Setsuna's P.O.V.
Using my Byakugan I intensely observe my shadow clone in front of me. It nods in my direction as it uses the four necessary hand signs rather slowly and deliberately, not trying to get them down instantly.
"Earth Style: Hiding like a mole." The shadow clone mutters as his chakra reacts to the ground beneath his feet, tunneling through it and opening the way as his body borrows on the ground. The clone then proceeds to move around underground with varied speeds while I keep on intensely observing. This continues until he gets out of the ground and, moments later, pops.
As the information from his side comes into my mind, I start to compare with the one I had observed with my Byakugan. Honestly, why no other Hyuga does this is a mystery to me.
With just one execution I more or less deeply comprehend just how and why the hand signs work as they do and the process of the jutsu in both my body and the surroundings. Turns out that combining the experience of using a jutsu with observing from the outside carefully how it works does wonders for one's comprehension.
Add in that, of all chakra networks, I comprehend my own the most by a gigantic margin, I feel like with just a little practice I would be able to execute this jutsu with just a single hand sign. Maybe not even needing one if my earth nature transformation develops properly.
Plopping down on the ground in exhaustion though. I can only relax as my tiredness was simply too big. My chakra reserves may be 'monstrous' for my age, but they are far from being as large as I would have preferred and after another full day of nonstop training I am completely exhausted. I should just lay here on the floor for another hour or so before going back to the Senjuu compound.
At least even this time is not wasted, a shadow clone of mine is still in effect back in the Konoha prison practicing his genjutsu technique. I have had some unique ideas for genjutsu a while back that should be quite effective if I can just get it to work right.
I have never stopped my development with genjutsu and with the current mood in konoha I think this ninja skill that focuses more on control instead of brute force is the most suitable for my age.
Can't help but smile though, my genjutsu attainments have 'broken through' a few days ago as I finally managed to use genjutsu with only eye contact. Only, unlike the Sharingan that needs eye contact between the user and target, I just need to look into the person's eyes, not the other way around.
A small difference, sure, but for my byakugan that can see over four and a half kilometers away, that is a HUGE advantage. That was in big part thanks to some notes left behind by Senju Tobirama in regards to the Sharingan and its many powers, there is no reason why the byakugan that comes from the same source and also can influence its surroundings (just look at Kaguya's) can't do something similar to some extent.
Sure, the genjutsu I can use with this method is nothing above C or B rank in complexity, not really equal to something the Sharingan can use if the user tries since a mature three hook Sharingan can use A rank genjutsus with a glance easily, but that should still become an incredible killer when, not if, I am sent to war.
Still, after resting until I feel I am back to my full health, I start walking back to the Senjuu Compound.
Walking through the streets though, it is clear that a somewhat heavy mood has spread all over. People seem worried, ninjas are running through the feelings a bit more regularly than normal, and some shops seem to be about to close down. I could not help but sigh, war really may break out any moment now it seems.
Why could I not be born just a few years earlier? Had I done so I would surely have the time to grow strong enough to where I would not need to fear the war so damn much.
Still, I could not really complain all that much. I may be in a tough spot, but I would not trade away the friends I've made just for a few extra years to train. I just need to survive this, simple as that.
"Hey there, Setsuna-kun." A cheerful voice called out, making me turn to see just who it was calling out to me.
Turning in the direction, I smile as I see that it was Kurenai who was waving at me. Her hands are holding onto some paint supplies as she stares at me with a tired expression.
Honestly, me and Kurenai were not all that close. That being mostly because she kinda resented me a bit about my talent in genjutsu that was greater than hers. Honestly, there was no way I would not be good at it considering I have a very active imagination, deeper understanding of the human brain, and extremely precise chakra control.
Still, even if she was a bit prickly with me sometimes, she was friendly enough and I have helped her many times with her troubles with some more complicated genjutsu. Truth be told, I think I could likely have scored with her if I wanted to, but I know my buddy Asuma has a thing for her (even if he won't admit it) and bros before hoes and all that.
"Good afternoon, Kurenai. Are things going well back with your team?" I question the girl who just huffs at my question.
"Yeah, not that great to be honest. Our teacher is just way too lazy so right now we are mostly just doing D rank tasks. Even for our team training, it is mostly just the three of us figuring things out ourselves and Shikaku just pointing out some mistakes of ours every once in a while." She says in a frustrated tone.
"At least you are doing better than my team or Shizune's team. The team of Shizune and Rin spend most of the last week or so back at the Senju state since Minato is not around, the two girls studying more medic ninjutsu and drugs and such. Meanwhile, Orochimaru-sensei sent my team to the Death Forest for our first week and we have been just training by ourselves since he went out to do some task without us. We didn't even do any tasks until now, honestly you guys are the better off" I say with a tired expression. Sure, I love the fact that Orochimaru left us with some ninjutsu to learn and all, his notes on those two earth style jutsu helped me with learning them extremely fast, but it would be nice to have some actual team missions, you know.
Feel more like a regular team instead of the escort mission that was the Death Forest.
Kurenai just stares at me in disbelief before scoffing.
"I am still worse, try being with that idiot Asuma or that muscle brain Gai. One keeps playing pranks at me or talking nonsense, the other keeps shouting about youth, so annoying."
"Hey, they are my friends, you know." I said in defense of the two.
She just stares at me in a deadpan.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No, but you could try and say it in a nicer way." I said, admitting she was likely right in her assessment. We would have talked more, but a commotion has broken out in the distance at this moment. A jet black signal is then sent from the direction of the Senju compound making my blood run cold.
Turning in that direction, I activate my byakugan near instinctively and my face turns deathly pale at what I see as I begin running in that direction.
Kurenai runs behind me to try and see just what is going on, but I ignore her as I jump over the crowd to get to the person in front of me in clear need of help.
With a pale face from blood loss thanks to a cut to his side with frost appearing from the injury, Sarutobi Hiruzen was just teleported to the inside of the compound. Beside him, Minato looks exhausted as he nearly collapses to the floor.
He is also injured in many places and purple has started to spread across his face.
Medic nin were running in this direction, I am sure that teacher should arrive soon but I need to ensure that the two can survive to begin with.
First, I must stop the blood loss from the Hokage. Activating my byakugan I release my chakra threads, aiming at the Hokage's open wound.
"What do you think you are doing?" An Anbu said from behind me, a sword to my neck as I stopped and spoke.
"I am trying to save the Hokage's life. Now get out of the way or know you are the one who killed him." I said and the Anbu and others were still nervous. Well, can't blame them since this is not the usual way healing jutsu is used, but this is the most appropriate way to give first aid and ensure he won't die.
The anbu looks at me intensely before another approaches and whispers something in his ear. The anbu slowly removed the sword and I no longer paid him any mind. Instead, my focus goes to the injury, my threads turning as thin as I can manage as they enter the wound. I can't really mess with the injuries covered in ice, but they are not the main danger.
No, as long as the injuries are covered in ice the veins and arteries there won't bleed out. Instead, my focus goes straight to the ruptured ones that are releasing the blood to the outside.
Using my chakra threads I begin knitting the wounds back together, the chakra turning into healing chakra when the veins and arteries correctly connect to close the wounds then and there with as much precision as possible.
Soon, the blood flow lowers by a large extent, the injury closing for the most part as the flesh is knitted back in place as I move along.
After a short while I feel myself tired out a great deal, but this should be enough for first aid and to make sure that he won't die. I can't help but dispel the shadow clone to try and recover some of the chakra it has, but the amount is rather minor so it doesn't help me all that much.
Still, Minato seems to have been poisoned and I should check up on hi-
"Here, drink this." Shizune said as she gave Minato some concoction I haven't seen before. Using my byakugan though, I see that while it is not a cure it seems to have slowed down the spread of poison and in under a minute it has protected Minato's organs quite well.
Impressive to say the least, managing to do something like this with a poison she has not had time to study carefully, it is clear her knowledge of poisons and medicine has improved way more than I expected. While my focus and hers is different in terms of what we want out of it, it is clear that she really has a great talent for this sort of thing.
Maybe later I should see if she can help me with my project of a medicine to improve chakra reserves? Right now I kinda hit something of a wall in that I produced only two types of medicine, one that improves chakra recovery by about 80% for an hour, and one that can improve one's chakra amount by 60% for fifteen minutes in exchange for a tired state and slower regeneration of wounds and chakra for a few hours.
Both great, but not yet what I want.
Anyway, seeing as the two are out of the life threatening state, I can finally relax as I all but drop to the floor in exhaustion. My training is demanding and I was already more or less running on fumes even before I had to heal the Hokage.
"Teacher Tsunade can take care of the rest." I said to the Anbu before, without control, falling down and closing my eyes. Chakra exhausted and no longer able to act.
I hope the old man remembers this, he owes me one.
3° Person P.O.V.
Three hours have passed since the abrupt teleportation of Hiruzen and Minato into the Senju manor.
Back in the Konoha Hospital, Tsunade just got out of a room. She has just finished completing the treatment for both Hiruzen and Minato.
"Lady Tsunade," An Anbu said, kneeling in front of the Senju Patriarch. "If the treatment is complete, an emergency council meeting has been called and your presence is required."
"I understand. Lead the way." Tsunade said, still a bit worried about if her student was fine after exhausting himself so thoroughly, but she trusted he should still be able to manage.
Soon, she was back in the Hokage Tower in a large room with no windows or natural light.
Inside, there were around 25 seats filled with clan heads or councilors previously chosen by the Hokage. Normally there should be five more seats filled in amongst the ninjas, but Hiruzen, Minato, Orochimaru, and Shinku Yuhi were out of the village and there was still no designated substitute for Kato Dan.
That was an impressive gathering, especially considering that this was only those of the Shinobi side of things, the Civilian Councilors were not asked or invited to come for this one. No, this was a military matter and the ones that would decide how things would go would not be the soft and weak civilians, but the shinobi who were the ones to actually comprehend the battlefield.
Not two seconds after Tsunade sat down Danzo, who was sitting in the chair normally reserved for the Hokage, spoke up.
"So? Will the two make it or not?"
Honestly, had this been at any other time, Danzo would have been hoping for a negative answer. He may be childhood friends with Hiruzen, having fought side by side with the man for decades now and the two may have once risked life and limb for one another… but this chair Danzo was sitting on right now felt so nice.
The power it represented, just sitting here for a few minutes was enough for Danzo's mind to float back to the idea of how nice it would be if Hiruzen just dies or needs to vacate the spot.
Unfortunately for Danzo, he knew that this was not in the best interests of Konoha at the moment. There were enemies everywhere and they needed as much of a united front against them as they possibly could.
Tsunade smiled and said.
"My disciples sure are amazing, their first aid to the two ensured they would be fine and with just a week or so of rest both should be back to full strength with no problems. The Hokage in particular may carry a scar, but he should be good to go in maybe three days at most."
The Anbu who had put a sword at Setsuna's neck previously felt himself sigh in relief a bit. Allowing the child to go ahead really was the right choice it seems. His friend that was beside him put a hand on his shoulder, understanding what he was previously thinking about and showing solidarity.
As for the Hyuga Patriarch, who should have been feeling proud over the achievement of one of his chansmen (saving the Hokage's life was a big deal, after all) instead was feeling a headache. He was not foolish enough to not see the undercurrents that have started in his clan due to Setsuna and the elder's actions, a civil strife may actually happen if the elders go too far but there was little he felt he could do. Much less now that Setsuna not only would have the backing of one of the Sanin and Hatake Sakumo, but a life debt with the Third Hokage.
'Why did things become like this?' The old patriarch thought with a headache. In all honesty, he was also a bit annoyed at the elders who went too far on the match in regards to Setsuna, not to mention hurting Hizashi, the patriarch's own son!
If not for not wanting to cause even more inner strife within the clan, the Hyuga Patriarch wanted to just go ahead and kill those elders who dare touch his blood. A shame he had long since lost the edge needed to do such a thing. He could only do his best for now to hold things in as intact a state as he could while hoping his sons could deal with this whole internal situation of the clan.
Meanwhile, Danzo nodded his head at Tsunade's words, some relief flashing through his tired old face as he heard that Hiruzen would recover soon. Reclining a bit in the chair he sat upon, the one normally reserved for the Hokage, he thought of the situation and implications of all the information they had.
There was a lot to discuss and many ideas and plans to be made and discarded with the information arriving at every second, but for now Danzo simply spoke up.
"Good to know that they will recover soon, but we can't wait until Hiruzen recovers to act." Danzo then took out a small envelope containing a decoded message. "One of my agents in Kykkio Pass sent a message via his summons just an hour ago, they were attacked and even with all preparations they had no choice but to retreat." Danzo said with an ugly face, not liking that Konoha lost in any way to a measly Sunagakure and that they were forced to retreat in the face of those sand fuckers.
The new patriarch of the Uchiha family, Uchiha Fugaku, snorted in derision as he heard this. Being only 22 years old he was younger than most others present and filled with thoughts of his own superiority, he spoke up.
"Trash. They should have fought to the end, a place like that is ideal for any combat and taking it back from Suna will be incredibly tough. If it was me, I would have done all I could to manage it somehow no matter the odds."
Mitokado Homura on the side, having experience in the First and Second Ninja wars, even if mostly on the background and management side and hardly ever stepping on the battlefield, snorted at the words of this hot headed youngster.
Sure, his current battle experience is not all that great, but he had seen and checked enough battles to know when a battle was and was not winnable or worth it just by a casual glance.
"There were no more than ninety konoha in the Pass, while Suna invaded with several thousand, which includes their puppeteer division and Chiyo. If they could hold on for half an hour I would instead be shocked."
The older ninjas who had more experience in war time nodded in agreement. Such odds, unless they had at least two or three Kage level fighters with a good medic team with them, there was just nothing they could do.
Fugaku understood it, but his pride made him unable to retrieve his words, just snorting and acting as if he was in the right instead.
"Regardless, we must act. Suna's actions are a clear declaration of war, we must send an army to face them." Danzo said.
Several others nodded with Nara Shukaku being the one to speak up next.
"That is all good and all, but without the Hokage and the Daimyo's permission we can't just declare war like that."
What he said was the truth, both needed to give their consent for the village if they were to start a war. Even with Suna's clear attack and provocation, no official proclamation of war has happened yet and regardless they needed the Daimyo's support for the war.
The Daimyo was the financial and supply backer for the shinobi village, if he refuses to allow for the war then they would be hard pressed into fighting it. That should most likely not happen though since the shinobi villages were the strongest armed force of the nation, but they still had to watch out for it regardless.
Danzo nodded, wanting to say more when one of his ROOT members entered the place.
"What is it?" Danzo asks and the man opens his hand and in it was a small garden snake no more than five centimeters long. Opening its mouth though, there was no hiss from it and instead it was the voice of Orochimaru which came out.
"I imagine that Minato-kun has arrived back with Sarutobi-sensei. I have good and bad news, the bad news is that Suna and Kiri are in an alliance, both ambushed us during the meeting and they killed most of our main allies in the ambush with just a small number of clan heads and the leaders of the Grass and Waterfall villages surviving, even with injuries. The good news is that Sarutobi-sensei managed to cut off one of the Third Kazekage's arms and kill the Third Mizukage during a head to head combat in exchange for the injuries he suffered. I am returning with the survivors of the ambush, we may take a while though since Suna seems to have tipped off Iwa about our location and some squads from their side have started coming after us."
With those words, the tense mood grew much heavier as Danzo gritted his teeth. He had imagined that some sort of attack was launched back in that tower in Waterfall, but he did not expect Suna to ally with Kiri like that, even the Mizukage acting out and going on the offensive.
Originally, Danzo planed to use this chance to keep the Uchiha back in the village for a while longer, wait until Kiri acts before sending them against Kiri in hopes of culling the numbers from the Uchiha family (the Silent Mist technique and the many other water styles from Kiri being an excellent counter against the Uchiha family), but with Mist and Suna acting together at once, and with Kumo and Iwa most likely acting soon enough, he could not afford this sort of strategy to weaken the Uchiha.
He would need to be smart about things. He could not afford to waste the full Uchiha clan like that.
"We must decide now which clans to send to each battlefield. I believe that the Uchiha Family should be divided and each side be sent to one battlefield considering they are well known as the strongest family." Danzo proposes and his old friends Homura and Koharu agreed, quickly catching on to the actual meaning of Danzo.
Many of the older and smarter patriarchs present also understood what Danzo must be planning by sending members of the Uchiha against Kiri, but these patriarchs would rather not risk their own clans for the sake of the Uchiha. Especially when Fugaku foolishly seemed proud of such an 'recognition' from the village elders.
Seeing that Fugaku agreed, Danzo continued.
"I think we should also send the Inuzuka clan's main force to the Kiri battlefield, the clan's superior sense of smell would work well against them. And for the leader, I believe that Hatake Sakumo is the most suitable considering his accomplishments in lightning style."
While some of the minor clan heads showed slight discomfort with this, both the Uchiha and Inuzuka patriarchs were accepting of this decision. The Inuzuka may not have shown much public support at the time, but they were big on the 'pac' mentality and they did not blame Sakumo for his decision even if it had come to bite them in the ass now that Suna had arrived. As for the Uchiha, they always follow the strong and Sakumo was one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha right now, simple as that.
"For the Suna battlefield, I believe that, including the Uchiha, we should send the Aburame as well as part of the Sarutobi clans. For the leader, I believe Tsunade should be a good choice considering who they would be facing." Kohaku said with some thought.
The Aburame clan would work best against the puppets and the Sarutobi and Uchiha clans were well known for their fire style ninjutsu, they should hard counter well enough the forces from Suna.
The head of the Sarutobi clan, Shinosuke Sarutobi, clenched his fists with fire in his eyes. His father, the third hokage, was cowardly ambushed by those two other villages kages, one was already dealt with but Shinosuke swore in his might that, should he get a chance, he would make sure to personally end the Third Kazekage, the curl that had betrayed Konoha's trust and caused his invincible dad to be near death right now.
"The rest, wait for the moment but begin preparations for dispatch at any moment. Kohaku, can I trust you to talk with the Daimyo about our situation and obtain his support?" Danzo continued, not paying mind to the expression of Shinosuke.
He has known the man since he was a baby, he understood Shinnosuke well and could more or less be sure of how he would act.
"Of course, leave it to me." Kohaku said with confidence. While her fighting skills may have deteriorated from lack of training and fighting, her politicking ability was amongst the very best the world had to offer.
Sure, she was not as good as the likes of Hiruzen and such, but she was confident she could get what she wanted out of the Daimyo for this.
Feeling confident with the arrangements, and seeing that no complaints were launched about it, Danzo continued leading the meeting even as he more and more felt like this is exactly what his place was.
Fourth Hokage, Shimura Danzo. It does have a nice ring to it.