On the shores of Iwagakure's north eastern peninsula, the forces of Kirigakure bombarded the manufacturing settlement where the Land of Earth built naval ships for the Alliance. Cannon fire, water ninjutsu, long range attacks, and summons from the Kiri ships assaulted the shores mercilessly, breaking down the walls of stone that the Iwa shinobi raised one by one. Some held, others chipped under the attacks, and many others were broken with thunderous booms.
One Jonin of Iwagakure stood in the center of the area, guiding and directing his men to better assault the enemy once they had enough defenses to save what little resources they had left. "Get those walls up! If you're not moving or shielding supplies, then shield the facility! Where the hell is Han!?"
"Sir," one Chunin shouted. The Jonin turned his head, seeing the Tsuchikage, flanked by a small squad of Iwa shinobi.
"Lord Mao! I was not aware that you were investigating the facility still!"
"Well, it seems like a good thing I decided to stay." Mao then floated up off of the ground, only a few inches, before flying up to the highest point. The Tsuchikage landed on a rocky, rigid cliff edge off to the side of the facility, watching as the Kirigakure shinobi continued to lay waste to the facility. "Well, this was quite the bold action, sensei. However, even I must defend my country..." Mao bit both of his thumbs to draw blood and then placed them both on the ground, "Summoning jutsu!"
Out of the smoke, two large creatures came out from beneath Mao. One creature dove into the water while the second broke through the smoke and soared into the sky. A giant bird of prey with sharp, leathery wings flew overhead, letting out a bellowing shriek that drew the attention of the Kirigakure shinobi.
Without warning then, the ocean's surface in front of the Kiri ships broke upward, pushing the vessels backwards. The second colossal beast rose out from the sea, roaring as its flat head and jaw bit down on the stern of one of the ships, causing the crew to abandon it before the vessel was split in half and dragged into the sea.
A few of the Iwagakure shinobi still on the shore were awestruck by the colossal beasts they saw, drawing full attention of the Kirigakure forces. "Wh-what the hell are those things?!"
"How much do you actually know about your Tsuchikage maggot," a Jonin questioned. "During the war against the Alliance, Mao was a hero! He's known as the Master of Monsters! His powers over summoning techniques is great than the Sannin's, or even Hanzo the Salamander! In his most famous battle, Mao managed to hold off the Six Paths of Shinobi on his own with nothing but summons!"
"Th-those two monsters and Mao held off the Six Paths?"
"Of course not! Mao has countless creatures at his command! What you see, is a simple taste of his true might in summoning ninjutsu! The power of the ancient Titans!"
Mao stood tall as his two creatures began attacking the Kiri ships, one by one. The water users put up a good fight against the two titanic beasts, however they were clearly outmatched. With only two of their five remaining ships left, Mao knew that they would have to run in order to survive or die.
A weapon pierced through the aquatic monster's finger, which caused it no real pain. Mao's eyes noticed this even from a distance before he saw a lanky, tall man with a large amount of hair swinging off from the ship's deck and up into the air. A series of chain explosions then went off on the colossal monster's arm. It bellowed in a mixture of pain and agitation as Kushimaru landed on the beast's shoulder.
"The Seven Swordsmen? At least two of them for sure..."
Jinpachi grinned as his sword's paper roll began whirling quickly, filling back up with paper bombs. "Well, the Tsuchikage himself is here huh?! What should we do about this Kushimaru?"
The masked swordsman huffed in annoyance as he clutched his sword. He knew that Jinpachi was trying to goad him, implying that he would run away from the fight in the face of a Kage. Kushimaru turned his head towards the shore, seeing a man standing distinctively in the distance. The masked swordsman knew from the confident way the opposite man held himself, and the robes blowing against the wind that it was undoubtedly the Tsuchikage himself.
"It's time for your test lad! Get your ass out here and make yourself worth something!"
Below the deck of Kushimaru's ship, a single figure sat on the floor. His entire figure was obscured by the shadows, but he still heard his superior's calls. The person stood up and then shot up into the air, bursting through the deck with ease.
Jinpachi, nearly blown away by the sudden burst from below. A shorter figure in a full, body concealing dark blue cloak with white fur trims, wearing a fox mask and black spiky hair, launched himself up towards the beast Kushimaru stood atop of.
"You ready to prove your worth brat?"
A dark ball of chakra immediately popped up into the boy's hand, with a single white ring around it. Kushimaru let out a quick gasp before he launched himself off of the colossus's shoulder. The masked boy jumped from the shoulder and slammed the orb into the beast's face. A devastatingly large explosion went off, engulfing the monster's head. The beast stumbled backwards as the explosion went off, clutching its face as it let out an agonizing cry of pain. The jutsu alone managed to topple the monster as it fell backwards, crashing into the sea before being engulfed in a cloud of smoke as it dispelled.
"Oh," Mao exclaimed in shock. "That's quite the powerhouse. Let's see how he handles this." The Tsuchikage lifted up his arm, bringing the large bird of prey he summoned flying over him, heading towards the remaining Kiri shinobi. "Destroy them..."
The bird opened its mouth, gathering up chakra into a dense ball that was bright in color before launching it forward.
"Wh-what the?! Is that a Bijuu Bomb," one of the Kiri shinobi question, quaking with fear.
The masked boy held out both of his hands, popping up two more dark balls of chakra that spun and swirled in his palms. Two white rings appeared around the dark balls next. The boy then threw the bombs, one after another to intercept the chakra ball coming towards him and the Kiri forces. An enormous explosion erupted, nearly parting the sea from the point of detonation, despite being several meters above the surface of the water itself.
The land shook violently, and the sea shifted uncontrollably. Many of the Iwa shinobi struggled to keep their balance, with the exception of the Tsuchikage. The Kiri shinobi had the same problem, except for Kushimaru and the young boy.
"Well...I would have thought this should have been pointed out to me," Mao murmured. The Tsuchikage sighed and shook his head as his colossal bird circled back around over the shoreline. "Either you're a new asset...or Madara kept you a secret from me..."
"What the hell was that," Jinpachi murmured under his breath. "That thing can use the Bijuu Bombs?!"
"Not exactly," Kushimaru replied, standing on the mast of the ship. "The Titans are weaker in comparison to the actual Bijuu, but they're more powerful than an army of regular shinobi by comparison. Legend has it, the Titans were created by the Sage of Six Paths in his war against the Juubi, the Ten Tails, and that after that battle, they were his personal summons. They're artificial beings, as opposed to the Bijuu."
"Wouldn't that require massive amounts of chakra to summon them," Jinpachi questioned. "I mean, if the Sage of Six Paths used these things-,"
"Mao is Tsuchikage for a reason. He's the first man to possess all five Titans in recorded history. That, combined with his already extensive number of other summons is where he gained his moniker, the Master of Monsters."
"Well, two of those Titans we've already fought back! What else does this idiot have for us?!"
Mao's eyes traveled upwards, a smile crossing his face as something heavy landed behind him. The Tsuchikage chuckled darkly before turning around, seeing a man in red armor, "Ah, you showed up at last Han."
"Sorry for the delay. Your messengers are slow as slugs." Mao chuckled as Iwagakure's tall, imposing Jinchuriki approached.
"Apparently, Kirigakure has a new little weapon."
"Is he a Jinchuriki like me," Han questioned as he stood alongside the Tsuchikage.
"Undetermined, though he's taken out one of the Titans by surprise, and matched power with the other." The bird overhead let out an echoing caw, drawing Han's attention for a moment. Mao continued, placing his hands behind his back, "His power would be considered the same level as a Jinchuriki, however, we know every one of them the Union has."
"So he's just a freak of nature," Han guessed as he cracked his neck. "Either way, he won't survive my assault."
Kushimaru and Jinpachi noticed the shining red figure standing next to the Tsuchikage. They both attempted to get a clear image of what was standing there until the masked boy stepped up next to the senior swordsman.
"That's Han, Iwagakure's Jinchuriki," the boy spoke. Kushimaru growled angrily, knowing that the boy was likely right. "If you're intent on destroying that facility, I'd suggest using everything we have left to blow them away."
"All units, open fire! Cannons, ninjutsu, kunai, corpses, I don't care what you hurl at the enemy! Wipe that piece of land off the map!"
The assault began again, cannon fire, water jutsus, paper bombs, and all sorts of ranged attacks were thrown at the shore. Mao and Han watched the oncoming bombardment in silence before dozens of more earth walls were erected around the docks.
"This battle could be drawn out for awhile," Mao stated. Han grunted in agreement as the last of the walls had risen up, before more thunderous impacts echoed throughout the shoreline.
Shinno sat across from a long table from Orochimaru. The Sannin still kept most of his face hidden, but exposed his mouth to take a sip of tea. Shinno caught a glance of the mangled corner of his mouth as the tea dribbled down his chin.
"I...must admit that I'm surprised to hear all of this..." Shinno ran his fingers along his beard, eyes narrowed curiously. His former partner in science had just explained his predicament, and his hostile takeover of the Alliance failing. "But you wish to aid me now...against the Alliance, and against the Union?"
"As I've mentioned before old friend, I've been left with nothing." Though malice traced his tone, Orochimaru's voice was calm. The other follows of Orochimaru stood very tense. They were clearly unnerved by their ousting from the Alliance. "Most of my experiments, my power over the Edo Tensei, my influence and power, all of it was taken from me as soon as Danzo got word that I was a traitor. The Union would never accept me into their fold, even with the information I could offer them. They could gain enough from killing me and ripping my body asunder. You, old friend, have worked with me before. We've gained many exemplary feats through science and studies together, and you're neither on the Alliance nor the Union's side. Leaving us in the same boat."
Shinno hummed quietly as he cupped the side of his jaw in his hand. His eyes stared at Orochimaru rather uncaring, though they studied the serpent nonetheless. Orochimaru was never one to ask for help from anyone, but only to use people to escalate himself for some further ambition. Shinno knew that if Orochimaru was truly a traitor of the Alliance, then the Sannin would need to start over again.
"I don't require your assistance, Orochimaru," Shinno finally stated. The children shifted uncomfortably. The Sannin's grip on his tea cup tightened, cracking the glass a little. Shinno noticed this, and then looked back up to the Sannin. "My plans are almost completed. With the power I shall wield, I'll be able to wipe out all of the Great Shinobi Nations within the year."
"I doubt you will be able to do that...if we try and stop you ourselves." Orochimaru slowly rose out of his seat. The Sky ninja seemed alarmed by this ultimatum, as did Orochimaru's subordinates. Shinno sat calmly, staring at the Sannin as he felt the air pressure spike from the Sannin's chakra output. Still, the country leader was unaffected by the display. "I may be a rogue now, but my power still vastly surpasses yours, Shinno!"
"Don't be so sure Orochimaru. I've amassed my own army, my own fleet, something this world has never seen before. And now...the weapon which the Land of Sky was producing since during the Second Shinobi World War...Ancor Vantian."
The ground began to tremble unexpectedly. Even Shinno seemed surprised by this before he turned towards the Captain. "What's going on?! You said the Vantian wouldn't be ready for a few more hours!"
"Sir, we're under attack by a group of enemy ninjas! A-all of them are from different countries in the Alliance! And sir...th-they're all...dead shinobi." Shinno snapped his attention towards Orochimaru, who was showing his undamaged side to return a harsh stare at the Land of Sky's leader.
"I told you, I don't have control of the Edo Tensei anymore! If I did I wouldn't need to negotiate with the likes of you!"
"Then who else could it possibly be if not one of your own?!"
"Sir, we've received reports of...of an unknown woman in a mask!" Orochimaru's ember eyes flickered at this. Without warning, he turned around and headed for the exit, to which his subordinates immediately followed.
"And where are you going Orochimaru?!"
The Sannin stopped for a moment and looked back at Shinno, again with the undamaged side of his face, "This act of generosity isn't for you. This...this is going to be personal..." With that much said, Orochimaru continued out of the door of the meeting chamber and to the outside.
Several of the Land of Sky's shinobi were blown to bits by a man wearing an Iwagakure outfit, and long brown hair spiked backwards. The undead ninja continued to move between his foes, striking them one-by-one with his hands that caused each person to explode one after another.
Near the Iwa shinobi was a woman from Sunagakure with unusual hair, pulled up and tied in a bun on the top of her head. She moved gracefully across the battlefield, with several fiery orbs that sucked the moisture out of any unfortunate person's body, leaving them a shriveled up husk.
Causing the most devastation it seemed, were two flying men that launched cubes of dust upon their enemies, wiping out every last trace of weaponry or shinobi.
The Land of Sky's forces retaliated with sophisticated, long range weaponry, and their own air support. They bombarded the two ground ninja with kunai and refined chakra blasts that were almost like lasers. The bodies of the undead ninjas from Iwa and Suna were either torn to shreds, or blasted in half. The two in the sky, Mu and Onoki, were more difficult to hit for the Land of Sky however, which resorted both sides to go at one another in a prolonged dog-fight.
Several of the Sky ninja surrounded the remains of the undead ninja, seeing their pieces lying all around the ground. As they wondered what the leaves and pieces of land were floating back to their beings, the Iwa shinobi, Gari, slammed his palm on the ground, creating a devastating explosion that took out a large number of Sky ninjas in one stroke.
Standing at a distance, arms crossed and hair blowing against the breeze of war, Tenga stood watch, examining the settlement the Land of Sky set up more than the actual battle unfolding. She hummed curiously to herself until one Sky ninja somehow got close to her, and charged with his blade drawn. Without moving her body at all, Tenga's arm swung outward, with only her nails cutting open the shinobi's throat. He didn't pause in any sort of dramatic way, but instead fell to the ground in a heap, gagging and twitching as his life leaked from his throat.
"Hm...maybe keeping you alive would have been beneficial for interrogation...oh well."
Shinno stormed through to the halls of Ancor Vantian, for the control room specifically, before encountering Mukade. "Well, there you are. Your prisoners are breaking out all of a sudden!"
"I'll deal with that situation later," Shinno bellowed, "Go outside, provide support with your puppet army and stop the Alliance forces!"
"So demanding...very well, it's been too long since I stained my hand with Alliance blood!" Mukade then headed for the exit, unaware of what he was about to encounter. Shinno didn't care, and just needed enough time to accelerate preparations for Ancor Vantian.
Shinno eventually made his way into his throne room, and then headed to the back from there. Behind a pair of double doors was a large room, shimmering with lights from various seal insignias. He walked towards the center of the room, where various appendages of sorts held up a single cocoon of light with Amaru's naked body floating in a ball.
"You were so useful in keeping the Zero Tails hidden from the Union...and from Madara. However, it's time for you to become the sacrifice necessary to bring me to my rightful place as the ruler of this world!" Shinno placed his hand on a nearby pedestal, fueling his chakra into it.
The cocoon began to shimmer brightly, expanding its range to pick up negative emotions from the battle outside. Shinno grinned, surrounded by a dark aura, and his connection with the Zero Tails. Amaru cringed and whimpered, clearly in pain by the process as more energy was pumped through her and into the evil within her.
Onoki dodged another laser blast from one of the Land of Sky's turrets and began to counter with one of his Dust Jutsus until the small old zombie was sliced in two by a shimmering sword. The former Tsuchikage hardly seemed phased as he simply fell towards the ground in two.
As he landed, the man who cut him in two, Orochimaru, stepped on the man's head before taking the lead against the undead.
Tenga saw the Land of Sky's reinforcements and stopped her forces, bringing all of them except Onoki back to her. Mu stood to Tenga's left, Pakura to her right, and Gari kneeling before the masked kunoichi.
"Well, this is a surprise. To think we'd meet so soon after you destroyed my Palace."
"Indeed...who knew I'd get revenge on you so quickly?"
Tenga chuckled and shook her head. She didn't care for Orochimaru's arrogance, or his words, and dispatched the three Edo Tensei ninjas as she clapped her hands together again. The Sannin scowled angrily, knowing that she was bringing forth more reinforcements.
Orochimaru's head launched forward, his neck extended and slithering like a snake as his mouth opened to ridiculous proportions. Tenga flinched to this before she sprung backwards. Orochimaru's mouth took a large chunk out of the solid stone ground as Tenga skidded to a halt. The Sannin's body was brought back up to his head, his robes and hat having flown off by this point.
Tenga's ember eyes narrowed as she examined Orochimaru's disfigured face. His pure white skin was stretched like dried leather on the left side of his face. There was no soft tissue around his eye, leaving the normal slit as a giant organic, mobile ball. His mouth was disfigured, pulled back to look almost like a twisted smile. There were also certain scars imbedded into sections that led to the right half of his face, likely from Higure's fingers when he scarred the serpent.
Tenga then chuckled at this before taking a more composed stance, "Well, Higure did quite the number on you before dying, didn't he?"
"And if it weren't for you...I could have simply murdered him and taken over the Alliance!"
"Oh, your ambitions are higher than you can attain Orochimaru." The Sannin quickly performed a group of hand signs, prompting Tenga to cast her own.
Orochimaru unleashed a steady stream of fire that coiled around like a snake, swerving and slithering towards Tenga. The masked kunoichi giggled before a powerful gust of wind erupted around her. At first, the winds caused the fire to expand, becoming more intense and powerful, but eventually blew the flames far apart enough to render them smoking cinders.
Through the smoke, several extremely long snakes surrounded Tenga, poisonous fangs bored with malice filled eyes. With a full circular spin of her body, arm extended, the snakes were all beheaded and fell to the ground in bloody heaps.
As the smoke settled, there were hundreds of snakes of similar size surrounding Tenga. They lunged at her, one after another. The masked woman easily moved between each snake, cutting them in half with a single swing of her arm. Tenga then made an X over her chest with both arms and then threw them apart, sending dozens of tiny blades of wind that sliced clean through all the snakes surrounding her.
As the blood sprinkled down around her, Tenga looked around to find Orochimaru was missing. She knew that the serpent would be too arrogant to avoid fighting her. A powerful blast of wind then hit Tenga with full force, launching her back into the forests.
Tenga bounced on the ground, flying through bushes and low hanging tree branches. She finally flipped backwards, legs spread and hand planted against the ground to bring herself to a stop. Her shining eyes pronounced behind her mask scanned the area quickly, waiting for another attack.
A dome of earth suddenly shot up and encased Tenga completely. The masked woman seemed undaunted by this, her eyes simply moving back and forth to examine her situation. She took a gentle sniff of the air, catching the scent of gas. The next second, the gas ignited and exploded, quickly filling the insides with nothing but flame.
Orochimaru sneered as the earth dome began to heat up from the condensed flames trapped inside. "Well...that ends that witch..." Orochimaru formed one final hand sign before another explosion, much more devastating than the one before, erupted and blew the dome into tiny, heated pebbles.
Tenten sighed with boredom as she played with a kunai, trying to balance it on her fingertip. Sitting across from the brunette was her friend Ino, brushing her long, pale blonde hair with a brush. Tenten never knew how Ino managed to tolerate or handle so much hair in battle, even if most of it was pulled back into a ponytail. The young kunoichi wondered if Ino's focus on her appearance was the reason she was frequently stuck with scouting missions.
Tenten was also concerned about the size of their scouting party, a little over a dozen shinobi. She understood the risk of being so close to the bordering battle between the Alliance and Kumogakure, but for weeks now the two sides seemed content just sitting on their sides of the fence. Many senior shinobi told Tenten over and over that both sides were just biding their time until an attack would commence, but she wasn't convinced. There were no serious battles on their front since the War first started, and that was to establish borders between the two factions. With all the bad blood between the Alliance and the Union, someone would have realistically given in by this point and attacked.
"Ugh...I hate this missions so much," Ino murmured before pulling her hair back up into her signature ponytail. Tenten nodded offhandedly, focusing her attention on balancing the kunai. "I mean, we're this close, why not help the Union skirmish against the Alliance? They're the real enemies."
"It's been established time and time again." The two young women turned their heads to Izumi, who leaned against a nearby tree, staring out into the woods. "If the Union grew too powerful, they'd essentially become the same as the Alliance, starting our work all over again."
"So what, we're just supposed to let both sides take each other out, or what," Ino asked. Izumi remained quiet, her eyes staring into the distance. "I mean come on, no matter what, there's going to be a dictatorship! At least with the Union they won't do the same things as the Alliance."
"What makes you so sure," Tenten asked, finally putting her two cents into the conversation. "Kumogakure was infamous for kidnapping people from other villages and using them to create their own shinobi." Ino looked back at her fellow kunoichi, brow arched in confusion.
"Create? You mean like...clone them?"
"I mean..." Tenten sighed before flipping her kunai up and grabbing it by the handle. She leaned towards Ino, resting her arms on her knees, "Like, if they wanted the Yamanaka Clan's unique abilities, they'd steal someone from the Clan, usually a woman and...produce their own...offspring within the village." Ino's face went pale at the implications, her jaw falling wide open. Tenten shrugged, sighing at the deplorable truth.
"GAH! There's no way that's true!"
"It's very true," Izumi murmured, loudly enough for the two younger girls to hear. "Kumogakure has many other secrets. They've been known to buy the loyalty of nobles and high ranking shinobi from enemy villages to turn traitor, either joining them or giving information to the village to gain an edge on the enemy. Kirigakure's traditions and customs...much worse. Almost as bad as some of Danzo's secrets. The only difference is Kirigakure doesn't try to hide their horrors from everyone. Instead, they use that to instill fear in their enemies."
"And...no matter what, both sides are freaking terrible," Ino whispered. "This is so stupid! Why are all the villages so...warped?!" Tenten and Izumi stayed quiet. Neither girl knew exactly knew how to answer the question. When they both tried to pin the blame on one side, the blame could then circle around to the opposite side.
Cutting off their conversation, a devastating explosion went off, causing the ground to quake and tremble beneath the girl's feet. They all looked to one another in horror, as they were several miles away from either side's camp. The trio of kunoichi quickly shot to where they heard the explosion come from. It took little time before they joined up with other members of their scouting party.
It wasn't long after that when the party started to smell smoke, fire, metal, and the wretched stench of death in the air. Visibility got harder from smoke and dust within the air, and the scouting party made themselves scarce in order to better hide. Despite this, the scouting party shortly arrived to a horrifying scene that they could scarcely comprehend.
The entire landscape was leveled, torn, broken, burning, completely devastated by the raging battle. On one side of the war, hundreds of shinobi from Kumogakure moved in solid formations, either bombarding the other side with Lightning Style ninjutsus, or charging directly into the battle with swords drawn. Behind the main forces of Kumogakure were the two Bijuu of their village, the Nibi and Hachibi. Both Bijuu roared as their forces moved forward through the Alliance blockade.
On the other side of the battlefield, the former Alliance settlement that the Akatsuki party was watching over was completely demolished. There were bodies littering the ground as the Alliance shinobi retreated, planting traps and jutsus to slow down or counter the Kumogakure forces. A group of Konoha ninja unleashed fireballs onto a large number of crates close to an advancing squadron of Union soldiers. The crates, all full of paper bombs, exploded and blew the ninjas clear of the area.
"Wh-what...what's happening...?" Tenten and Izumi were also stunned into silence. Neither of them had experienced the horrors of war firsthand, and the sight of it was almost too much.
"Keep moving! Fall back!" All the ninjas followed Kitsuchi's orders, and lead as they moved in troves away from their enemy. "Any Earth Style users, set up trenches, walls, I don't care what you do, just slow these bastards down!"
As the earth itself began to move according to the several hundred of Earth Users, both of the Bijuu seemed to stall for a moment. "Bee, get ready with a Bijuu Bomb! I'll keep pressing forward!"
"I spit out my jutsu like I spit out my rhymes! For the Alliance, it's the end of times! Wheeeee!" The Hachibi threw its head back and let out a loud roar before chakra started to gather and swirl around its mouth.
"Sir!" Kitsuchi looked up, seeing the Nibi charging, while the Hachibi stayed back and prepared a Bijuu Bomb.
"We need to hold of the Nibi! All forces, halt the progression of the Union! Set up all traps, raise all walls, create hell on earth for all I care! Just attack!"
Sections of the earth either sank into deep holes, which Kumo shinobi either fell in, or sank with, and then other parts of the land quickly rose up into gigantic walls. Some bands of Alliance shinobi even left openings in their walls or trenches to funnel their enemies through in a kill-box. Most ninjas from Sunagakure used their puppets, or other mechanisms to set up traps, such as tripwires or bombs all around the field. Due to the circumstances, they hardly had time to hide their traps, or properly set up most of them. Members of Konohagakure launched fireballs into the holes containing Kumo shinobi, burning them alive, or filled the trenches the Earth Style users created to make crossing more difficult.
While these tactics worked to halt the progression of the infantry soldiers, many other Kumo shinobi rained upon their enemies long ranged Lightning Style ninjutsus, which would pierce their foes through limbs, or their torsos. They even had many skilled Water Style users to help put out most of the fires, or to knock their enemies away with the concussive force.
The main problem was stopping the Nibi, who had no problem clearing trenches, smashing through walls, or crossing through flames, and tore through the Alliance ranks with little to no problems.
"Focus on the Bijuu men! Focus all your attacks on her now!"
A bombardment of long range jutsus, fire, earth, wind, water, weapons of all kinds, kunai, shuriken, and paper bombs all were focused on the fire cat's face. The Bijuu raised her paw up to shield herself from the barrage, but many of the attacks still went through, pushing her back and even causing some minor damage.
"All Iwagakure shinobi! Hit her now while she's off balance!"
Dozens of men and women formed similar hand signs, "Earth Style: Divine Spear!" A pointed pillar of earth shot up from the ground and slammed into the Nibi's gut. A cross between a howling cry and a cat's screaming came out of the Nibi's mouth before it was thrown up into the air and slammed onto its side several meters away.
"Bee, now," Yugito shouted.
"Boom, boom—KA-CHOO!" The Hachibi sent its Bijuu Bomb flying towards the heart of Alliance forces.
"Earth Style," Kitsuchi slammed his palms on the ground, which seemed to tremble from his touch, "Mountainous Earth Technique!"
As the Bijuu Bomb raced above the Kumo shinobi, two giant rock formations arose out of the ground, and quickly slammed tightly around the Bijuu Bomb within a second. The force of the ball being crushed between the two formations with Iwgakure's symbol on them, caused a tremendous explosion from the pressure, and the Bijuu's chakra, which erupted at the heart of both Union and Alliance forces.
The earth quaked from the detonation, and blew both forces even further apart from one another, killing dozens of shinobi caught in the blast.
The scouting party all struggled to keep their balance as the ground rumbled, and they were deafened by the sound of the explosion. Izumi and a few other shinobi managed to keep at least one eye open to see what would happen next between the two warring forces.
Kitsuchi fell to one knee from lack of chakra, and was nearly blown away by the explosion the Bijuu Bomb created. As the ringing in his ears died down, an Ame shinobi quickly knelt next to him.
"Sir, orders?"
"What do the sensors pick up...?"
"Sensors! Report immediately!"
One such ninja was nearby, and called out to the Commander, "Both sides seemed to have taken about equal casualties from that explosion sir! Both Bijuu are still standing, though in terms of numbers we still surpass them!"
Kitsuchi took a quick look at the area, seeing hundreds of supplies, tents, buildings, and weapons all destroyed from the attack. His men were either exhausted, dead, or dying from the sudden and tremendous attack. Kitsuchi also knew that with only himself leading two regiments, that coordinating attacks would be too difficult.
"We retreat! We can't handle the force of two Bijuu like this!" Kitsuchi turned tail and headed south, with several more ninjas following him. There were horns that echoed over the battlefield, and blue flares that went off into the sky, signaling retreat.
The Alliance forces began falling back, while Union forces started to watch as the smoke and dust settled. The Bijuu Bomb along with all the altered terrain would make pursuit of the Alliance difficult.
A Commander from Kumogakure started ordering troops to start setting up defenses against Alliance retaliation. Another Jonin started rounding up medical shinobi in order to tend to the wounded, and the rest of the Union forces quickly started to organize themselves.
The Nibi then began to recede into a human body, eventually being submerged completely into the body of a young, blonde haired woman.
"Yo Yugito, we showed those Alliance piggies what fo!" The blonde kunoichi rubbed her stomach and gave a pained smile.
"Yes, we finally got a holding into the Land of Hot Water. We just need to work on holding the border until we get aid from Kirigakure."
"One, two, three, those fools can't handle me! We should push ahead, then the Alliance will be dead!"
"We can't hope to handle the full force of the Alliance, even with our combined strength. Don't forget, this is a moment of weakness for them, and they still managed to take out almost half of our forces while still getting away to fight another day. We haven't encountered Kakashi Hatake, or Orochimaru, or any of those shinobi that could be brought back to life with the Edo Tensei."
"Edo Tensei, ha! That jutsu is for one whacked out sensei! Send me after the Alliance, show some reliance." Yugito sighed, still smiling, and shook her head. She was one of the few people, if not the only person, who could handle Killer Bee's constant rapping.
"I'm sorry Bee, but we're to establish our ground here. The Raikage wanted us to push the Alliance further into the Land of Hot Water, and that's what we've done." The blonde Jinchuriki crossed her arms and stared up at her older counterpart. "Besides, your orders are to eventually head back to the village within a month, right?"
"That's only if everything here stays all peaches and cream, though we both know that's only a dream." Yugito sighed and nodded her head. She tightened her grip on her arms, staring at the ground as her mind began to work.
"The Alliance will surely retaliate for this...possibly with Orochimaru himself, and the Edo Tensei with it. I told the Raikage this was a brash move, even if the Mizukage's forces can get on the shores of the Land of Fire."
"Hey, don't doubt it now. We'll just give snake man the bam-bam-POW!" Killer Bee threw some punches to emphasize his point, taking a boxer's stance as he bounced back and forth on his toes. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a killer bee!" Yugito smiled and let out a sigh of relief at Bee's goofy nature. She always appreciated Bee's lighthearted nature, even though the rapping day in and day out was a bit much.
"I just hope that the recoil from our sudden attack won't hurt us too much, Bee."
"You stress too much girl, all your worry and emotions make me wanna hurl!" Yugito smirked and then took a swipe at Killer Bee, who narrowly dodged. "Whoa! Cool yo temper hot head! You seein all red!"
"Your rapping makes me and half of the Land of Lightning wanna puke, you know that?" Killer Bee laughed loudly and then continued to rap while Yugito jokingly berated him.
On the sidelines, hidden in the forests still, the Akatsuki scouting party got ready to depart back to headquarters to report the news to their leaders. Nobody said a word about the scene they had witnessed, and the lives that had been lost in the battle. No one wanted to.
On the shores of the Land of Fire, a large storm was brewing in the skies above. Dark clouds swirled in the skies, the sea itself formed giant tidal waves that crashed into each other, moving up the shores. Thunder boomed overhead, and rain poured down by the buckets.
Hanzo quickly moved to get the first lines of defense right up on the shores better fortified, while his troops created trenches to divert the water flow. The village leader was no stranger to rain, or to storms, but he felt something amiss with this particular storm.
Standing next to him at the head of the beach was Fu, wearing a hood and cloak to cover her body from the rain. She didn't enjoy the rain as much as her other fellow villagers, nor was she use to it even after years of growing up in Amegakure. Despite that, Fu realized that the storm that threatened them wasn't normal, and she was sure her master realized this as well.
"They...couldn't possibly be able to control weather, could they," Fu asked hesitantly.
"During the last Shinobi World War, many of the tactics implemented by Saizo Hideyoshi revolutionized war in ways that had never been known or tried in history. Many lives were lost, entire island colonies of the Land of Water were wiped out to kill regiments of Alliance soldiers, or to weed them out. To flood out the enemy in order to get them out of his country."
Fu scoffed and shook her head, "And they say we're monsters."
"The people of Kirigakure were devoted fanatically to their Mizukage. If they couldn't handle the enemy, they were willing to sacrifice everything to their master. That was their personal code. 'Fight until you have nothing left to give. And then sacrifice yourself to the Demon's cause.' It worked for them. They almost defeated the Alliance...and they could have if Saizo had not made so many mistakes in throwing away such valuable Clans."
Fu stayed silent and listened to her master's words. The young Jinchuriki had only known Hanzo to be afraid of two men in his entire life. Danzo, for the power he held over half of the world. Fu knew firsthand how scary the Hokage was.
The second man Hanzo feared was Saizo Hideyoshi. Fu had heard no end of tales about the man's exploits and legends. She hardly believed half of them, even if she heard them from Hanzo or other veterans from that war. In the last War, the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning weren't officially aligned, but they coordinated their attacks against the Alliance together. Saizo had nearly broken the heart of the Alliance, the Land of Fire. They pushed the forces of Kirigakure so far that they were simply a few miles away from Konohagakure. It was a war that the Alliance barely won.
Saizo's exploits seemed to be almost like ghost stories to Fu, which made the current storm overhead all the more chilling. She wasn't sure what to expect, but it wouldn't be anything pleasant.
A chorus of pained howls were heard, drawing both Hanzo and Fu's attention to the waters washing up on the beach. The defenses between the water and the land began to melt away like ice. The shinobi even started blistering and melting, screaming in agony.
"What's happening," Fu asked.
"Acid mixed in the water! Just like before! Everyone move away from the water immediately!" The Alliance started treading back up the beach as the water moved further and further up towards them. "We need trenches, walls, anything made to stop that water!"
"What's happening sir?!"
"Their Jinchuriki, the Rokubi that uses a corrosive acid! Saizo used this Bijuu's ability to push his forces onto the shore! How could I be so stupid not to see this?!"
A deep trench was created to stop the water and behind that, a large wall of earth. Hanzo managed to look over the walls, seeing nothing but rain and fog.
"We need reinforcements on these walls immediately! They're going to break through them soon!"
Almost on cue, several long range water ninjutsus, mostly the Water Dragon, broke through the fog and bombarded the shorelines. Several of the water jutsus even had dozens of explosive tags inside of them, adding an explosion to the initial concussive impact. Due to the collaboration of ninjutsu and explosive ordinance, several craters were formed, as well as blowing holes in the defensive walls already raised up.
"Where's Hiruko?! His long range forces are the only chance we have!"
"Not without visual we don't!" Hanzo and Fu both turned towards the hunched over man who arrived next to them. "We can fire blind, wasting chakra and ordinance all day long, but it won't do us a damn bit of good! Defense is our best option!"
"Defense was our option last time, and they pushed into the Land of Fire!"
Before the two Commanders could keep bickering, a huge body of water crashed into the waves trying to wash ashore. The second torrent of water helped push back the sea and the acid with it. Once the shores were cleared enough, the water stopped, allowing to sea to come back. Before it could however, a large wall of solid, thick wood arose out of the ground. The wood was dense enough that the corrosion of the wall was immensely slow, and on the side facing the Land of Water, were enormous spikes.
"Water Style and Wood Style," Hanzo murmured to himself. He sighed, knowing that there was only one possibility as he turned around. Hanzo, Fu, and Hiruko all turned around, seeing a man in a white shirt, and a long black robe draped over his shoulders like a cape. The most shocking feature was the frightening metallic mask that covered the man's entire head.
"D...Danzo?" The masked Hokage nodded to Hiruko's question before looking between the Commander and Hanzo.
"I...didn't expect you so quickly." The First and Second Hokages then arrived, standing on either side of their successor. "Or that you could use the Edo Tensei..."
"I suppose it was fortune's favor that you were mistaken on both accounts," Danzo told Hanzo matter-of-factly. "That wall will not hold forever, and now the enemy has to be aware of the Edo Tensei's usage here. We'll have to fortify our defensive measures. I don't want that country setting food on my land again."
"Danzo, with respect, with the First and Second Hokage at your disposal, there's nothing we can't do," Hiruko pointed out. "We should take this opportunity to strike back against the Land of Water!"
"No. The game has changed. Hiruko, you and your division will move north to the Land of Hot Water. There has been a severe attack on Kitsuchi's unit."
"I received no word of this," Hanzo said, clearly annoyed of the lack of information, despite being the Regimental Commander.
"Tobirama pointed out the sudden disappearance of hundreds of chakra signatures up where we held the border between the Lands of Hot Water and Frost," Danzo explained. "Kumogakure threw both of their Bijuu at us. Message has been sent to Mao that I want Iwagakure's beast up there."
Hanzo shifted his eyes to Fu carefully before Danzo looked over at him. It was at that moment that the Ame leader noticed Danzo's right eye was a single Sharingan. Hanzo froze in place when he took a moment to stare at the eye. He was one of the few people in the Alliance that knew of Danzo's 'missing' eye, and who the original owner of his new eye was. Hanzo could hardly believe that Danzo would come out and parade one of his oldest, most closely guarded secrets around for everyone to see.
"Hanzo and I will prepare a counterattack against the Kirigakure forces, and we'll push them back. Then we can send in reinforcements to flank Kumogakure once we've gotten our feet in the water."
"Be realistic," Hanzo snapped. "With our forces in the north having taken a serious blow, and Kirigakure beating on our doorstep, we need to wait for that Tenga woman and the Edo Tensei forces!"
"Standing in front of you are three of the most powerful shinobi that have ever lived: the first three Hokages. This will be all the reinforcements this theater of war will need, Hanzo. You will do well to remember that."
With his final word spoken, Danzo walked away from the two Commanders in front of him. Hanzo scowled behind his mask, feeling like a whipped dog. Hiruko silently walked off to gather his forces and head to the Land of Hot Water. Fu looked up at her master, eyes filled with worry for Hanzo.
Kushimaru stood tensely as the smoke hung lazily on the shores, nearly obscuring it from view. What made things worse was that Iwagakure had yet to counterattack. The orders however were to get onto the shores and wreck havoc from behind the front lines.
"We should retreat," Jinpachi murmured. Many of his fellow shinobi looked at the swordsman in shock at such a suggestion. "Some of us are more valuable alive. And we didn't account for the Tsuchikage to be on the shores, or Iwagakure's remaining Jinchuriki."
Kushimaru clenched his fists tightly. He hated the mere idea of retreating and failing Madara, though Jinpachi made a valid point. Kushimaru knew that they were nearly out of things to keep throwing at the shore, and the Tsuchikage was something they didn't plan for.
"Damn it," Kushimaru muttered.
"Giving up so soon?" Kushimaru let out a stifled gasp before turning his head to see his cloaked master standing in the center of the deck. Surrounding him were all unconscious Kirigakure shinobi with the exception of Jinpachi and the younger masked boy. "You've done enough damage to that facility to set back their naval construction. And Mao wasn't something I accounted for."
"They're returning fire!" The four shinobi, hearing the cries from one of the other ships, turned to the shores and saw a Bijuu Bomb, cannon fire, and a Titan Bomb coming towards their ships.
Madara raised up his hand towards the shores, a small flame appearing on each fingertip. With a swing of his arm, the flames flew out towards the ocean. Just before Iwagakure's assault would have reached the ships, the flames then expanded suddenly, creating a colossal wall of fire that took the force of every last projectile, and still stood firmly.
"Start the retreat," Madara ordered. Kushimaru nodded and then sent a blue flare into the air. Madara turned to the black haired, masked boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's been a particular development I've discovered."
"Is it...him...?"
"No, a chance for you to gain more power." Kushimaru and Jinpachi, having overheard, turned to the masked duo, but they were already gone. As soon as Madara was gone, the unconscious Kirigakure shinobi on deck started to stir.
Standing on the docks of Iwagakure, Mao scowled at the wall of fire that separated the port from the Kirigakure shinobi. Standing next to the Tsuchikage, Han's Bijuu chakra shroud started to recede.
"Do you want me to pursue them?"
"No," Mao snapped. Han stared out at the wall of fire that stood tall and ferocious on the water's surface.
"That's...an Uchiha ninjutsu. Their Flame Encampment Formation, correct?"
"It would appear so..."
"How did the Union-,"
"You ask too many questions, Han," Mao snapped. The Jinchuriki then stayed silent before Mao turned and started to walk away from the ruined docks. Han stared out into the raging wall of fire skeptically before crossing his arms over his chest.
As the smoke cleared, Orochimaru was confused to see a single pile of rocks, roughly shaped as a human. Within seconds, it crumbled to the ground, leaving the Sannin outraged as he knew that Tenga was likely alive. The Sannin turned his head to start looking around, and was immediately hit with a powerful force that struck his face like a rocket.
Orochimaru flew back and bounced off of the ground and rolled until he hit a solid wall of earth. The Sannin quickly rebounded off of the ground as the wall he hit suddenly formed spikes that threatened to impale him. As he skidded to a stop, Orochimaru stared directly at Tenga with two figures standing behind her.
One of them wore a Konohagakure headband and jacket from the same village, black pants and shinobi boots, with forearm guards made of a lightweight metal. He had dull, lifeless green eyes, and shoulder length light brown hair. Orochimaru recognized the first summon as the man that scarred half of his face; Higure Haruno.
The second man had light, dull red hair that was swept back, and spiked downward on the back of his head. He had a firm, strong jawline, a muscular build, and wore a tunic over a high collar, long sleeved red shirt and black pants. The second man Orochimaru discovered was Satoru Teki, one of the Six Paths of Shinobi.
"You..." Tenga giggled mockingly, as if to display the two undead men as a middle finger to her predecessor of the Edo Tensei. "YOU!" Rage consumed Orochimaru as he charged Tenga recklessly.
The woman laughed mockingly before Satoru raised a pillar of earth with only one hand sign. Orochimaru wasted no time and sprung up above the pillar. As soon as he started to clear it, another force of wind struck him, sending Orochimaru smashing into the side of a tree.
Tenga laughed even more as the pillar began to sink back into the earth. Orochimaru swung his fist into the tree, breaking through the wood enough to cause it to fall on its side. "Come now! I thought you'd want revenge on the man who scarred your face!"
"Why!? How did you allow Danzo to give you the Six Paths of Shinobi!?"
"Danzo can control me, and he knows it," Tenga stated calmly. "We both know how much Danzo hates free will and all that."
"How?! How does he control you? I can set you free, and we can both overthrow him!" Tenga simply shook her head and placed a hand on both men's shoulders.
"I'm quite happy controlling my own little armada of undead, unstoppable shinobi." Orochimaru could feel a sneer behind Tenga's mask. "The Six Paths of Shinobi were the ultimate example of teamwork as you know. All of them, S-rank shinobi, and together, they were capable of such feats like taking down Saizo Hideyoshi, a man with power that has never been seen since the time during the Warring Clans. Even two of the Six would be enough to take down an entire battalion of shinobi. And now that they're immortal, and with limitless power...I wonder how much they can do now?"
"I'll stop them all, and then kill you!" Orochimaru reached into his cloak and threw several small seeds into the ground. Shortly afterwards, several trees rose from the ground and then took the shapes of the same man with large eyes and spiky brown hair. "The Edo Tensei is mine!"
Tenga howled with laughter as Higure and Satoru both charged the Sannin and his wooden creations.
The Yamato clones threw their arms forward, forming them into thick trunks of wood. Satoru ducked beneath them and then slammed his fists into two separate clones. Upon impact, a thick, thunderous crack was heard and the clones both slouched over. Higure flipped his wrists, looking like he was throwing darts, but in reality he was launching concentrated bullets of wind chakra that punched holes through the lifeless beings.
Orochimaru lunged forward and swung his sword at Higure. A pillar of earth shot up and blocked the strike, surprisingly standing intact despite the Sannin's swing. Orochimaru roared in anger before he spun around the pillar, rapidly casting hand signs as Higure did the same. Both of their fingertips lit up with purple flames and both shinobi reached out to the other.
As their fingertips met, there was a blast that sent both Higure and Orochimaru flying away from one another. Satoru ducked under Higure, who then exhaled a powerful, piercing spear of wind. Orochimaru saw the mouth movement and quickly spun around, his cloak getting torn from the jutsu before skidding on the ground to a stop.
"He can cast hand signs that quickly...?"
Orochimaru caught a blur of hands from Higure again, and quickly tried to move away, but he was then surrounded by giant pillars of earth, encasing him in a circle. Higure finished his jutsu and then slammed his palms on the ground. The earth under Orochimaru's feet lit up in a series of seals and writings, that slowly formed themselves all over the pillars around him. The seals lit up, generating electricity that caused Orochimaru's entire body to go numb. The Sannin cried out as he was brought to his knees, unable to feel anything in his whole being.
"Did you truly think you could use a seal against Higure Haruno? You do remember that only Kushina Uzumaki, a kunoichi from a Clan that specializes is sealing ninjutsu, was the only one on their team that surpassed him in that respect." Orochimaru scowled angrily, trying to will his body to move to no avail. "Ooh, I had such a naughty idea..." Tenga placed her hands on either side of her mask, overcome with sadistic glee. "If you died...and I took your DNA, you could be used in your very own jutsu, serving the Alliance again. You'd have to follow every single order Lord Danzo gave you."
Orochimaru struggled, but he couldn't beat the sealing jutsu. Tenga raised her hand up and Satoru clapped his hands, ready to deal the finishing blow. Before the jutsu could be cast, two Yamato clones broke down the prison that bound Orochimaru, breaking the sealing jutsu. The Sannin quickly sprung out of the trap as an explosion erupted.
Orochimaru heard Tenga's laughter before Satoru's jutsu crumbled away. The masked woman's body shook with joy, while Orochimaru scowled at the infuriating laugh.
"You know you can't win against me, don't you? I have five of the Six Paths of Shinobi at my disposal! If Saizo couldn't beat them, then you stand no chance, even without the Yellow Flash!"
Orochimaru's body trembled with rage. He wanted his revenge on Tenga for taking everything away. Orochimaru cast a hand sign, "This isn't over." The remaining Yamato clones started to explode one by one. The Sannin used the distraction to slip away while Tenga and her two summons stood calmly.
"Just what I thought," Tenga murmured before turning back to the main battle.
Shinno's arms extended out widely, eyes closed, inhaling deeply as he felt the Dark Chakra flowing through Ancor Vantian and himself. The old man then opened his eyes, grinning maniacally, "It's...time!" A booming sound was heard throughout the chamber, the lights shining brighter as well as the cocoon that held Amaru. "The Land of Sky's time! My time, to rule the world, has come! Rise Ancor Vantian!"
Inside the Land of Sky's hideout, the scouting party of four finished dealing with a squadron of Sky ninja that lied on the ground, either dead or unconscious. Kakashi and Guy both looked up curiously as the room began to move. A small rumbling then turned into violent shaking as the two Jonin and their students stumbled about to keep their balance.
On the shores, the ground quaked, giving both sides pause as they looked out to sea. Tenga came out of the forest along with Higure and Satoru and watched as something gigantic started to rise out of the water's surface. "Now that's impressive," Tenga murmured as she was able to tell it was a massive construct.
Shinno laughed maniacally as his fortress started to rise into the sky. "As soon as the cannon is clear, open fire!" The seals in the room shimmered, as if responding to the leader's command. "Then we'll wipe Konohagakure off the face of the earth." Shinno raised his arms high above his head, gazing up as he rose with his fortress, "I will rule this world! I shall rule all from the great, boundless skies above!"
As the fortress continued to rise, Kabuto, Kin, and the Serpent Five stared on in terror. Kabuto looked back, realizing that Tenga stood with Higure and Satoru while Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen. "We need to go now," Kabuto stated. Kin turned to her senior, ready to criticize him before she was cut off, "Orochimaru isn't here...we don't stand a chance against this without him." Without waiting for any acknowledgment, Kabuto rushed off to the side, getting as much distance from him and the front lines as possible. The Serpent Five and a reluctant Kin followed after him, unnoticed by the Edo Tensei soldiers or the Land of Sky's forces.
Tenga had to start looking up as the fortress continued to rise. She seemed undaunted, but cupped her chin as to ponder the situation, "Hm...I might need the other three for this one."
A cannon was lifted out of the ocean, and began charging a massive amount of energy. The forces of the Land of Sky cried out, terrified of being caught in the cross hairs. Tenga quickly formed a hand sign that snapped Onoki and Mu both to action. The former Tsuchikages flew towards the path of the cannon, their hands touching one another's at the ball, forming and gathering one large cube of dust.
Shinno's eyes opened widely, full of malicious intent, "FIRE!"
As the cannon launched its blast of energy, both Onoki and Mu fired their own beam from their Dust Style ninjutsu. The two forces collided, and pressed against one another for a few seconds, before the Dust Style split the energy beam in two. The beams tore through a large number of Sky ninjas, killing them instantly. Onoki and Mu's jutsu didn't move down the cannon, as the power behind the blast was too strong.
Shinno felt the disturbance of energy flow to the cannon and growled, "More power! More Dark Chakra!" The cocoon began to glow brighter, almost blindingly so. Amaru cried out in pain as Dark Chakra was visibly and forcibly pulled from her body.
The energy from the cannon became stronger, and easily pushed through the combined Dust Style jutsu. The two Tsuchikages were also engulfed in the blast that traveled right past them, and divided the forests and land. At the end of the beam, a catastrophic explosion went off and lit up like a small sun in the distance.
Tenga's head was turned towards the explosion that gently vibrated the ground below her. She looked back at Ancor Vantian that started floating up higher into the sky. "Well...I might need the rest of your little team for this..."
The masked kunoichi looked back out into the battlefield, seeing hundreds of puppets coming down from Ancor Vantian, easily overwhelming her forces with numbers alone. Tenga realized the puppets were from Mukade, judging from the reports she received about the Land of Sky.
"Oh, this is going to be almost too enjoyable..."
The Raikage entered his office in Kumogakure, where he was met by his assistant Mabui. The young, composed woman bowed her head as A moved towards his seat. "News from the war front my lord. Yugito and Killer Bee have succeeded in pushing Alliance forces out of the Land of Hot Water's border with the Land of Frost."
"Excellent," A stated as he leaned back in his chair. The man's sheer weight caused his seat to creak a bit. "What news do we have from our other units?"
"The remaining Kusagakure rebels that survived have responded to our message. Their leader, Mui, wishes to meet with you at your earliest convenience."
A nodded and then cupped his chin with his oversized hand, "And the other group?"
"Sir," Mabui stated as she pulled out a sealed envelop. She placed it on the desk and slid it towards the Raikage, which pinched the paper between his fingers.
On the back of the envelop was a particular seal in the shape of a red cloud.
A opened the letter and his eyes moved over the writing, slowly forming a smile on his face. The Raikage placed the letter on the desk and looked to Mabui with a shine in his eyes, "Mabui, prepare to reply to Akatsuki's message."
So, I know it's kind of early to reintroduce Higure after he just died, but I felt like the introduction of the Six Paths of the Shinobi was something that fit well here. Besides, it's not like these chapters are gonna focus on him anyway. Most of the focus in future chapters will be on their team and the dynamics between them.
Anyway, the next several chapters are going to be filled with tons of battles and fights. Because, well, it's a war. So...expect that.
If you enjoyed, feel free to leave a review. If you have advice for improvements, those are welcome as much as any review. Thanks for reading this far!