Chapter 8: Salt in the Air, Blood in the Water (Kaito)
Panther, Bear, Deer, and Hawk broke through the forest's edge and out into a windswept plateau. They skidded to a halt near the cliff's edge. The smell of salt was heavy on the wind. Five days they've been at this, five days of running full speed with only a couple hours of rest each day. Peering over the edge, their destination glowed bright with lantern light against the dark backdrop of the cliffside.
Below them lay Kano. A town of decent size whose wooden buildings covered the sandy beach of the cove below and climbed up the vertical walls of the cliffs that surrounded it. Kano was an old town. Older than the Leaf village. Its origins were steeped deep in piracy and smuggling because of its geographic location. It was a large cove surrounded by cliffs that formed a deep, calm harbor. A natural place for ships to escape a storm. Technically, Kano was situated on an island under the control of the Land of Hotsprings. But the central government of Hotsprings had neither the resources nor manpower to adequately govern the trading port. As a result, Kano reverted to old habits. Habits that the Mist Village were now exploiting.
Reports had surfaced of increased pirate and smuggling activity traversing through the waters controlled by the Land of Waves. But after investigation, the ships never originated from Wave. Shipwrecks washed up on the shorelines accompanied by bloated bodies. Crates of weapons were being ceased in towns dotting the Land of Fire's eastern coast. Money was flowing into towns that months before could barely afford to man a trading post.
So, Minato sent a team to follow the money, and it led to Kano. Once the origin was traced, it was time for the second team. The assault team.
Kaito turned and nodded to Deer, signaling her to use her byakugan to scout the immediate area. The small Hyuga slowly scanned the area and then gave him the all-clear hand sign.
"No one is close by. But the town below is too large for me to get an accurate count of substantial chakra signatures present. There are too many people packed in tight. Too much noise. I'll have to get closer and focus my view to pick up more specific details"
Kaito nodded in understanding. He remembered the trouble he had in the Land of Waves when using his own sensing ability. When there were many people, the chakra signatures tended to blend together. Often you had to pull in your range and focus on specific locations to make out any significant details.
"Remove your anbu gear and put on the trader garbs we picked up in the last town. Suppress your chakra as much as possible. From now on we are just a group of wary traders looking for a place to rest and make some money until we move on to the next opportunity."
"Understood." All three said in unison.
Kaito pulled out the storage scroll that held the trader clothes and unsealed the garments onto the dirt at his feet. He then quickly removed all his anbu gear and sealed it into the same scroll. He pulled the brown shirt and dark green poncho over his head and sealed his katana away.
"Tonight, we will rent rooms in one of the taverns. We'll drink and eat with the common folk. Strike up conversations and tell jokes. Tomorrow we will look for work and hire ourselves out." He said. "The scouting team mentioned several ships that docked here had sailors with high chakra levels. So, we focus on the docks. If the intel is correct, the mist is disguising ninja as deckhands on ships for smuggling and raiding operations."
"What are the engagement parameters?" Daichi asked as he sealed his Bear mask into the storage scroll.
"Gain intel when possible. Kill the rest. Any damage we can inflict is preferable. The Mist thinks they can expand operations through the eastern sea with ease. If we can make the Mist second-guess the costs of their expansion or cause them to act more recklessly, it's preferable. We can capitalize on their mistakes."
Taking one last look at his team and seeing they all understood, he stood and led them down one of the many steep pathways that traversed the vertical cliffside down into the cove.
They encountered the upper sections of the town first. Ramshackle wooden buildings clung desperately to the sheer vertical cliffside. As the sea breeze entered the cove and hit the wall, the buildings shook and swayed. Storm shudders banged against windowsills and fabric curtains flapped in the wind.
As they traversed lower, the verticality of the town began to level out and the density of buildings increased. Wooden structures were stacked on top of each other and leaned haphazardly over pathways. Drunks stumbled up and down stairs with bottles of rum sloshing in their hands. The noise of singing and shouting traveled up the streets and through the buildings.
Following the noise, they found a lively building with ample light shining through the gaps in its wooden walls. They were about halfway down the cliff, the docks still about two hundred feet below them.
Pushing the doors open, they were greeted with a lively, if not hectic, interior setting. Tables were filled with drunken civilians. Servers milled about; their hands full of various types of alcohol. Lanterns hanging from the ceiling and on every wooden support pillar cast a warm yellow glow over the entire tavern's interior.
Kaito led his group of wary traders to the bar counter on the other side of the room and signaled for the bartender.
"Can I get four pints of ale for my friends and me?"
The bartender, a bald man with a scruffy beard, nodded and began pouring the ale.
"That will be 5 ryō each." A deep baritone voice rang out from the man.
Kaito nodded and dropped the required coins on the counter.
"And how much for a room big enough for the four of us?"
The man looked up and eyed the group again. "Our biggest room, room 3, goes for 40 ryō a night."
"That's fine. We will take it." He responded and dropped more ryō on the table for the room.
Now with a mug of ale in each of their hands, Kaito led the group to a square table in one of the far corners of the tavern. With a wall to their back, they had a perfect view of the rest of the tavern. Once seated, they struck up a conversation amongst themselves about the journey and their next planned trading stop. But in reality, they were just making empty conversation. Each one of them was scanning the tavern, looking for potential problems. Listening in on other groups' conversations to identify areas to scout tomorrow.
One man, in particular, sitting at a single table near a window, caught Kaito's eye. He had one of the barmaids pulled into his lap and was getting touchy. But by the fearful expression on her face, she was not reciprocating the act. She was afraid of him and by the worried glances the bartender shot in her direction; it looked like he was afraid as well.
Kaito nodded to Hotaru. "The man by the window, the girl and bartender are afraid of him. He's your target. Monitor him tonight and find out where he's sleeping. Follow him tomorrow."
Hotaru nodded in understanding and took another big swig of his ale.
"Daichi, you help out at the docks. With your big stature, they'll be clamoring over you to help with the loading and unloading of shipments. Sneak some peaks at the contents of shipments and listen to conversations about upcoming deliveries."
"Understood."
"Nibara, you do what you do best. Bar hop between drinking spots tomorrow and gather any information you can from the chatty locals."
"This mission is straight out of my dreams. I get to sample a bunch of alcohol while on a mission. Fantastic." Nibara said between gulps of her ale.
"What about you boss?" Hotaru asked, taking a sip of his ale.
"I'll be doing rounds through the town talking to merchants and tradesmen. I'll also be keeping an eye on you guys and transferring information to keep everyone informed on developments."
"Sounds good," Nibara said before chugging the rest of her ale. She pushed her chair back and stood up. "Anyone else want more?"
None of them had even gotten through half their drink.
"Lame," she said with a smirk and headed towards the bar.
After several more rounds of ale and a bowl of stew, Kaito watched as the man by the window brushed the barmaid off his lap and headed for the exit.
Hotaru passed his mug to Daichi and stood up. "Well, that's my cue. I'll see you all later." He said over his shoulder as he headed for the exit.
"Daichi, you get some rest. I'll cover the first watch tonight. You've got a long day tomorrow helping at the docks." Kaito whispered.
"No complaints from me," Daichi responded as he stood up and headed towards the stairs in the back that led up to their room. "I'll catch you guys in the morning."
Grabbing Hotaru's mug before Nibara could drink the rest, he took a big sip. The Hyuga girl pouted and stuck her tongue out.
"I think you've had enough. Any more, and you're as likely to tell them our plans instead of getting information from them."
She held up her hands in defeat and set about picking at the leftover sharable at their table.
"What's your opinion on the developments in the eastern region?" Nibara asked. "Do you think it will devolve into war?"
Kaito surveyed the room to ensure no one was close enough to eavesdrop. Thankfully, most of the tavern had cleared out and no one was close to them.
"I think it's a real possibility. We are only two and half years out of the third war and no nation was satisfied. There was no clear winner." He said, finishing the last of Hotaru's ale. "But the Mist by far faired the best. Due to their early withdrawal and concessions, they preserved most of their forces. Sure, they gave up land to Lighting and us, but because of the bloody escalation near the end and now the Leaf's further weakened state, the Mist is in a very advantageous position. They withdrew into the Mist. And for the past 5 years have healed their wounds, while we received new ones."
"Can we take them?" Nibara asked. A nervous expression covered her face.
Kaito paused before answering. Reviewing what he knew about the Leaf's strength and the estimates of the Mists numbers.
"I'm not sure. The mist before the Third War had the smallest active ninja count of the great nations. But now I believe they are either equal to or greater than us. We ended the third war with a small lead over the other nations, but the hundreds of losses we sustained from the Nine-tails set us back, evaporating what little advantage we held." He said pausing to swat a fly that had been pestering him for the past minute. "This new gap between us and the others will only grow in the short term. Our losses will hurt the next couple of graduating classes. We won't have enough experienced ninja to train them all while sustaining operations. That's why our work here is so crucial."
"How exactly is that?"
"Every hiccup in the Mists' plans, every failed operation, every dead mist ninja helps us. It will slow down their growth while we continue to rebuild and rearm. So that if or when war comes, they are weaker. If we do nothing, then their encampments will be well defended, and their economy well developed. We'll have to burn them out. One island, one town, one trench at a time. And I'm not sure we have the strength to do that."
He watched as Nibara's face became grim, but then settled on resolve. The Hyuga stood up and smirked.
"Well, then I'd better get some rest. Can't save the Leaf when I'm sleep deprived."
Nodding, he watched the Hyuga head to their room. This operation was no doubt only the beginning. He wasn't yet sure this team could handle what was to come or if they were ready for what he and Minato would need from them. But this mission would help clarify which of them could take it.
Their information efforts had proved fruitful. After two days of scouting, they identified a group of four Mist ninja moonlighting as civilians, one of them being the man Hotaru followed the first night. After eavesdropping on their conversation, Hotaru had determined they were Mist ninja stationed in Kano to oversee the distribution of weapons and drugs into the Land of Hotsprings. The shipments were dropped off at Kano and then split among smaller ships that sailed to several ports dotting the coast. All this in an attempt to make tracking and seizure of the shipments harder. The shipments most likely made several tops between their origin in the Mist to their final destination. Hotsprings authorities had no idea where they were coming from.
Daichi confirmed the contents of said shipments during his efforts at the docks. Crates of weapons, money, and opium were intermixed with food and textile shipments. None of them being on the shipping manifests. Fortunately, there weren't any other obvious ninja disguised at the docks. Only the four above them.
Kaito gave a silent signal with his hand and began moving towards their targets. The group of four mist ninja had retreated to their temporary housing after a night of drinking. A small wooden home in the upper section of the city. The home was comprised of several rooms and was precariously attached to the sheer vertical wall of the surrounding cliffs by large wooden struts. Kaito scaled the wall and pulled himself up to the bottom of the building. Now hanging from below, he looked to verify his team was in position.
To his left, he saw Daichi and Nibara attach themselves to the side of the house and come to a stop under two windows. They were in position and ready to jump in and engage on his signal. Looking up, he saw Hotaru silently crawl onto the roof, ready to drop in if things went bad.
From below, Kaito peered into a gap in the floorboards. All four of them were sitting around a table playing cards.
"You bastard! How the hell do you keep winning?" One of them yelled as he threw his hand of cards onto the table in defeat.
"The heart of the cards, my friend."
"That or the extra ace you have hidden up your sleeve." Another one said as he dropped his cards and took a hit of the cigarette in his left hand.
"Does your boy back home know you're a lying cheat?" the irate ninja said as he gathered the cards and began shuffling them for the next round.
"I cheat all the time when I play games with him. An excellent lesson for him to learn if he's going to follow in my footsteps and become a great ninja."
"A great ninja!" the man with the cigarette said between laughs. "A chunin stationed in a shit town far from home, infecting a land with drugs and weapons. You're truly a great and honorable ninja, Oda."
"Fuck you Midori. At least I'm faithful to my wife. When our replacements land tomorrow and were back in the Mist by the end of the week, are you going to tell your wife about all the women you slept with?"
So, a new batch of ninjas are arriving tomorrow. Perfect.
Kaito formed a hand seal and silently gathered wind chakra in his lungs. Once satisfied with the amount, he pressed his mouth against one opening in the floorboards and released the jutsu.
A single wind-style wind bullet shot from his mouth and tore through the chair the man known as Oda was sitting on. A pained scream was all the man had time to utter as the bullet tore through his body and exited the top of his head, splattering blood and flesh on the ceiling above. His body crumpled and fell from the chair. Blood dripped between the floorboards and onto Kaito's mask.
"What the fuck!" The others yelled as they shot out of their chairs.
Through the crack, he saw Nibara and Daichi swing into the room and engage. Nibara closed the distance in a quick chakra enhanced dash and brushed aside her confused opponent's clumsy strike with the back of her left hand. Then, with her right, she unleashed a brutal gentle fist palm strike to the man's heart, destroying his most vital organ and sending him crashing against the wall. The man didn't move as he slid limply to the floor. Blood spilled out of his mouth due to his heart still beating despite the arteries around his heart being ruptured. Daichi engaged the third man, his enormous fist sending the man flying into the next room. The man skidded across the floor and hit the opposite wall headfirst. Daichi followed with a body flicker and brutally kneed the downed man in the chest, breaking his sternum and ending his life.
The fourth man turned and dove out the window. Kaito tensed his legs and pushed off from the underside of the building, launching himself down after the man into the moonlit night. Colliding with him in midair, Kaito twisted and kicked the man into the side of a building. Kaito landed hard and rolled to break the impact. Coming out of his role, he pulled out his katana and sprinted forward, decapitating the stunned man in one clean strike before he had time to retaliate.
Quiet thuds behind alerted him that the rest of his team had joined him on the rooftop below their initial engagement. He turned to see Deer, Bear, and Hawk. Their white anbu masks reflected the pale moonlight.
"Gather the bodies and throw them into the ocean. Tonight, we will rest. Tomorrow we track down the ship with Mist reinforcements and eliminate it."
"An entire ship full of ninja will catch the mists' attention, won't it?" Bear said.
"Yes. It's time for them to understand that their incursions along the Land of Fire's eastern coast will result in blood. If they are under the impression they can expand unchecked, then they will be in for a rude awakening."
His four anbu teammates nodded and disappeared into the darkness of the night.
War was coming. The Leaf was severely down on numbers after both the war and Nine-Tails attack. Kaito only hoped they could limit the conflict to only the Mist. Kaito sighed into the salt-filled air and released the tension in his shoulders. Condensation come out from under his mask and glowed against the rays of moonlight. He had a feeling his days of serving in the shadows and out of the public eye were ending. If war was coming, Minato would need his full strength. No more would he be able to hide the full extent of his abilities. The Leaf needed the real him. The Leaf needed the Wind Walker.
Authors Note 2/28/2022:
Hi everyone! We are back in the eastern theater. The Mist is on the move. In canon, I always found it ridiculous that none of the villages made a move on the Leaf after its weakened state from the nine-tails. Especially with Minato dead in canon. Things are different here, even with Minato alive the Mist is making advances.
Kaito is forming a core team of Anbu around him. Kaito's true abilities are still mostly hidden. His teammates don't know about his summoning ability nor the true extent of his ninjutsu. They haven't seen his wind walker Jutsu. They know he's strong, a Jonin rank, but they don't suspect more. His team is all ranks chunin and Tokubetsu jonin rank. Anbu is a branch of the military. Not all anbu are jonin.
Kaito and Minato are still holding his true strength close to their chest. But the emerging threat from Mist may force their hand.
Kano is a fictional town I made up. I love the idea of wooden towns set up in natural coves, but because of the small space they grow vertically and attach buildings to the vertical cliff. Geographically a cool location. I also just like the sea, to me it's an interesting setting to hold conflicts.
Poor Oda the mist ninja. But this is anbu, they are selected for the division to handle the darker aspects of ninja life. They are the tip of the spear, the first units in. The ninja that bloody their hands to make a path for the rest. Being in the anbu is more about temperament than raw strength.