, it's only a matter of time."
Bane was not amused in the slightest and could tell that there would be a confrontation between his men and this old man, and he knew it was about to start.
XX
Washi, Yugito and Raven walked into the main training areas of the Central Den and were surprised to see not only the current students of the new Land of Water Assassin Brotherhood but also Mei and Cat were sitting down as well, the students who were also posing as workers at the shipping docks stood forward of them and bowed to their Mentors and then began their reports, "Mentors, as per your orders we have been keeping an eye on the coming goings of the people at the shipping docks and today observed two groups of people arriving here in the capital, one of the groups that arrived was in the military section of the docks wearing black traveling cloaks with red clouds upon them, we know there were more than four of them who have arrived here and were clearly being escorted by the Red Guard to meet with the Daimyo at a later time."
The three Jinchuriki were now concerned for not only their own safety but their friends and their fellow Assassins, it was clear to them that the Akatsuki had come to try to take them for whatever dark purpose the organization had in mind for them.
But things were about to get a lot more complicated as the students continued their report, "Despite them another group of at least 16 other shinobi that we believe came from the Land of Fire have also arrived in already met with the Daimyo."
This caught the attention of Raven almost immediately realizing that their enemies had set some kind of plan in motion to disable their progress in the Land of Water, Washi then decided to ask some questions about the foreigners from the Land of Fire, "Can you describe these people to me?"
They both nodded and began their detail description of the Leaf ninjas, "We could easily tell that there were five high-level Jonin's in the group, one of them was clearly a female with long black hair and the reddest eyes I have ever seen in my life. The next one was clearly a man with a strange green spandex type outfit and I swear one of the younger members of the party looked almost exactly like him. There was another one who seemed to be smoking a lot and had an unusual symbol on a piece of cloth at his waist and a man with brown hair and some type of armor on his face that I could not recognize in the slightest. The last member was a man with hair that seemed to stick up in the air and was silver or gray with a mask upon and his headband covering one of his eyes."
Washi was shocked to no end that Konoha would send their best teams just to retrieve him and then started to come the realization that there was more going on, "I know four of those Jonin's personally and cannot fathom why they would be sent on this kind of mission, were missing a great deal of the puzzle here."
Raven then went into a thinking posture and decided to come up with one unique theory that seem to fit the situation at the moment, "I believe both parties have been sent to capture you three no matter the cost, and it is clear that our enemies the Templars have a hand in this as well."
Fu had become quite surprised that their enemy would be up to something like this in the first place as it made almost no sense to her, "Why would they send two groups to capture us anyways?"
Washi after listening to this for a moment had come to a conclusion but needed more information to make it real but decided to let everyone know about it anyways, "Because they didn't, I believe the Akatsuki was sent here to capture you two and me if they could. However the Leaf ninjas are here for me, after all why would a large group of highly trained and formidable foreign ninjas be doing in the capital city of a foreign land unless it was to combat a very specific threat, like me."
Yugito quickly realized where he was going with this, "Which means the threat of the Templars in the Land of Fire is only growing and they knew exactly what is happening here, but who could be in a position of power that would be able to influence events like this?"
"My guess would be the two Elders on the Civilian Council; they were the ones after all responsible for my removal from the ninja program in the first place, that may be the only reason that Tsunade allowed the mission to go ahead and first place and for her to gain evidence against the Templars and finally expose them." Washi said to them.
Fu was still quite curious as to how this plan would unfold, "It just seems a little too far-fetched if you ask me, wouldn't it just been easier to send the Akatsuki after us instead of this insane plan they've come up with."
It was Raven who then answered, "It may have been but there is a reason for this action, and part of it is control over Washi and everything he represents as well as what he can do in the future."
It was at this moment that everyone noticed a strange look had suddenly come on both of Raven and Washi's face that caught their attention as something clearly had the two Uzumaki's undivided attention at this time, the two of them turned to each other and Washi immediately said, "You can sense it to?"
Raven then nodded his head, "Yes something has happened, our Eagle Sense has become sensitive enough to know that something has happened in the city and you must go and investigated at once, I will remain here in the Den."
Washi immediately nodded and made his way to one of the Dens many exits; hot on his heels were none other than Fu, Yugito and Cat who were curious as to what was happening and what it meant for all of them.
XX
The Konoha ninjas were still trying to come to grips with what they had learned and what it could possibly mean to them all when Ino looks out one of the many hotel windows only to see the glow of fire off in the distance that the bookstore they had just been to was located in, "Wasn't that the area where the bookstore you were talking about was located?"
This caught both of Kakashi and Kurenai's attention at once as they heads snapped around and stared upon the scene before them and came to the dark realization that though old man's cryptic talk may have just come true.
Kakashi immediately went into a command like state and begin giving orders like the hardened soldier his time in battle had made him, "Kurenai, Sai, Neji your with me we're going to investigate this right now, the rest of you remain here and keep your eyes open."
As soon as this was said the four of them were out the door and on the way to the ground level with a single destination in mind and whatever awaited them upon their arrival.
XX
The fire burned with an intensity that was content on destroying everything in its path, as the small bookstore burned two men were carrying a third badly injured man walked out of the store and were quickly followed by a fourth who was none other than the deadly Bounty Hunter and Templar agent Bane who looked as if he had just fought a small war and pulled a small letter opener from his left shoulder and threw it to the ground such force that it was nearly buried from it.
Bane was forced to also remove from his face his favorite pair battle of goggles with their famous red tint and looked at them as he crushed them in his hand through them to the ground with a scallop on his face realizing the older man had been a professional ninja and even at his old age was a significant threat to be certain, his already bad mood was only made significantly worse as he heard the injured man's pleas for help, "Oh God, I think I'm dying here. Somebody help me please."
Bane had finally had enough of this, especially after his battle with the old man, "All right then."
As he said this he pulled out his gun and pulled the trigger shooting the injured Bounty Hunter right between the eyes and scaring the other two men considerably in the process as they stared at him with wide eyes and pure terror upon their faces, "What?"
The two men quickly turned away in fear as Bane quickly pulled out a scroll and then unsealed three rather unusual looking machines, each man took one of them and got on them and they quickly came to life quickly as they sped off into the distance.
On top of a nearby building was none other than Momo of the Thieves Guild of Water Country and second in command to the leader of the guild itself, it was right at this moment that Cat and the Assassins had arrived and were surprised by the scene taking place under them.
Momo quickly turned to face them and bowed to her leader and then said, "My Master there has been incident with old man Hanzo, one of our people was in the area and saw that bastard Bane and some of his henchmen enter the bookstore, by the time I arrived I saw two men exiting with a third injured man and then saw Bane himself a emerge looking less than presentable. I would say that the old man decided to go down fighting and did a real number on them because I was told there were five of these men that went in with Bane only two walked out of their own power and the third was killed by Bane himself. I saw that evil man Eyes and they were blood red with strange black things moving in them, it scared me to my core."
Washi instantly recognized the description of the Sharingan that was only found in the Uchiha Clan, it made him wonder just how many members of the Uchiha Clan were in fact still alive and how much of a threat did they pose?
Fu was currently keeping her eyes opened as the people below began to crowd around and several others began trying to fight the fire that was currently consuming the bookstore, the woman watched as Washi got down on one knee and took a closer look at the scene before them as he activated his Eagle Sense and began to watch the scene unfold before him and was surprised to see in a sense what look like motorcycles.
Yugito realized he had just watched the entire scene thanks to his bloodlines ability and then began to look out upon the crowd only to see four of the Konoha ninjas come running on to the scene with genuine looks of surprise on their faces he recognized all but one of them and instantly grew concerned as he noticed that one of them was none other than Neji Hyuga who had clearly activated his Byakugan and began to observe his surroundings.
Washi immediately recognize that they needed to leave right away and also caught the same look on Yugito's face as well as the two of them turned to Cat and Momo and then said, "We need to go right now."
"What? Why?" Cat asked him.
He turned to her and then said, "Four of the Konoha ninjas have come to see what is going on and one of them has probably already detected us, we need to get moving right now."
XX
Neji was keeping all of his senses open knowing that something like this would catch the attention of their possible target and he was not disappointed as he saw five people standing atop one of the buildings overlooking the scene below them, he then said, "They're directly behind us on top of the building but it appears that they are about to make a run for what should we do?"
Kakashi and Kurenai realized that this may be one of their best opportunities to capture Naruto without hopefully running into too many problems from the Assassins, Kakashi then decided on his course of action, "We go now we can't pass up this kind of an opportunity."
They all nodded and began to make their way out of the crowd only to see Neji take off like a bat out of hell as it was clear that their prey had spotted them and was in full retreat, the four leaf ninjas managed to make their way up to the roofs only to see that the five people were clearly masters at this kind of running system and were easily outrunning them until they started to run into patrolling guards on those who proceeded to try to stop them by force only to see that the Assassins were well prepared for this and were killing the guards on the run and never truly stopping but it was enough to at least slow them down for the leaf ninjas to begin to gain some ground on them.
It was at this point that Neji had begun to see that they were talking to each other and it was only thanks to his clan training that he could even understand what they were saying, the lead Assassin who he believed to be Naruto told the two thieves to break off and make a run for it and that they would meet up later as they were the prime targets of the ninjas that were pursuing them at this time.
They both nodded and took off in two different directions while Neji remained fixated upon his prime target as he read what they were saying more and more and filed it away for later in case they lost their prey, it was at this point that Naruto turned on them and fired a small door like object that impacted Neji's neck dad on and he immediately began to feel the effects taking hold and could not stop the hold of sleep from taking him into the realm of sleep.
The three Assassins continued on their way knowing they had to take this opportunity to escape as soon as possible if they wanted to remain free; Washi had replaced the deadly poison with a knock out toxin that only put someone asleep for a while instead of killing them with his poison dart gun.
Kakashi, Kurenai and Sai instantly ran over to Neji as he hit the ground hard and to the surprise of the three began to snore rather loudly for all to hear forcing them to have a sweat drop occurred, Kurenai then looked up trying to catch sight of their pray only to discover that they had disappeared into the night and let out a sigh of frustration and then said, "Oh great, they got away and the only person who could track them is taking a little break now this is just great."
Kakashi immediately began to carry Neji in what was known as a fireman's carry and motioned for them to follow him off the roof as their position has undoubtedly been compromised and said to them, "That's not what concerns me right now, we need to get out of here and then?"
Kurenai became curious and asked as they ran back to their hotel room, "And then, what?"
"And then we need to figure out how they found out we were there so fast, I think the answer is in that old man's journals and that's one of the reasons they're so important. And as we've just seen important enough for someone to kill for."
XX
The Assassins had just walked back into the Den and were glad to see that Cat and Momo had successfully made it back without being followed; Raven could then tell that there was a big problem and waited for Washi to tell them, "We're going to have to be extra careful for now on."
One of the many recruits decided to ask the most obvious of the questions, "Who or what has caused this Mentor?"
Yugito then responded, "The Konoha Ninjas were there and were scouting the area, one of them has the bloodline limit known as the Byakugan which allowed them to spot us sooner than we expected. If it hadn't been for Washi's Eagle Sense we would have been captured without ever knowing that they were there in the first place."
Raven then realized that their presence here would create more problems and knew that only Washi could give them the knowledge they need at this point in time and how to avoid them at all, "Washi, we are all present here, I believe it would be a good time to know our enemies."
Washi nodded his head to his mentor and then proceeded to create six shadow clones that then used the transforming jutsu to make them appear like some of the people he decided to explain about the most, the first one he pointed to was a man with spiky silver hair and a headband covering one eye with a mask covering his face, "This is my old sensei Kakashi, he's known as the copycat ninja and has copied more than 1000 Jutsu's that are now at his disposal he also possesses underneath that headband and implanted Sharingan that allows him to not only copy enemy movements and their signature jutsu's as well as to predict what they will do in battle which makes it one of the most dangerous bloodlines around."
Washi then continued to explain, "His Genin team consisted of myself and the last loyal Uchiha who was also by chance responsible in part for my removal from the ninja program in the Leaf Village. The only one I recognized from his current team is the young pink haired woman whose name is Sakura. From what I remember about her she had excellent chakra control which made her perfect for medical Nin-jutsu and she had a natural talent for Genjutsu as well."
The recruits were surprised to say the least as he moved to the next one which was also a man with a short beard and a unique symbol at his waist, "This man is Asuma Sarutobi, son of the third Hokage and former Guardian to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire himself. From what I know about him he is a master in hand-to-hand combat as well as the use of wind chakra much like myself. His former Genin team consists of a young man named Shikamaru who despite being quite lazy is a formidable person in combat which I have seen myself, his intelligence is as much of an weapon as his shadow which he has full control over is. The next one is a young blonde woman named Ino who has the ability to transfer her consciousness to another living being and take control of them as well as to observe the memories of any living and possible deceased individual giving them incredible amounts of knowledge in the process as well as the ability to possible he destroying mines how far she is in these abilities I do not know. The next member of this team is Choji who possesses the ability to manipulate his body into just about any size including what would be like fighting a huge giant, these three can cover each other's weaknesses and enhance their strength at the same time in combat which makes them a deadly combination and one of our biggest concerns."
The recruits were a little bit so prized by this bit of information and realized why they would have to be even more careful than normal now, Washi then motioned for two of the clones to step forward and then continued to give his report, "This woman is Kurenai, she is considered the ice Queen of Konoha and is a master in the use of Genjutsu, while the first two teams were mostly developed into combat units, hers is more suited for search and rescue or search and destroy. The first member I wish to speak about is name is Kiba and his Nin-dog partner Akamaru, they come from a clan that specializes in both combat and hunting for either allies or enemies since they have many of the same qualities of their companions. He would represent the most heavy combat threat on the team and since he's never alone it would make trying to deal with him little harder and for all of you he can track you by your sent and possibly track you back to any of our hideouts or the dance so you need to be extra careful around this particular team and I'm not even done with the team yet. The next young man is Shino who uses bugs in his jutsu's both to combat enemy threats as well as to track them down. The last member of this team is a close friend of mine whose name is Hinata Hyuga who might just joining us and is a member of the Hyuga clan. I will explain a little more about them in a bit but right now I think it's time to explain about the last team that I know personally."
The recruits watched as the last two clones walked forward and stood before everyone even Cat and Momo watched and listened with intent upon his every word.
"This is Might Guy who is considered Konoha's predominant hand-to-hand combat expert and master in just about every known form of Taijutsu and trains much the same way as we do. His team consists of a young man named Rock Lee looks almost like a younger clone of the man and is a master in Taijutsu as well and is someone I would not take lightly if I were you, the next member is a young woman named Tenten who is a weapons expert and takes her career as a kunoichi very seriously and from what I have seen when I was in the village she will be just as well trained as her two male counterparts. The last member of this team is named Neji Hyuga and is Hinata's cousin, with him and her on these teams we will have a much harder time trying to move about the city as before along with Kurenai's team will make it harder for us to move about the city without being seen as the Byakugan the Hyuga clan bloodline can see through solid objects and up to about a mile away as well and can assist them in several other things as well including their combat style which if they get the right kind of hit in they can killed a person instantly. It's one of the reasons they are generally put in to tracking teams in the first place or heavy combat squads, and from what I have seen of Neji he has recently achieved the rank of Jonin which will make him a significant threat to us but we must proceed with caution as there are two members that I know nothing about."
The recruits all turned to Raven awaiting his decision on what they should do next, "We will continue with the operation as planned, we have put too much into this and cannot risk failure but I believe it would be a wise decision to ask for assistance from both the Mist Resistance and the Thieves Guild since I believe that the Leaf Ninja will undoubtedly be on the lookout for us tomorrow. There is an excellent chance they are here without even knowing it to expose the Templars in their own village as it is quite unusual since such a large number of foreigners into the capital city of a foreign nation even one like here would not be taken like in the long run or even assisted just retrieve one person, and by now there's a good chance they have begun to see if things are not as black-and-white as they have been led to believe. We will keep an eye on them and do our best to avoid them for the time being as we have many things to do, Mei after tomorrow we need to get into contact with Capt. Jack Web as we need to go our old homeland as something very important has come up and could assist us in the fight against the water Templars."
Both Mei and Cat not as they realized that something very important was going to happen in the not too distant future, Mei then motioned for Cat and Momo to follow her out she then said, "We'll be waiting early in the morning for you guys make a move just be ready."
The Assassins nodded to them and then began to discuss their targets and what was required of them in the morning.
XX
Neji was just now beginning to wake up and looked around the room to see that almost everyone was concerned about him including his cousin; he then began to set up and was still quite unstable but managed to right himself with little trouble and looked around the room and all the gathered faces and finally spoke to them, "How long was I out?"
Guy was the first to give him his answers, "About two hours, my youthful student."
He was shocked to hear that he had been out that long but realize that Naruto could have killed him but did not which proved that there was something else going on and that as he feared they were being used by the Daimyo of this nation, he then heard Kurenai ask a very important question that was on most of their minds, "How the hell did he know we were there?"
Neji then gave his own unique insight on what he had seen and experienced, "I don't know how he did it but he saw us out of all those people in that crowd and I swear one of them said something about something called Eagle Sense?"
Ino was curious about what he had just said, "What do you mean said, how do you know what they said?"
Hinata then answered her former Academy classmate, "Actually Ino, we are trained to read lips with the use of the Byakugan. And this Eagle Sense sounds just like it works similar to our own."
Asuma was surprised to hear this and was then even more surprised by what his lazy student then said next, "Well we know that Naruto is a member of the Uzumaki clan right?"
They all nodded to him as he then said, "Well that explains what's in both my own families archives and this very, very old journal by some weird old guy by the name of the Warren Vidic."
Kakashi and the others were surprised to get there was some kind of connection to what Neji had heard and what was in these archives, he then asked, "What do you mean in both that book and your families archives?"
Shikamaru Placed the book forward and placed it on a large table for all to see and flipped to a very specific page and began to read aloud despite the fact that only one or two of them could read just a few words on the book's pages, "Journal entry, Project Animus: lead scientist of project, Vidic Warren. Assistant researcher, Stillman Lucy. Date , March 5, 2012. Today a new subject we have codenamed subject 16 has been successfully integrated into the Animus and we have observed the target ancestor named, Ezio Auditore. During study and recording of subject and his ancestor we then noted that a rather unique type of sense was discovered which the ancestor remarked as Eagle vision which seemed to allow the subject in question to possess better than normal eyesight and the unique ability to detect friend from foe and unique things in the environment that would be normally hidden from all. We have currently sent a sample of subject sixteenths DNA off for analysis hoping to discover in ancestral link to this genetic ability we have begun to classify as bloodlines."
Ino was the first to let her thoughts be known what they had just learned, "Are you turning us that this book is over 500 years old and that the beginning of bloodlines began even before the Great even Event occurred and your family has been researching it all this time and what language is this?"
Shikamaru just looked into her eyes and then said, "Actually Ino, my family has been looking for something like this for a very long time and the language here is English, as in the trade language we are all custom to speaking. But very few people are accustomed to writing and reading it. My family is and we have translated hundreds of books into several languages here in the elemental nations, in fact Lady Tsunade use some of our books to save Choji here after the debacle that became known as the Sasuke retrieval mission. In part of the archive is a set of books that talks about the Uzumaki's clan's unique ability to detect friend from foe and find things that not even the Byakugan could find. My father told me to read all of those journals as they might help us in finding Naruto."
Yamato could tell that there was even more and just had to ask, "The journals have something else to say don't they?"
Shikamaru could only nod and then continued with the next Journal entry he had marked, "April 4, 2012. We have begun to notice that subject 16 is experiencing what we refer to as the bleeding effect and have noticed that a rather than usual event has taken place in that subject 16 has inherited the bloodline ability known as Eagle Vision. We are currently conducting a special experiment to see if this ability can be passed on to others who have no ancestral history of ever possessing this unique bloodline and will report in future journal entries our findings."
Shikamaru then turned to another entry in the Journal and began to read aloud once more, "April 27, 2012. The secondary bleeding effect experiment has revealed that although certain traits and memories can be successfully passed on to other people who do not possess a direct ancestral link we have discovered that the unique bloodline known as Eagle vision does not appear to possess the same type of ability to be passed down like knowledge and experiences can be to other people. But on a side note the DNA tests revealed that a rather unique strand of DNA exists in both subject 16 and a future subject we are currently tracking which will be codenamed subject 17 seem to possess, we have also noticed that the unique DNA strand appears to become more dominant the more the Animus is used. Our board has decided to create a secondary animus project to train potential defense operatives for the company."
He then turns to all of them and said, "They discovered that this Eagle Vision was in fact a very rare and old bloodline and that only say one in every 20 people even possess and that during that time line may be one person in a century would activate until this machine the Animus came around strengthening the DNA in the process. And with what we know about the assassins this is the perfect kind of blood line limit for them. I only wish that I had more information on it to share with you all, but I can tell you this much getting the drop on him is going to be very difficult to say the least."
Neji had a feeling that very soon he would become the center of attention once more and his suspicions were proven correctly when Shikamaru turned to him with a lazy kind of look that said it's your turn and leave me alone.
Everyone in the room noticed the lazy ninjas gaze fall upon the stoic Hyuga's direction then decided to finish his have given report, "While it was difficult to discern what they were saying at the time, but they were discussing some kind of battle action that would occur tomorrow near or at the shipping docks and they were pretty persistent about it which means something is going to take place tomorrow and we need to be ready for it."
Kakashi immediately turned to the assembled ninja and began to issue orders knowing that tomorrow would be quite important to them all, "All of you get a good night's sleep and rest up as much as possible, in the morning will set up teams to track the assassins and to keep an eye on things that will be unfolding tomorrow."
XX
Sado walked down one of the many holes that made up the corridors of his palace only to see a rather stupid bounty Hunter standing directly in his way and that of his fellow Templar and what some would call a close friend, Bane who was currently being attended to by one of the many nurses who lived in the palace looked up only to see the rather dumb bounty hunter be thrown out of daimyo's way as he walked into the room to observe the scene directly before him.
Bane could only smile at his friend's actions and then said, "You could've just ordered him to move you know."
Sado just smiled and then said in his dark and creepy way, "Where would the fun in that be, although I have to admit that I am exceedingly curious as to why you decided to start a small war with for this old man?"
"The Leaf Ninjas went to see him almost immediately upon their arrival, not only that but he knew about us Templars and pretty much stated that the assassins would kill us all pretty soon. What I wasn't counting on was for this old fossil to be a Kage level ninja running a damn bookstore."
"We both know that the Leaf Ninjas will begin their search for the Nine tailed Fox host soon, and if they do join our enemies just eliminate them like any other threat my friend. It's that simple." Sado said.
XX
The morning air was cold and calm as the dock workers went about their morning keeping one eye open knowing that any mistake could end their jobs if not their lives because of the evil that still had a strong grip on this country and its people, many of them still faring for their lives as they went about their day-to-day.
(Playing in the background as they walk up, especially Raven is back in the saddle by Aerosmith.)
Right at this moment Raven and several of the more advanced recruits in the art of combat were walking up to begin their part of the battle to come, right at this moment one of the many security guards who decided to make other people's lives a living hell turned to face a small group people and instantly recognize them as assassins.
Before he could raise the alarm the oldest member of the group in one fluid and fast motion pulled back his arm and shot it forward punching the guard square in the face sending him back into the nearby wall hard actually knocking him unconscious with one hit, the other guards realizing they were under attack immediately went on the offensive believing that they were superior to anyone as that was the common bit of arrogance that seemed to guide all types of Templars and was the easiest thing for the assassins to exploit when in combat.
The recruits were making their mentor quite proud as they made short work of the security guards only to be surprised by the presence of several Red Guard members who had undoubtably been assigned to protect this particular shipping dock and the secrets that it contains no matter the cost, Raven however very quickly despite his age and artificial leg made short work of them in less than a minute as the last body fell to the ground surprising even his most skilled recruits at what a fully trained assassin was truly capable of.
To even his surprise only one more Red Guard member remained appeared to be even more trained of the group and was clear that he was the unit superior officer, the Guard member pulled out a strange looking staff and rushed into battle against Raven giving the old man a true work out for a change.
This would have continued had Raven not grabbed the man staff and given him a mighty toss using his own weight against him to throw the guardsmen right through a nearby wall surprising the people on the other side, before the guardsmen could even write himself he saw the flash of light off of ravens hidden blade as it entered his chest right through the soft part of the armor killing the man with in seconds.
The dockworkers quickly ran out as the recruits came up to their mentor and bowed and gave the signal that the bombs had been set and the timer was running as they spoke, he then made a quick motion and said for all to hear, "The docs are going to blow everyone out of here right now if you value your lives."
Within a minute of everyone clearing the docs the first explosion went off destroying a large warehouse which then set off a chain reaction of explosions distributing the rest of the military area along with all of the weapons that the Red Guard would undoubtedly use to oppress this country once again, the description of this facility would prevent any immediate oppression of the people and was one step closer to liberation of this country.
Raven then looked off into the distance to see that the first of the three towers would be falling quite soon and motioned for his recruits to follow him to assist the other members of the brotherhood who were undoubtedly already engaged in heavy action and it was time to join them.
XX
Sado and Bane watch as the dock area that supported his military arm was utterly destroyed and the first tower that prevented the mercenaries and their leader from interfering in his affairs, he knew that if two more towers were destroyed the control he barely had now would be in serious danger and would force him to take immediate action if he wanted to remain in control of this country and quickly turned to one of his many generals and began to work orders, "Send out three battle battalions at once."
The soldier quickly asked for further orders, "Any special instructions my Lord?"
"They are to protect those two towers at the cost of their lives even and to do as much damage to the assassins and any members of the resistance as much as possible, and I expect results."
Soldier bowed to his leader and quickly ran off to meet up with his men to relay the orders and to begin the defense of the towers as soon as possible, Bane walked forward and looked out upon the city realizing that it would look much different than before and that there strength would be affected no matter what this day, "it's a multi-front attack, if they succeed in taking down his last two towers are enemies are going to multiply rather quickly."
"That may be old friend but it's only one battle in this war, and we can recover from it this time." Sado said to him with a look of determination up on it and hope.
XX
Yugito and her squad of recruits had just succeeded in destroying the first tower and were currently working their way into the second tower's defensive ring so they could plant there bombs and see this tower fall in upon itself ending its threat to the people of the Land of Water once and for all.
Yugito Had quickly begun to try to make a hole so her forces could get through but found that their enemies were doing everything in their power to prevent the assassins from completing their own task it was at this moment that she also felt they were no longer alone in this battle and that the advantage had shifted greatly in the favor of their enemies, after killing one of the tower guards she turned around only to see a full blown battle battalion marching down the street intend on taking them out once and for all.
"Oh, shit. Everyone brace yourself we're about to be in for the fight of our lives." She screamed out for all of the recruits to hear as they did everything in their power to prepare as they followed their young mentor right into heart of battle only to be surprised by the appearance of resistance members who worked directly with Mei to ensure that the tower would fall.
One of the resistance members quickly ran up to Yugito with a look of dread upon his face as he then said, "Lady Assassin, this is only the advanced force they're still two more battalions on their way here. We have to get this tower down now!"
Yugito quickly put down another guard and then a soldier that attempts to hit the resistance member before her, the man quickly also engaged several others ending their wicked lives as fast as he could only to see her come up to him and say, "We were working on a hole through their lines a little earlier we need that opening once more or we won't stand a chance at all, coordinate with my recruits and see if you can make a hole for us."
The young resistance member nodded to her and what about coordinating a plan of attack, right at this moment almost as if someone had said a prayer and is been answered by the Almighty several clones of Washi came flying down upon their enemies creating a distraction that the assassin recruits and the resistance members took clear advantage of forcing their way through the assembled tower guards and without wasting a moment began to set their charges and then ran like hell as if the devil was upon their heels.
As soon as the recruits and resistance members cleared the courtyard the tower exploded in a brilliant show and display of claims sending several pieces of the tower flying directly into the Battalion cutting your numbers down even further, however the clones that had once given them an edge were now all but gone and although the Battalion had taken massive casualties the next two would be arriving in mere moments.
The two battle battalions formed up with what remained of the first one and prepared to finish off not only a large group of resistance fighters but also a sizable chunk of the Assassin Brotherhood in one fatal strike, as the lead Battalion officer prepared to give his combat orders he quickly ordered his men to talk but it was too late as a storm of arrows rain down upon parts of the Battalion who seemed unharmed by the affective but ancient weapons and was about to laugh until he noticed the sound of a fusion running down and quickly ducked as a large explosion rocked his men killing many of them in the process.
It was at this moment to the surprise of many that men wearing unusual types of armor reminiscent of ancient Japanese samurai armor walked through the dust cloud that was still settling thanks to falling tower, in the front was a large man wearing or need in heavily reinforced armor that walked up to Yugito extending his hand to not only her but the nearby resistance member who had taken shelter upon the ground from the massive explosion that killed so many of these evil men.
They both took his hand as he helped him to their feet and then said, "I would like to thank you for finally making a hole big enough for us to punch through, and allow me to say I am honored to fight by an assassin sighed once more and we have much to discuss."
End of C6
I would like to hear what you all think about this latest chapter and how I've decided to begin to show more of the water Templars actions such as Bane and Sado, I would also like to hear what you all think about seeing Raven in action finally and just let you know I intend to do much more for C7 including something that I had originally planned for this chapter but have decided to give it much more attention in the next chapter.
I also have been studying more things about the two new assassins Creed games both three and liberation for the PSV and intend to integrate many of those things into the story as well, I also would like to hear what you think about what the leaf ninjas should do in the next chapter as I intend to make them a more active role in the story and I'm also repairing for Washi's return to the land of waves which is also his old homeland of Whirlpool and would like to hear what you all think is going to happen when he returns along with Raven both to reactivate the dormant gateway as well as to salvage the village if possible please tell me what you think and please read and review.