i dont own Naruto, Ruroni Kenshin, and or any of the caracters therein Himura Seijuro is an OC of my design
now back to the show
-)::(- The Sword that Cleaves the Shadows -)::(-
It was well past midnight before the four shinobi, one canine, and wayward samurai finally found the section of woodlands that held the Bandits that had been plaguing the villagers. Alas, fate seemed set on dealing harsh blows to them for, tracking the trails of loot and broken tree limbs, the six stumbled upon a scene that was not what they were expecting to find. Heavy wooden stockades studded with random spikes to discourage climbing ringed what could very well be considered a small, for lack of a better term, "hidden village". Guard posts supported by sturdy wood towers – or in a few places large trees – dotted the walls perimeter, providing warning against intruders. As Kakashi, Tsume and Kuromaru, Gai, Shizune, and Seijuro gazed on from the cover of the tree line – which had been cut back at least thirty yards from the wall – contingents of well armed and armored men paced battlements and the grounds within. Kakashi stared deeper into the camp, thankful for his friend Obito's legacy as he gazed with Sharingan precision at the men and women within the walls.
"what the... that can't be..." Kakashi muttered to himself in shock, the others quickly turning attention towards him in response.
"Hatake-San?" Seijuro's voice cut back across the darkness.
The chimeric eyed jonin's response earned startled gasps from his teammates "There are Kumo Nin just like Houshi-Dono mentioned, but, there are other shinobi, I can see some Oto Nin, probably chunin... and ..."
"And what Kakashi?" Tsume's voice held a slight whine to it that made Seijuro wince in fear of being heard
"there are ..." Kakashi paused, "Root operatives in the center of the compound"
"na-nani?" was the general response from his fellow Konoha warriors, a simple "Oro?" sufficed for Seijuro
Root, that rogue element of ninja from within Konohagakure's own populace, it had long been viewed by the Hokage and Elder Council as seditious and by the General Shinobi Council as questionable, but to openly consort with Sound and Kumo Nin was bold, even for Danzo. Something was definitely going on, and It seemed Mujina pulled a deeper trawl-line than even Houshi had assumed. This changed everything, and at the same time made the seemingly pointless attacks of the "bandits" take on a sinister new light. Their attacks weren't just random pillaging of trade, it was a push to force Konoha into war, most likely with Stone to the north, then Cloud, Sound, and Danzo could swoop in to gather the pieces, like vultures to carrion.
"Kakashi, what do you propose we do in this situation? We certainly cannot let Root gain such a strong foothold on Konoha's interests, and certainly when relations with Stone are at risk." Gai, having shifted to seriousness in this situation, asks his cyclopean teammate
"Gai is right," Tsume continued, "If Oto and Kumo both have shinobi in this camp then the raids were likely some form of set-up"
Shizune frowned, a thoughtful expression on her face, "Yes, that seems the most likely scenario, but why would Danzo risk discovery?"
"hmmn," Kakashi frowned behind his mask, Shizune was right, why would Danzo risk discovery, it didn't make sense... unless... "Gai, do you recognize any of the Root agents?"
"A few of them yes, mostly from Yamato-san's reports to Tsunade-sama." The green beast frowned, "All Jonin at the least. Why do you ask Kakashi?"
"its just a hunch... but those Root agents are most likely Kage-bunshin..."
Gai Nodded sagely "Ah, of course that way if the base is attacked, the agents – safe back in Konoha, know who attacked them, and if they are Leaf shinobi, will be prepared to silence them upon return"
Kakashi nodded, 'so that was it eh? Use bunshin as a sort of remote sensor system, fairly ingenious, and there were enough agents committed that it would be impossible to take out all of the clones from beyond visual range.' The scarecrow frowned, 'how would they break into that camp now, they'd need a trump card, a one man army, a legend... wait...'Kakashi turned to face Seijuro, his eyes set sternly. "Oi, Batousai, think you could take out this camp?"
there was no response, at least not a verbal one, just a moment of staring, and then a nod from the samurai. Seijuro stood up and strode purposefully out of the forest's cover and into the clearing in front of the compound's opened gates. The guards for their part reacted quite quickly to the sudden appearance of an armed man outside the gate.
"INTRUDER!!!" well, let it never be said that efficiency implies originality. The guards lobbed kunai at the intruding swordsman, who faded into an afterimage as the tiny black blades sunk harmlessly into the soft earth.
"what the hell?! Where'd he go" the garrison's watch was panicking now and as they scanned the ground in confusion a voice echoed out from above.
"OVER HERE!" Seijuro rocketed down from the sky, his sword gleaming in the moonlight as he brought its blunt edge down into the shoulder of one of the Root Bunshins stationed in the gate's guard-tower, which as kage-bunshin are apt to do, exploded in a spectacular plume of white smoke. The cloud of dust from the bunshin's disruption swirled to follow the young Himura's blade as he brought it back in an arc to subdue the two bandits that had shared the lookout post with the bunshin. Twisting to the side Seijuro ducked behind a roof support as a volley of shuriken from the ground inside the compound whirled past him.
"You aren't very good shots that you aren't!" the young samurai yelled at his opponents below.
"Oh yeah?" one of the Oto Nin raised his arm at the tower and unleashed a burst of sound and the structure, hoping to catch the offending warrior in his roost.
Seijuro merely smirked and leaped of the tower towards the pulse, his sword held above him. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu - Ryūtsuisen" the konoha Nin in the tree line and the bandits and rogue Nin in the camp stared in shock as with a loud concussive burst Seijuro cut through the sonic boom with his sword.
"So thats why they called him Batousai eh Kakashi?" Gai said in awe as he and the other Konoha Nin watched from the forest's edge.
As Seijuro landed he slid to the left in a spiraling arc to take out a pair of Kumo Chunin who had been in the middle of what he assumed would have been a pair of Fuuton Jutsu had their hands not met Sakabatou with a bone-jarring crunch that left both men collapsed to the ground grasping shattered digits to their chest. Leaning back smoothly to dodge a rather shoddily thrown Fuuma Shuriken he used his momentum to throw himself into a back flip onto the inside of the Palisade wall. Rebounding off of the smooth inner surface of the wall (why would the inside need to be covered in spikes like the outside?) Seijuro launched into another smaller Ryūtsuisen, this time directed towards the Sound Nin who had attempted to destroy the tower earlier. The Oto Nin collapsed in on himself from shock as the reversed-blade sword struck hard into his shoulder. Seijuro frowned as he counted the remaining ninja in his head. "they've all moved in close to me to try and trap me... six 'Ne' ... four Oto... two Kumo left... looks like I have to use Sanosuke-dono's technique to end this quickly"
One of the root members grimaced as he spoke in a harsh tone to Seijuro "what are you doing here? We were told to expect Kakashi and his group of friends, not a bastard Kensai who doesn't know to leave well enough alone." the man leveled a katana at Seijuro and smirked "don't know what you planned on doing here, but you're going to die here samurai" with that the gathered ninja charged at Seijuro from all sides, intent on trapping the swordsman between them. Seijuro whipped the Sakabatou above his head with one hand and drove it into the ground in front of him blade first with a shout. "Futae no Kiwami!" the result is instantaneous as a shockwave of thrown rock and soil disperses the 'Ne' kage bunshin and toss the Kumo and Oto Nin into the air like chaff. In an instant Kakashi and the others are at Seijuro's side and quickly dispatch or round up the simple bandits that now cowered without their Ninja guardians. The 'Ne' warrior with the sword however slowly climbed to his feet eyes focused on Seijuro. "damn you..."
blinking in shock Seijuro Leaned forward to get a better look at the man, confusion evident on his face "Oro? You aren't a bunshin?"
"Keh! Like Danzo would trust Mujina to leave only bunshin here. Danzo had plans for this village you bastard, and now you've ruined it"
"plans?" Kakashi asked looking up from where he had been tying up a hostage with the mans own scarf.
"Kakashi..." the 'Ne' growled out "I knew Tsunade would send you. Where did you find this bastar-hurrgck!" the green clad arm of Maito Gai appeared around the man's throat before he could finish his curse
"YOU HAVE NOT ANSWERED MY RIVAL'S QUESTION! AND YOU CURSE SEIJURO-SAN, THAT IS MOST UNYOUTHFUL... now answer it and you may be alive in the morning" the last part of Gai's statement was spoken calmly and barely above a whisper. The effect was obvious on the entrapped ninja as he began to explain the plan in a panicked rush
"It's... It's the Ore! Danzo found out that the empires in the lands beyond Tsuki have begun looking for places to trade wootz ore in the ninja nations. Danzo wanted to control the major ore trade roads so that he could determine whether or not Konoha could acquire that ore. He promised Mujina a part of the profits... but I was ordered this morning to kill him. I was just waiting to get rid of you bakas and then... AACCK!"
Gai made a show of frowning thoughtfully "hmn... he seems to have passed out from lack of air" he paused as he assumed 'victorious hero pose 3-b' "YOSH! LET US RETURN TO THE VILLAGE AND REPORT OUR SUCCESS TO HOUSHI-DONO!"