A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
Here we go for another chapter of your favorite blond Wind God's adventures and, as the title suggests, we're getting right into the battle that will give its final shape to the Elemental Nations. You may or may not enjoy the way I'll configure the different pieces on the chessboard, but try to be patient and remember that not everything has to be the same as in the real manga.
I'm sorry if chapters aren't coming out as regularly as they used to in the past but, as every author, I do have a life outside from this and it's been quite a busy one lately. Still, I believe it's still a pretty decent frequency of releases, compared to some of the stories I'm following. Anyway, this project is getting close to its end, two or three more chapters at best, so thanks to all of those who are still with me on this and sorry once again for the delay.
One funny flame to mention from the reviews for the previous chapter, of course anonymous, since it takes some guts to flame using your regular account so people could answer you. Rage was about how I didn't explain how Zetsu managed to once again infiltrate a secured place inside a hostile territory during war time. Well, I thought it would be repetitive to once again explain how he can fuse with woods and plants or even impersonate anyone he wants, my bad if that makes this story piss poor writing.
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 58 : The Last War
River Country
Naruto gazed at the borders separating River and Rain Country, completely ignoring the crowd of shinobi that camped behind him. This place was chosen during their last meeting to be the starting point of the Alliance's counterattack against Sasuke's armies. Being a former part of the enemy's territories, it was likely to be the place where the borders would be the least fortified.
This, of course, didn't mean there would be only one battlefield, as Otogakure and its allies were still controlling a large part of the continent. According to the spies, Oto had close to thirty thousand men while the Alliance's forces were estimated to be around fifty thousands. Despite these odds, there was no certitude that the Alliance would prevail in the end, as there was also a huge unknown factor with the Akatsuki, no one really knew what they still had in store.
Behind Naruto, stood an army of ten thousand ninja, exclusively composed by shinobi and kunoichi from Konohagakure. There was a proposal during the last meeting to mix troops from each of the Five Great Village into the different armies that would strike against Oto, to promote unity and peace among them. The idea was surprisingly shot down by the Leader himself, Naruto, but not without some explaining.
The blond gave two reasons behind his refusal to that particular proposal. First, considering the current state of the different armies stationed all around Otogakure's borders, it would take a tremendous amount of logistic and time in order to arrange such a change in the composition of those armies. Time was something the Alliance couldn't afford, they had to take advantage of the fall of River Country, before Oto had a chance to reorganize its defenses.
The second point Naruto pointed out was about the environment and functional knowledge. Each men had a better understanding of the surroundings and environmental conditions from where they were used to fight, as such putting an Iwa soldier at the other side of the Elemental Nations, say in Fire Country, made no sense at all. The same could be said about team dynamics, that Iwa shinobi would work a lot better with a team composed and led by shinobi from his Village rather than from a foreign Village, even more so if said team members came from a historically rival village, such as the Leaf.
No Kage could find any argument to counter the Alliance's Leader, and so it was decided each army would remain where it currently is, with few to no troops movement inside the allies. Everybody knew Naruto didn't chose this configuration as a way to segregate the people from each nations, he did it because it was strategically the best decision, considering the tight time frame they had. All still remembered his speech during the first Kage Meeting in Iron Country, calling for the unity between the nations and the dream he shared with his late sensei, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, to see people finally understanding each other.
The only exception was Kirigakure. Sharing no borders with any of the Nations under Sasuke's command, Mei decided to dispatch her troops between Konoha and Kumo in the East, with more reinforcements in Fire Country due to its geographical position. This would constitute the Eastern front line.
It also allowed Tsunade to allocate to Naruto most of the men he currently had under his command, with a small addition from Suna. The blond had the task to push north from his position in River Country, against the still weakly fortified borders from the south of Ame. The Western front was shared between Iwa and Suna, Kurotsuchi and Gaara were to respectively attack Takigakure and Kusagakure from the other side of the continent.
Naruto only requested a few particular people for the army he had under his command. He asked for the old Team Eight, Kurenai, Hinata and Kiba. This was a logical choice, them being his former genin team and those he worked well with in Konoha's regular forces.
Additionally, he also requested Konan and more surprisingly Karin. It still amazed him to have discovered a true blood Uzumaki woman with her. He already had his suspicions when he made her his prisoner, but when the blood test results were announced, even Tsunade was surprised to find out the red haired kunoichi really was an Uzumaki, and her distant relative as Naruto is.
Karin was an orphan, just like Naruto, and when she was told of her origins, she was so happy it almost made her forget about Sasuke and Kabuto's betrayal. Naruto and Karin were naturally drawn to each other, and soon the blond offered her a place in his clan and compound, and she gladly accepted. Unlike Konan or Kurenai, Karin was more like the spoiled little sister Naruto never had.
The rest of the troops were chosen by Tsunade, most were young though not inexperienced nor weak. This was just so she could be sure no one under his command would be likely to hold a grudge against him for supposedly holding the Kyuubi inside him. It was still a highly classified information that the bijuu was long gone, freed from the seal.
Speaking of the 'devil', Natsuki was of course with him, still nowhere as strong as she used to be in the past but strong enough to not stay home like a civilian. She was as strong as a Kage and, more importantly, she was the only one who could hold Naruto back, if the blond ever went overboard. No matter how hard Naruto had argued with her, saying that he couldn't take the risk of having her on the battlefield, the red haired vixen did not listen and followed him, Alliance's leader or not.
Naruto refocused his attention on the situation at hand, according to their battle plan, today was the day Oto would fall.
With the Eastern Command Center
Tsunade, Mei and A chose to place their joint command center in the North West of Fire Country, where they could reach their troops on each front line. Additionally to their tasks as leader of their armies, each Kage chose to deal with a particular aspect in running the camp. Tsunade went to run the hospital they installed, Mei would oversee the prisoner section and A would deal with the camp security.
This was one of the resolution reached by the council, a way to counter Sasuke's doujutsu. Mei had a few Yamanaka under her command that were to scan every prisoner they would take and remove all mental control placed upon them. Inoichi had told them he already encountered once or twice subjects under the hold of the Kotoamatsukami, and that his clan most experienced members could dispel the jutsu. As such, a small number of Yamanaka members were dispatch to each front line. Ino was sent with Naruto to the South while Inoichi went to the West with Gaara.
The Raikage followed another resolution of the council, dealing with detection of the people under the influence of that genjutsu. Ao, with his implanted Byakugan had told the council that he could detect someone under the hold of that jutsu. It was then confirmed by Hiashi after that and as a result a certain number of Hyuga was dispatch to each front, in order to help in preventing controlled people to interfere with their mission. Neji went West, while Hiashi and Hanabi remained in Fire Country. Naruto had already selected Hinata as one of his soldiers so he was covered too.
Finally, Tsunade insisted on having specialized medic for each front line. The Hokage remained in Fire Country while her assistant, Shizune, went West and Naruto already had Hinata and Ino, two of Tsunade's apprentices with him. It was also discovered that Karin had a amazing ability to heal people, most likely coming from her Uzumaki blood. Seeing the bite marks on her body, Naruto was very reluctant to let her use her powers like this again, but the red head insisted, she wanted to have revenge against those who abandoned her to her death. Naruto could never say no to the women in his life so he once again conceded.
With the Western Command Center
Gaara and Kurotsuchi had established a similar outpost as the one in the East, theirs was in Earth Country where they could both oversee the siege of Kusagakure and Takigakure. Shizune, Neji and Inoichi were there too and each went to do what their were selected to in the camp. However, there was major difference between this camp and the one on the other side of the enemy lands, Kurotsuchi was alone in running the camp, her fellow Kage having chosen to be somewhere else.
Despite the dangers and even with him being one of Akatsuki's target, Gaara chose to lead the assault himself. His reasoning was that even Naruto, the Alliance's Leader, was going to risk his life on the battlefield. He saw no reason for him to be protected and far from the front lines while his friend would fight for them all. Temari was far from pleased with his decision but there wasn't much she could say to her Kage. Kankuro would have objected too, if it wasn't for the fact that he remained in Suna to oversee the defense of their borders and the Village's safety.
Seeing this and not wanting to sound weak in front of the man she became quite close to, Kurotsuchi wanted to participate in the fights too. However, the presence of a Kage in each command center was mandatory, to insure the cooperation between everyone. As such, the brunette was forced to remain in the camp. The other Kage on the Eastern side were more experienced and level headed, they all chose to remain behind and organize their troops rather than participating themselves in the battles.
The Tsuchikage was currently in the communication building of the camp, where radio messages were centralized. Kurotsuchi looked at the time and saw it was almost time for Operation Stormbringer to start. She heavily sighed and prepared herself to broadcast the mission start to the troops.
Back in River Country
The Southern army was now up and ready, every man and woman under his command was now hiding in the forest behind Naruto. Their mission was simple, to break through the enemies lines and push forward from their position. However, for Operation Stormbringer, the goal was not to recover the fallen city of Amegakure from Sasuke, Naruto's troops were to immediately move towards the borders east and west, once they have broken through the southern defenses in order to take the defenders position from behind. This would be repeated in every country until all that's left are the villages being surrounded and with no possible escape routes.
It was night time, everything around them was dark and only the sounds from the forest around them could be heard. Suddenly, two poof of smoke appeared in front of Naruto and two of his dragon summons popped out.
"Naruto-sama, the Eastern army has begun the mission." Reported the first one.
"Naruto-sama, the Western army is on the move as well." Announced the second one.
"Very well, thanks for the help you can both return to the dragon world." Naruto said as he dismissed the two creatures. The blond then turned back towards his army and spoke to them.
"The time has come to start our mission. As I speak, our brothers and sisters have already begun to engage the enemy all over the continent. All are waiting for us to join them. From our actions will depend the success of this mission, the fate of the Elemental Nations will be decided today. We shall prevail and free this world from Otogakure and its allies. Move out !" Naruto said as he was the first the charge forward.
Natsuki, Konan and Karin immediately went after him and the rest of the army soon followed as well. Up until now, everyone knew he was the Alliance's Leader but only those really close to him knew he was the right man for that job. Now however, everyone saw his passion and enthusiasm, they all followed after him knowing he would lead them to victory.
Amegakure – Kage Tower
Sasuke was alone in his office, still thinking about ways to defeat Naruto and dominate the world. Of course he knew of the blond's status as the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi but, Zetsu's report about how the nine tailed bijuu was freed from the seal really put him in a terrible mood.
He always thought during their encounters that Naruto somehow cheated against him, using an external source of power in order to upstage him, an elite Uchiha. There was no other way to explain how a clan-less and talentless idiot like him could have beaten him.
He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the arrival of three people in his office. Kabuto went through the door, Zetsu rose from the ground while Tobi phase out of nowhere, appearing through a wormhole.
"Otokage-sama, the Alliance is attacking our borders from the South. According to the reports, Naruto himself is leading the assault, with their current speed, they will be here in about thirty minutes." Kabuto reported first to his leader.
"They are also crossing the borders of the other Nations under your command. Rice, Waterfall and Grass Countries are being overrun by the combined forces of their Western and Eastern armies." Zetsu announced.
"It seems like the final battle for the domination of the Elemental Nations has begun. How do you plan to react to their aggression, Sasuke ?" Tobi asked the younger Uchiha leader.
"Recall all our troops here into the city, they won't be able to defeat us here behind the fortified walls of the city ! The other countries will have to hold on until we're done with Naruto and his little army here in the South." Sasuke yelled.
"If that blond idiot thinks I only have ten thousands men stationed here in Rain Country, he will have a nice surprise when he comes here ..." He thought with a smirk on his face.
Kabuto left immediately, with his new orders to recall all of their troops from the outskirts of the city to come stand behind its walls.
With Naruto
While Sasuke was withdrawing all his troops from the land to come back inside his capitol, expecting Naruto and his army to fight him there, the blond continued to advance inside Rain Country.
Naruto was moving forward at great speed, with thousands of men behind him. They didn't even try to mask their presence as they advanced, letting Sasuke's spies informing their leader of their movements. However this was all part of the plan, Naruto was in fact not even there and all the people around him were shadow clones he made to appear like an army in march.
He had already divided his actual forces in two groups, giving each group the same command, to run toward the borders and destroy the enemy from behind. The Kage had anticipated Sasuke's reaction and knew he would try to reinforce his position, no matter how many men he'd lose in the process.
With their retreating routes blocked by Naruto's troops, the soldiers from Oto were quickly overrun and lots of them were captured. There were of course casualties on both sides, since most of them were "programmed" by the Kotoamatsukami to blindly follow orders without any form of questioning.
Medics and mind walkers were really busy now, with the sheer number of injured and prisoners that were coming back from the front lines. The captured enemies and injured allies were quickly evacuated towards the neighboring countries while those who were still able to fight continued on with their mission.
The two groups soon met again in the North of Rain Country, having gone around the city of Amegakure and then reformed into a single army. Instead of going for the capitol, they moved up North again toward Grass Country to repeat what they just did, before the enemy could even understand their real goal.
Timeskip – Three days later.
It took the Alliance's armies three days of fighting but in the end they managed to conquer back every single Nation formerly under the influence of Otogakure. The exception was Rain Country where the city of Amegakure was still occupied.
Naruto's army used the same tactic each time, going behind the enemies lines and cutting their retreating routes while the armies of the East and West were forcing their way through the other side.
The villages of Tanigakure and Kusagakure tried to resist behind their walls as Ame was currently doing but they didn't have a Kage nor the resources to resist the combined strength of the Five Great Villages.
The casualties were tremendous on the defender side, it was estimated that Otogakure lost fifteen thousand men during Operation Stormbringer. Five thousand men were captured and in the process of being scanned by the Yamanaka clan's mind walkers.
The Alliance still lost five thousand men, most of them during the siege of the two minor villages of Tanigakure and Kusagakure. The "drones" from Sasuke's army fought to the bitter end, dragging with them as many as they could.
It was now the morning of the fourth day since Operation Stormbringer started and Tsunade was presented with a very unusual present during the Kage Meeting of that day. In front of the council of the Five Kage and Naruto, was none other than Otogakure's Head of the Medics, the one and only Haruno Sakura, gagged and blindfolded.
The pink haired kunoichi was escorted by both the Hyuga and Yamanaka Clan Head, as she was brought before the council.
"So … What's her status ?" Tsunade calmly asked, hoping for a certain answer from the two men in front of her.
"I'm afraid to say she is totally free of any form of mind control, Hokage-sama. My eyes could not see any trace of the Uchiha's doujutsu on her neither." Hiashi reported.
"I see … Now what to do with your former apprentice ..." Naruto mused out loud.
A/N : What do you think ?
I hope the battle plan or Operation Stormbringer specifics were not too confusing or unrealistic. I left the real fighting between known characters for the next chapter, this one is only a preparation to that.
What do you think will happen to Sakura ? What will be Sasuke's reaction to losing all of his countries ? Is is really the end for Otogakure ?
Read the next issue to find out and please Read and Review.