Chapter 184
Wired to Blow: The Trap Unveiled and Clashes in the Mountain Maze!
The Fifth Hokage was pissed.
Standing in the nucleus of the Intelligence Division, Shikamaru didn't possess the authority or the guts to slink off into the shadows, out of sight and far away from the ticking time bomb of Lady Tsunade's fury.
Shikamaru rubbed his forearm against his forehead, shifting nervously. He'd seen what would happen if Gennō whittled away Lady Tsunade's patience any farther. Him, Ino, and Chōji were bystanders to the Fifth's pummeling of Fūjin and Raijin, they'd watch her tenderize them like slabs of meat as they begged and pleaded for mercy, to no avail.
The Hokage hadn't shown them a sliver of mercy, not after they injured and murdered Leaf shinobi on Mizuki's behalf, all for a feast of all things.
Those giant oafs known as the Idiot Brothers were still eating liquid meals, and would be for years to come.
If only he were a know-nothing Genin, Shikamaru lamented. If only he was a brain-dead idiot with no discernible talents, and too lazy to actually train or push himself to match his troublesome cousin stride for stride so she wouldn't have to stand alone, then he never would've been considered for promotion.
Things would've sure been simpler. Although he'd probably have died already if he hadn't started training harder, probably at the hands of Tayuya, no less. Now he consistently found himself standing before the Hokage when something went wrong—usually when it involved a team from his generation. Team Seven were the usual suspects.
This was one of the glories of being a squad leader, he supposed. It was such a drag.
To be honest, even with Shizune, his old man and Inoichi present, he doubted they'd be able to stop Lady Tsunade from pulverizing Gennō and collapsing the entire building on top of them as she did if he suddenly appeared inside the Intelligence Division's nucleus.
Not that he could blame her. With the bloody history Lady Tsunade and Gennō shared… No, he couldn't blame the Hokage for being on edge. If he'd learned of Gennō's escape tunnel, his body double, and that he dropped the blueprints he'd stolen across the Leaf, all within moments of each other, he'd probably be on the verge of cratering an entire building, too.
At face value, Gennō was mocking them. All three were affronts to the Leaf and the Hokage directly. He was mocking their security. He was mocking Lady Tsunade and dragging the Leaf and the title of Hokage through the mud. And he was cackling like a crazy old coot as he did. Because, right now, he was untouchable.
Gennō was making them dance to his tune, and they, like his marionettes, couldn't do anything except go where his strings pulled them.
This was the reason the Hokage summoned him. She wanted a full and detailed report on everything they'd learned so far. Good information was always the key to success. If they all put their heads together they'd finally figure out how to sever the strings and reach the willy old man.
Once they managed that, well, the Hokage would snatch him by his collar and grind his bones into dust beneath her fists. Or, at least, that's what Shikamaru assumed their plan was by Lady Tsunade's tight fists, clenched jaw, and brown eyes blazing like 'Risu's Fire Style.
"From what we know so far," his old man began after Shikamaru finished his report, lightly sitting on the edge of the command table, "there's no doubt Gennō is alive. I suspect he remains somewhere within the Leaf itself now, hidden right beneath our noses."
"Yeah," Shikamaru agreed, nodding once. "Had the blueprints not been dropped by that summoning bird, we could've assumed he was somewhere out there on the run, preparing to sell them to the highest bidder. Likely the Stone. But unless he stole them just to prove he could, and to laugh at us, my money is on Gennō still being somewhere in the Leaf. He's just waiting for the opportune moment to unleash his master trap. So far, we've acted exactly as he planned us to."
The news did little to alleviate Tsunade's boiling fury. He saw her squint, heard a low growl. Shizune, flanking the Hokage, frowned and placed her hands on her hips.
"But, remember, we only suspected him because of the fake letter of recommendation. And it was only by sheer coincidence we discovered the letter."
Shikamaru pursed his lips.
There it was again. No matter what they did, everything tied them back to the letter of recommendation. It nagged him endlessly, because the shape was all wrong. Rather, somewhere along the line they mixed up the pieces in their puzzle board, ruining the very foundations of the image they were trying to recreate.
"Was it a coincidence?" Shikamaru posed the question. He shut his eyes, pressing his pointer and middle finger to his forehead as he visualized every piece to this deadly puzzle. Where did the letter fit into all of this?
"It's pretty convenient a real letter of recommendation ended up at exactly the same master carpenter's business as Gennō," he said. "We could rule it off as a coincidence, of course. However…"
Dammit, he cursed, opening his eyes. No matter what angle I look at this, the letter of recommendation doesn't fit anywhere. Why can't I figure this out? What am I missing?
"A coincidence like that requires a lot of work to happen," he finished.
"All right," Tsunade's frustration was clear as a bell, "so what is he really after?"
"Heh." Exhaling a laugh, nervous or not, was a dumb move, so Shikamaru felt it was only natural he followed such an audaciously idiotic move with something even dumber.
He smirked. "If we knew that, we wouldn't be here sweating, now would we, Milady."
"Shikamaru," snarled the Hokage through clenched teeth.
"One thing we do know," he added quickly, and seriously, "the number of shinobi left in the Village because of the war is pathetically low. We have shinobi on the frontlines fighting the Stone's forces, there are shinobi guarding our borders where the Stone might try to enter, and watching the Cloud if they try to make a move. Not to mention those on missions, or those we lost in the Sand and Sound Invasion.
"Meanwhile, the forces we have stationed at home are looking out from the walls in search of an enemy. Hell, Old Man Gennō could be walking the streets, whistling a tune, and we wouldn't even know about it. After all, how many Sensory Types actually know his chakra signature? The only one I know is out of the Leaf, and we have a minimum of three days before 'Risu gets back."
Far too long. Their clock was already nearing zero hour.
"While I understand your point, Gennō wouldn't be so careless to walk the streets," Inoichi judged. "His decision making has been impeccable so far. Which makes dropping the blueprints over the Leaf puzzling, to say the least."
"Puzzling? No," his old man said, shaking his head. "The fact of the matter is Gennō never needed the blueprints; it was never his intention to sell them to our enemies. He's already one foot in the grave, according to what 'Risu sensed, so anything of monetary value can be ruled out. Vengeance is his ultimate motive, and he has no need for another Village to fulfill it. He intends to destroy us all on his own. In fact, it's clear now stealing the blueprints was only another diversion—another means to distract us and waste what precious time we have."
"So you suspect Gennō already has his trap set in the Leaf?" Tsunade asked.
"I do," Shikaku nodded once. "It's already been primed. Now he's just waiting."
"For what, though?" Shizune wondered.
"Hard to say. It could be he wants to watch us squirm a little before unleashing it. The worst case scenario, however…" his dad trailed off, glancing off.
"Spit it out, Shikaku," Tsunade ordered.
"He may have already deployed it and the full effects haven't yet revealed themselves to us." Shikaku rubbed the back of his neck, his discomfort spreading like an infection. "It could be something as subtle as poisoning the water so that, in time, our population will simply become sick and die. Or, like a line of dominoes, all he has to do is knock over one and watch the whole Village crumble.
"What is certain, however, is we're running out of time. The future of the Leaf depends on us disarming this trap before its too late to reverse course. So," he drew his eyes to Shikamaru, "what's the new lead you've found? I assume you've already sent your comrades ahead of you."
"I have," he nodded. It was the only reasonable thing to do, given how quickly they were running out of time. "They're inspecting the Academy as we speak."
"The Academy?" Inoichi was visibly surprised. "What makes you think his trap is there?"
"Because of all the blueprints that were stolen and recovered, the blueprint for the Academy is the only one still missing." Shikamaru lowered his eyes and narrowed his gaze. "We went through every blueprint that fell from the sky and every single document in the master carpenter's building. We searched every drawer, every cabinet—Naruto's Shadow Clones even checked between the pages of the books he had in his home. But it's nowhere to be found. And he isn't the kind of guy to misplace something like that."
Which made the disappearance of the original letter of recommendation stick out even more. If only he could figure out where it fit into this puzzle.
"It's another coincidence," he said. "Another coincidence that would take a lot of work to pull off, if you ask me. So, that's where we're searching next. With all of our heads together, and the sensory abilities of everyone in my unit, if Gennō's trap is there, we'll find it."
"Well, well, leave it to our little chiclets to keep surprising us!"
The boisterous voice of Master Jiraiya was too distinguishable not to recognize. That the man decided to slap the back of Shikamaru's shoulder, announcing his presence as he spoke, gave his already tense heart an intense and quick jolt.
What were with veteran shinobi and Anbu agents appearing out of nowhere? It was becoming a real pain in the ass.
"Every time I run into one of you you've discovered something new. I must say, I'm beginning to feel a little envious," the legendary shinobi teased.
"Jiraiya, give me some good news. Did you find anything about these two potential accomplices?" Tsunade asked.
Shikamaru took a step to the side and half-turned in time to see the man shake his head, his expression solemn compared to his boisterous introduction. He also noticed Osamu perched on his shoulder.
Immediately the boy felt his gut begin to twist. A bad omen.
"I'm afraid I haven't been able to dig up much. They weren't acquaintances or carpenters, that much I'm certain of. Whoever they are, they've covered their tracks as well as Gennō has. These two are likely shinobi of exceptional skill.
"Also," his voice became grave, "the Stone have ambushed Amaririsu, Sasuke, Mimi and Aoko, and their Anbu guards."
"What?" hissed the Hokage. She looked on the verge of throwing the desk through the wall.
Shikamaru's gut twisted unpleasantly, he felt a cold nausea sweep over his body.
"I'm afraid its true, Lady Hokage," Osamu said. "There are twelve shinobi in total. Preliminary theories and reports suggest they were summoned into the abandoned training field by a Summoning Jutsu of some description." He shook his feathered head. "Their sudden appearance leaves few other conclusions. They appeared en masse, so we can rule out the Masked Man's space-time ninjutsu as the cause."
"We inspected the grounds beforehand," Shikaku murmured thoughtfully. "The Crows have had it under watch for days now. It would be impossible for one of the Foundation's agents to have slipped in during that time… But an agent arriving before…"
His old man did well compartmentalizing his concerns. Far better than Shikamaru, who felt perspiration beginning to build beneath his clothes as his heart hammered in his ears.
"The Masked Man could've planted the Summoning Seals beforehand as well," Shizune considered.
"Who planted the Seals isn't important at the moment," Jiraiya cut in. "What concerns me is this happens to be occurring parallel to this incident with Gennō. If he's involved in the Stone's ambush, then there may be similar Seals within the Leaf. And as long as that potential trap is looming over us we can't send any extra support to those kids."
Shikamaru wanted to argue. He did. If the Stone slipped twelve guys in, they were likely handpicked by the Tsuchikage to take out the Anbu guards and 'Risu, Mimi, Aoko, and Sasuke. They needed backup.
Jaw clenching, he clutched a hand into a fist. But he's right. Gennō's attack happening in perfect synch with this ambush… It's another one of those coincidence someone worked at. And as long as we're sitting on this live bomb, as long as there is the potential of Stone shinobi to launch an assault from within our own walls, we can't send shinobi like Kakashi-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei, or Guy-sensei to back them up. We'd be handicapping ourselves, risking the whole Village for a single squad when a full-scale assault could occur at any moment.
Is this Gennō's plan? Is he trying to get us to empty out some of our elite shinobi, weakening our military strength before a full-fledged Stone Village Invasion?
Dammit, he ground his teeth together. I don't have time to waste here. The only way we can get support to 'Risu, Sasuke, and Mimi and Aoko is to stop Gennō first.
"I'll head to the Academy to help with the investigation," he dismissed himself, turning on his heel and jogging for the door.
"I must return to the fight as well," Osamu said. "Fair winds guide you and your investigation."
'Risu, you guys better stay alive out there…
The dense woodland of the abandoned Chūnin Exam grounds, once quiet and still, now seethed with shrieking metallic cries and rupturing explosions. Predators and prey alike scurried deeper into the forest, farther from the conflict raining red sparks onto crushed blades of grass.
The Tsuchikage isn't screwing around, Tenzō thought calmly amidst the chaos of battle. Of these six shinobi pinning down Yūgao and I, I recognize five of their faces from our bingo books.
Their names were difficult to pull forward from the recesses of his memory while under constant pressure, but their photos, their accolades, their abilities were present. He couldn't let his guard down for a moment.
These weren't the swarm of mercenaries, conscripts, and green Genin to pursue Yūgao and Amaririsu through the Waterfall, they weren't men and women thrown into uniforms, handed weapons for the first time, and sent to capture precious chunks of dirt or, at the very least, serve as fodder for their superiors.
These were the kind of shinobi you couldn't replace easily. Immense amounts of time and training were invested in these men and women when their aptitude for leadership, combat, and assassination became abundantly clear.
They were shinobi like him. Like Yūgao. Like Kakashi. Handpicked and trained by their Village's elite in order to one day take their place.
He presumed the other six were of similar status. They, too, had earned themselves pages within the Bingo Book, and that placed Amaririsu, Sasuke, and Mimi and Aoko in an exceptionally dangerous and unenviable position of fighting against Jōnin.
Unfortunately, he and Yūgao couldn't aid them. Not yet.
Although less than a furlong separated them from their charges, the six Stone shinobi kept the Anbu agents pinned beneath a persistent barrage of attacks. They were locked in a fierce stalemate, neither side giving a single inch. No one had managed to draw first blood.
To Tenzō's eyes their situation was clear: the only way to reach Amaririsu, Sasuke, and Mimi and Aoko was to eliminate the threat in front of them first.
Yūgao was of the same mind. She maintained a cool head, for she knew, just as he did, that their young charges weren't helpless children anymore than they were at the same age.
Once upon a time Yūgao and Tenzō were the young shinobi handpicked and trained by the Leaf Village's elite to take their superiors place as guardians. Today Amaririsu, Sasuke, and Mimi and Aoko were those young shinobi—a lesson the Stone would learn the hard way, if they underestimated them for a moment.
Another shriek stabbed his ears. Tenzō parried aside the Stone shinobi's ōdachi—a two-handed, curved, single-edged sword which provided superior reach to his katana. The man behind it, already recovering, was tall and burly, sporting a thick black beard and his red headband worn as a full bandana.
A lithe figure appeared in the Black Beard's shadow; it was a woman of brown hair stylized in a bob and a distinguishing but small birthmark on her jaw, just beside her left earlobe. Her hands were already in Snake. The air whistled beneath flying blades, paper crinkled on their ends.
Tenzō stepped quickly at a backwards diagonal, throwing two kunai as he did. The onyx blades cried out as their pointed tips met, deflecting one another higher into the air, whirling harmlessly end over end above the flattened blades of grass.
At the same time a viscous glob of quicklime bulleted through the air at Tenzō, launched by Birthmark. As the kunais left his hand, he bent at the knees and sprang into the air. The glob passed beneath him, flying across the battlefield and splashing harmlessly against the trunk of a distant tree.
Tenzō extended his left arm out.
Wood Style: Great Forest Jutsu!
His arm vanished among rapidly growing branches shaped into thick stake-like spears. He watched both shinobi leap in retreat to evade, eyed their trajectory, watched their hands for handseals, but there was no time capitalize. He hardly had a moment to breathe.
Detaching the wood from his arm, he raised his blade, and, as he landed, spun a quick half-turn to evade a small man—maybe a foot taller than Amaririsu yet bearing the face of an adult and a square jaw—whose arms were covered from his biceps to his fists in solid stone.
His heavy right fist whooshed past the Leaf shinobi's abdomen. Tenzō half-turned again, stepped back in evasion, and felt the air pulse and brush against his stomach beneath a follow-up punch. One hit and his bones would be fractured and his insides ruptured.
Swiftly, he transformed his right leg into a wooden peg and kicked. A dull thunk followed as wood and earth collided, and then the air hissed as the Leaf Anbu slashed his sword for Stone Fist's head.
Stone Fist ducked, slamming his fists into the earth. Tenzō was already at the peak of his leap when spears of earth erupted beneath his previous position, leg returned to its natural state.
As he slid back on his heels, he heard a sudden screech colliding blades behind him, then the vibrations and grinding of Wind Nature chakra and Earth Nature chakra covered swords clashing against one another.
Stone Fist was the first through the valley of earth spears to appear, rushing headlong for Tenzō. Birth Mark leapt onto the top of an Earth Flow Spear, exhaling a cloud of ash.
Quicklime and ash, the Stone Village's native version of Lava Style, noted Tenzō. Good for capturing a target alive while incapacitating them. So, did the Tsuchikage know I would be here too? Does he seek to capture my Wood Style, or is she merely trying to pin me down so her comrades can kill me?
He halted on the grass. Then…
"Tenzō, duck," came Yūgao's calm command.
Tenzō obeyed. Without hesitation.
He ducked low. Razor sharp wind then hissed beneath a slashing sword and a gale whipped by overhead. At the same time, he heard Black Beard's voice from behind the spears.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
A thick wall rose in front of Stone Fist and the cloud of ash. The gale of wind crashed against the earthy wall and tore chunks from it.
"Yūgao, to me," Tenzō ordered without taking his eyes off the earth wall, left hand pressed against the earth. He could sense the exact locations of Yūgao's enemies.
She obeyed. Without hesitation. His comrade hopped backwards in retreat, and as soon as she was out of range, he launched his attack.
Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears!
Earth ruptured. Dirt flew through the air. Trees groaned as they were uprooted. The trio his comrade had been fighting evaded, retreating out of range amid the chaotic upheaval of earth.
With Yūgao at his back, he rose, calm and collected.
"Five of these six are in the Bingo Book," he informed quickly.
"I know. The Tsuchikage isn't taking us or Haya's team lightly," said Yūgao. "The Mistress of Shadows would say we should feel honored," she added wryly.
"Hmph," he exhaled a grim but genuine chuckle. Then grew serious. "Are they sticking together?"
"Yes. The Crows are providing support when necessary."
He nodded once, silently. Good. He trusted the Crows to support their young charges, but he also trusted in Amaririsu, Sasuke, and Mimi and Aoko to hold their own against these unenviable odds. They weren't Academy students he needed to coddle or worry about.
They were shinobi of the Leaf. Comrades. And this was the kind of danger they would face going forward within the Anbu, and against the threats of Orochimaru, the Foundation, the Akatsuki, and the Masked Man.
I have high expectations for all four of you, he thought. So, this is your chance to prove the faith of your teachers. Show us all why they believe so deeply in you.
Become the shinobi I know you can be.
Black Beard, Birth Mark, and Stone Fist all emerged on top of the Mud Wall.
"Worried about those children, huh? You should be," someone spoke behind them.
"Children? Hmph," Tenzō snorted. "Just by that word alone I know your comrades aren't ready for them."
"You've made a grave error targeting them," said Yūgao, voice calm but cold. "One that you will not be able to rectify."
"Hmph. A grave error? The arrogance of you Leaf shinobi never ceases to amaze," Black Beard said.
He reached into his ninja pouch and procured a small, silver device. It was thin, about the length of his pinky. Tenzō squinted, unable to discern its nature.
"The Will of Stone has and will always endure long after your Will of Fire burns itself out," declared Black Beard. "Soon enough it will be over for you two. But before you die you will witness a demonstration of the Will of Stone's might. The might Lord Tsuchikage commands!"
He brought the silver device to his lips. Tenzō winced, eyes squinting beneath the sharp whistle piercing the air. A breath later there was a callback, sourced by the shinobi battling their young charges.
Birth Mark weaved handseals, Stone Fist lowered into a crouch. Although he couldn't see it, two of the shinobi battling Yūgao mirrored Birth Mark's moves, as did three shinobi on the opposing battlefield.
In synchronicity they all pressed their hands into the earth and called out,
"Earth Style: Mountain Maze Jutsu!"
The effect, and the deafening calamity it unleashed, was near instantaneous. Trees tore from the earth as a cascade of earthy walls and sharp mountainous peaks rose around them. Suddenly the earth beneath Tenzō sank, as though standing upon a rapidly descending elevator.
"Tenzō, above!"
He lifted his gaze and spun a half turn. He saw Yūgao disappear behind a wall as the open sky above vanished behind not only falling trees, but an enclosing ceiling. Stone Fist was riding the falling tree. Birth Mark was drawing her head back, Black Beard was dropping into the darkening chasm.
The floor beneath him halted abruptly.
Before the ceiling of earth could block out the last hint of sunlight, Tenzō measured the perimeter and expanse of their Mountain Maze. He then leapt aside to evade the falling trees and the bullet of Quicklime, landing upon the nearest wall. He quickly pivoted as Stone Fist darted at him and leapt backwards, evading horizontally along the wall.
He had no time to unleash a counter. Black Beard was dashing in at his back, leaping forward and spinning once as he brought the ōdachi down from above his head, seeking to eviscerate Tenzō from the top of his skull down the center of his exposed back.
With an even quicker pivot, turning so his back faced their new ceiling, the longer blade whooshed past his face and torso by a hair's breadth. Black Beard halted his downward motion halfway and slashed horizontally as he turned.
The sharp cry of metal stabbed their ears. Tenzō was quicker on his counter this time. He struck with a pushing kick to his enemy's exposed hip, simultaneously pushing the man away while shoving himself higher up the wall.
Stone Fist suddenly flashed between them, growling in frustration as he skidded along the wall. He darted a half circle to pursue the Anbu agent.
Tenzō pushed off the wall and leapt ahead, straight at Birth Mark, who barely raised her kunai in time to block his sharp strike. His attack served its purpose, though. Even as their blades ground together, the force of his leap caused their bodies to revolve like a railway turntable around each other. Once her back was facing the wall he leapt from, he struck with another kick and pushed himself out of the deadlock into the collapsed forest. He landed on a tree and melded into the surface, vanishing.
Hidden from view, he caught his breath and observed the trio.
Well, this certainly complicates things. Assuming they separated Amaririsu, Sasuke, and Mimi and Aoko like they have Yūgao and I, we'll all be fighting at a disadvantage now.
Business as usual, then.
In spite of his calm demeanor, he felt the urgency to hurry to their young charges aid. For now, though, he had to trust in them. He had to trust them to withstand the ambush long enough for him or Yūgao to render aid, if necessary.
He wasn't certain it would be. These Stone shinobi had chastised them for arrogance, but if they underestimated those young shinobi for an instant, they would learn that hubris, in the shinobi world, was often fatal.
Targeting those kids was a grave error, he thought. However, you've made another, more pressing error.
You've underestimated me.
Mimi, crouched on a diagonally lying tree with Aoko growling from the top of her head, held the two Stone shinobi beneath a sharp gaze, a slight smirk playing at her lips. Moments ago the earth had risen beneath her, fallen beneath Sasuke, and walls had risen around Amari, trapping them with two Stone shinobi each.
It was unfortunate, really. Unfortunate that she was stuck with the two ugliest of the bunch; one was a broad man with a cleft chin and a nasty burn scar down the left side of his neck and, if she had to guess, covering a decent portion of his upper left torso; the second was lithe with a smattering of freckles over the bridge of his nose, and a large gap between his front teeth.
"So, separating us is your grand plan, huh? Well, the six of you weren't getting anywhere against the four of us, so you clearly need a handicap. I guess that's fair."
"Fair? Hmhmhm," Gap-Tooth chuckled cruelly. "Oh no, we won't be playing fair."
"Good," Mimi grinned. " 'Cause you're gonna need every edge you can get. You ugly bastards pulled the short straws with me and Aoko. No numbers advantage for you."
"I'm not surprised you're so arrogant. You're the offspring of Hijikata the Butcher, after all," Cleft Chin spat.
The Inuzuka paused a beat, heart giving a sharp jolt. Then a feral grin took form on her lips.
"Looky looky here, Aoko," she said in a nasty growl. "They know my lineage. I think I feel honored." She moved onto all-fours. "Heh, Hijikata the Butcher, huh? Been a minute since a Leaf shinobi last spat that charming nickname at me. Hearin' it from a Stone shinobi, though, hearin' ya sound all high and mighty about it—heh! Just makes me wanna tear ya apart even more."
"Your father was a reflection of his bloodthirsty Nation—a Butcher. And that scum's blood flows in your veins," Cleft Chin didn't sound impressed.
"Get off your high horse, you prick," she hissed. "Bloodthirsty? Look in a goddamn mirror. Look at the elective war your Nation is waging on this world! Oh, but my father was the bloodthirsty scum, huh? Go to hell. 'The Butcher' only exists 'cause of the Stone. He became your nightmare when you betrayed them at Yosuga Pass."
Years ago, before her father defected, the Mist and Stone were working a joint-op to steal documents from the Cloud; it was a chance to finally put the bloody history to rest. A earnest attempt by the Mist, from what her dad said, to move towards the Village the Fifth was now trying to build.
"You bastards," she seethed, "you stabbed the Mist in the back. Threw away a chance at peace, like the backstabbing pricks you are. Your comrades murdered his closest friends—Suiren and Junsai. And because of that betrayal hostilities between your Nations was restored to the status quo, all according to your decrepit Tsuchikage's moronic plan."
The Tragedy of Yosuga Pass was just another example of this twisted world and its broken systems. It was just another example of old men screwing over the future to sustain their bloody status quo.
"Like we would have ever made peace with those scum in the Mist," Gap-Tooth said.
Mimi snarled, slit pupils sharpening. "You were there that day, weren't you?"
"Don't tell me you thought our being here, knowing your father by name, was a coincidence," Cleft Chin replied. "We're here to settle the score and send the Butcher's legacy into an early grave."
"They cling to their grudges like all the others," growled Aoko. "Driving this world into this insane cycle of bloodshed over and over again."
"It's 'cause of bastards like you…" Mimi snarled through teeth grit. "You idiots thought you'd get one over on the Mist and raise a cup to your grand victory. Except you failed to retrieve the document—like the trash you are."
She struck a nerve. Their expression became very nasty—to be called trash by her, the child of the Butcher, it must've stung. And that pleased Mimi.
"Know my favorite part about the story of The Butcher?" she growled nastily. "Dad decided the Stone owed him a debt of blood. So he made your comrades pay it back in full. Went and earned himself charming nicknames like the Manticore of the Mist, the Leaf's Bloody Rip Tide, and the Butcher." She flicked her harsh gaze between them. "Now the cockroaches come crawling out of the cracks to settle a score with little ol' me, since you weren't man enough or strong enough to kill him."
"The apple hasn't fallen far from the tree, I see," said Cleft Chin. "Good. You're making this more enjoyable."
"Oh, the four of us—trust me, we're in for a real party," she declared with a wild and harsh grin. "You bastards are even unluckier than you realize."
"And how's that?"
"Hehehe," she chuckled darkly, nastily. "Can't you see? I'm the daughter of the Butcher, and the apple didn't fall far from the tree. By the time this is over you'll see you've trapped yourself in here with a Demon. 'Cause Aoko and I are gonna shred you into so many pieces even your next of kin won't be able to identify you. So c'mon," she challenged with a feral grin, "I'm gonna finish what Dad wasn't able to! Let's see how long it takes for me to grind your Will of Stone into dust!"
Amid the dark cavern two crimson orbs glowed. Sasuke held his chokutō at the ready, scanning the darkness, the fallen trees, from the shadows of the foliage. Trapped in a stone prison with two Stone kunoichis wasn't how he imagined their test turning out. Perhaps he should have.
This was perfectly in line with their luck.
The two kunoichis hid themselves within the stone surfaces surrounding him, which flowed with chakra. It meant none of them would be blasting their way out of their prisons with ease.
"You must be worried sick about your comrades, spawn of Fugaku," mocked one of the kunoichi from somewhere within the shadows.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the darkness.
"Hmph," he snorted, maintaining a cool head. "Is that why you're here? Because you have some unsettled quarrel with my father?"
"The sins of the father fall upon the shoulders of the son."
"Life for a life. Blood for blood."
"We've already paid enough for the sins of our forebears," he murmured coldly. He then took a breath, and let his emotions go. They had no place on the battlefield.
"In your position," he began cooly, "I'd be more worried about your comrades than revenge."
"Oh, there's no need for that. You're all outnumbered. It's already over."
"No." Sasuke smirked. "Now it's fun."
The prison she found herself in was conical in shape, rising into a sharp peak. Add in the handful of trees crammed into it and the space for maneuverability and flight above was minimized considerably.
A wise decision, Amari could admit, given Osamu's presence on her shoulder. The Stone wanted not only to separate her comrades from the Crows and limit the latter's influence in the battle, but they went the extra mile to ensure any feathered comrade to enter the stone prison would struggle to fly and outmaneuver any attack.
Perched on the underside of a branch, crimson glowing in the darkness, lavender piercing through it, Amari glared at the two Stone shinobi beneath her. One was the man who found it utterly unbelievable so much fuss was being made over them. All over children, in his words. He was taller than average, thick with muscle—like a stone wall. Square jaw, broad nostrils, and scars on his thick arms; he was a veteran, the oldest of the six who had cornered them, she presumed.
In spite of being built like Might Guy, the other man looked small compared to his fellow veteran. He wore retractable blades on his tattooed arms, which appeared to be dipped in black ink save the large flesh-colored lotus flowers located at both elbows and shoulders. He was also missing the tip of his right ear.
"Fair warning," Amari began, voice cold. "This isn't going to go the way you hope."
"Typical Uchiha arrogance," Tattoos chastised. "It didn't save your clansmen in the past. It won't save you."
"Even if you are a descendent of Madara Uchiha, you are nothing more than a child," claimed the veteran. "An upstart. That Lord Tsuchikage believes it will require this amount of effort to capture you alive is merely an unfortunate side effect of your ancestors monstrous power."
Amari's smile was cruel and unkind. "Upstart, huh? Funny, your dead comrades certainly didn't look at me like an upstart before they died. They looked at me as though gazing upon Madara Uchiha himself. But I have no desire to live in the shadow of an old ghost story.
"By the time I'm through with you, you will not see Madara Uchiha's ancestor. You will see Amaririsu Yūhi and Haya Uchiha, Leaf shinobi and Head of the Uchiha Clan, as I burn your Will of Stone to unrecognizable ashes."
Scanning the Academy for Gennō's trap, whatever it may be, required a meticulous effort, like scanning two nearly identical images for even the slightest of alterations. It didn't help they lacked a basic idea of what specifically they were searching for, thus they had no choice but to search every inch with a fine-toothed comb. Every room. They couldn't leave a single stone unturned.
We're losing time, Neji thought, scanning yet another classroom in search of any alterations with the Byakugan. His gaze slowly traveled along the walls. Kiba with Akamaru were at his side.
Yet there is no other way to do this. We must inspect every room. All evidence points to Gennō's trap being here. If only Lady Hinata and I knew specifically what manner of trap we were searching for, then we could identify and disarm it far quicker.
If it were that easy, however, Gennō wouldn't be renowned as a Master Trapper. He would be someone ordinary, someone who couldn't have tricked the Anbu or lived within their walls for months without detection.
When the Byakugan uncovered nothing notable, they moved to the next classroom and began again. Akamaru sniffed around the space as he scanned the walls. Kiba searched, but the Inuzuka pair ultimately found nothing of note. Neji was almost certain he would join them in failure.
He paused suddenly, drawn to a thread flowing with chakra within the walls. Even with the Byakugan it was almost undetectable.
What's this?
He followed the thread up the wall. It bent a sharp right angle, progressed horizontally for meter, then ascended the span of a single hand where it ended abruptly.
It ended, Neji realized, eyes widening and heart jumping, at a Paper Bomb.
"That's it! I found it!" he announced, recoiling in horror. "There's a Paper Bomb in here!"
"There's a what?!" Kiba balked. Akamaru whined. "What do you mean? Where?"
"There is a Paper Bomb hidden inside this wall," he repeated, eyes already following the thread of chakra in the opposite direction.
"Inside? But how could anybody detonate it in there?"
"The Paper Bomb has a long thread attached to it," he explained. Where was it leading? What was it attached to in order to detonate? "More than likely it is a fuse, allowing someone to set off the bomb from far away."
"You've gotta be kidding. Where does it lead to?"
Neji lowered his chin, Byakugan vision piercing through the upper floors of the Academy, tracing the fuse to the floor below, then horizontally along the second floor. Down into the first floor of a classroom, beneath the desks that would be occupied by children, and out of the main facility.
"It passes through the floors, around the classrooms, and then it travels outside."
The fuse kept going. Farther from the main facility. Farther to the…
"There. It ends inside the practice hall's pavilion." Utilizing the Byakugan, he zoomed his focus in on the end point. "There's something there—a log or a pole. And beneath it… The booby trap, that's it!"
There was a triggering device beneath the log!
An immense chakra entered his vision, flying through the hall on insect wings.
"Neji, you've gotta come quick!" Fū said, visibly concerned.
"We're kinda in the middle of something, Fū," replied Kiba.
"But this is super important!" She landed, skidding a meter on the floor as her wings remained at the ready. As she stopped she pointed towards the end of the hall she entered, distinctly in the same direction as the practice hall. "There's this log in the practice hall and Naruto, Chōji, and Lee said it was new. Like, it must've been installed recently. And there are these kids practicing kunai throwing on it, and—"
"Kunai throwing?!" Kiba panicked. "We've gotta stop them, fast!"
Fū looked as startled as Neji felt. "Are you sure? What is it?" she asked, but she was already backing up. Already preparing to dart off.
"It's an explosive device," Neji explained calmly despite his trepidation. He jolted into movement, dashing down the hall. Kiba's clapping sandals followed, Fū's vibrating wings were distinct. "Is there a target on it?"
"Uh, um, yeah! Yeah there was. A red dot right in the center of the Leaf Village crest."
"The center of the target is the detonator. If a kunai hits that target, it will trigger the trap, and the whole Academy will be blown sky high!"
"Let's hope their aim isn't getting any better! Look out!" She zipped past the pair, reached the window at the end of the hall, forced it open and jumped onto the windowsill. "Don't worry! I'll stop them before they can blow it up!" she called over her shoulder as she darted off like a missile.
Neji and Kiba followed her through the open portal. They could only hope she would arrive in time.
"Okay. I've got it now. This one is gonna be right on the money!"
"That is the spirit!" Lee cheered, pumping his fist into the air.
Naruto, arms crossed, tapped his foot impatiently. Something about that log wasn't right, he could feel it. It definitely wasn't there before they graduated. Lee even said he and Guy trained here at some point within the last several months and it hadn't been built then, either.
What else could it be, though? How could it work as a trap for Old Man Gennō?
Old Man Gennō… Why are you doing this?
"He's a human. It's the nature of your species to lie to your own kind and destroy each other," Nine-Tails rumbled menacingly.
Naruto squinted but didn't deign to reply. Beside him Chōji crunched noisily on another handful of chips.
Nine-Tails chuckled, the noise harsh and unpleasant. "What's the matter, brat? Does his betrayal hurt you so much? Hmhmhm. So much confusion, so much sorrow, so much anger boiling within you. Do you still believe there are more 'people like you' than there are men like Mizuki or Gennō?"
The boy preparing to throw his kunai drew the blade back.
Yeah. I do. So just shut up already. I don't have time to argue with you.
The blade left his hand.
"That one looks good!" Lee cheered.
"Aw yeah, there it is! Bullseye!" The kid was bursting with elation as the blade zeroed in on the target.
Vibrating wings entered the hall. Fū suddenly flashed across the room from the upper floor, appearing as little more than a blur. Naruto blinked and she was crashing, rolling, and then skidding back first along the floor. She halted, breathing heavily, the boy's kunai gripped along the blade in her left hand. Blood streamed down her palm, dripping onto the floor.
"Ow," she groaned. "That was way too close. Looks like we got lucky again, huh, Chōmei?"
Neji and Kiba leapt down from the balcony above, landing on the training hall floor in front of Naruto, Lee, and Chōji before they could fully process the Waterfall kunoichi's actions.
"Hey, Neji, Kiba, what's going on?" Chōji asked after swallowing his chips.
"Fū just saved our skin, that's what," Kiba exhaled a relieved sigh.
"I knew it! So this was apart of the trap after all," Naruto said.
"Indeed," Neji answered, crossing the floor towards Fū.
"Then let us all express our heartfelt gratitude to Fū for preventing a disaster," said Lee.
"Hey! That was a bullseye!" whined the boy who threw the kunai.
"Why do you guys keep butting in anyway?!" groused one of his friends.
"Quiet you brats!" Kiba chastised harshly. "If you had hit the bullseye the whole Academy would've blown up!"
The group of boys, five in total, went pale, horrified. Neji made it to Fū's side and reached his hand out. She took the offered hand and, with a flutter of her wings, hopped up onto her feet.
Naruto shifted his jaw. If this is the trap, then where is Old Man Gennō? I expected him to be wherever his trap was, but someone would've sensed him by now if he was inside the Academy. So, where is he hiding? Or is this not the only trap he set?
He clenched his hands into fists.
Why are you going through with this, Old Man Gennō? If you're dying, why are you wasting time seeking out revenge when you could be treasure hunting with your grandson? Or was that just another lie?
Truth lay somewhere at the center of this web of lies, and he had every intention of learning what it was. Even if it hurt.
"A triggering device hidden inside it, huh?" said Shikamaru.
"Cleverly set to be activated by a direct hit on the target," Neji confirmed.
Hinata pursed her lips, quietly activating her Byakugan to scan the device in question. While true the nature of the trap was clever; few would suspect the training log to be wired with a detonator, and the fuse was difficult to see even with the Byakugan.
However, considering the ability of the shinobi they were dealing with, she didn't feel safe assuming they could disarm it so easily. Also, Shikamaru was more tense than before. Despite the chance for relief discovering this trap should've provided, he was visibly on edge. Tense hands and forearms, tight jaw, and a laser focus in his narrowed eyes.
Somethings wrong, she noted, following the fuse past the detonator. Something he isn't telling us. Has there been news about the other spies? Did Gennō have another trap? One that killed someone? Or…is there something wrong with Amaririsu?
It seemed strange to think. Amaririsu, Sasuke, and Mimi and Aoko should've been the safest presently, since they weren't in the Leaf. And yet Shikamaru's tension…
She'd seen it before. When they found him with Tayuya. When his comrades were in danger but out of his reach.
"We were just lucky none of those little snots was good enough to hit it before we got here," Kiba said.
"It's a good thing they didn't have more training," Tenten noted.
"We got lucky, that's for sure," Shikamaru said.
"Maybe our luck is rubbing off on all of you," Fū said, grinning with her hands on her hips.
The fuse, it's…
Hinata squinted, struggling to see the thin thread. She honed her vision even further upon the fuse.
Is there more than one?
"Hey, you guys, who told you to train here anyway?" Naruto called across the hall to the boys, turning to face them.
The others did, too. All except Hinata, who was too focused to see Shino keenly observing her.
"Who was it again? Hey, do you remember?"
"No. I can't remember."
"Somebody told us we should practice our training in secret and impress our teachers… Who was it, though?"
"Training in secret, huh?" Ino didn't hide her suspicion.
"It happened again," Karin spoke up.
"It did," Yakumo agreed, nodding once. "Just like the carpenters we interviewed before."
"Huh? What happened, Karin? What are you two talking about?" Chōji asked.
"Just now, when Naruto asked them who told them to train here, I sensed the same chakra fluctuation we sensed when we interviewed the carpenters," Karin explained.
"It seems to be a subtle genjutsu used to alter or block their memory," Yakumo added.
"Then it must have been Gennō," Sakura said.
Hinata inhaled a startled breath. Quickly, she strode towards the outside world beyond the training hall, strides becoming longer as her heart beat picked up tempo. It wasn't just one or two fuses, she counted four, five, six—they were leading out of the Academy and into the Village.
"Hinata, what is it?" Shino called after her.
"There's more than one fuse leading to the explosive device," she replied as she entered a jog, passing the tall pillars lining the edge of the pavilion. "There are eight—no, ten! No, there's another. I can't see enough from here. I'll be right back!"
Jogging out into the open air and sunlight, chased by the clapping sandals of her comrades, she turned around quickly and leapt up the wall, onto an adjoining, conical shaped roof—the highest point of the training hall and its adjoining building.
Feet humming with chakra, she cast her gaze out at the Village. Her cousin Neji landed next to her, turning around to do the same with his Byakugan activated.
The threads branched off, at times fairly short as they led to other Paper Bombs. Despite the cool air Hinata felt herself beginning to sweat.
"Ne- Neji, do you see?" She struggled to form the words for the expanding fuses.
"Ye- yes, I see it," he sounded uncharacteristically flabbergasted.
"Well, what can you see?" Shikamaru called from below.
Hinata's eyes were wide. Her heart slamming against her chest and pounding in her ears. Tea shops, restaurants, stores she had walked by in recent days, residential buildings—there were Paper Bombs everywhere!
"Wait, it branches off again over here," her cousin said.
"Over here, too!"
"There- There's no end to it!"
"It- it can't be," Hinata stammered, sweat beading on her forehead, voice trembling. "There's no way!"
The fuses stretched the entire span of the Leaf Village, from wall to wall, from Hokage Mountain to the entrance.
"Hey!" Naruto called. "What did you find?"
"There are Paper Bombs all over the Village and they're all connected!" Hinata replied.
"Not just ten or twenty Paper Bombs, either. There are dozens of them—hundreds! Too many to count," Neji echoed. "The entire Leaf Village is a giant nest of Paper Bombs!"
Yūgao moved cautiously through the dark corridor one silent step at a time. Sword at the ready, chakra humming at her sandals, casting a faint blue hue in the darkness, and senses probing the environment, she walked along a wall over a pit of sharpened stone spikes.
All was silent. So silent she could hear every smooth, nearly silent, inhalation and exhalation. She could hear her heartbeat clearly; it was calm, if not elevated by the recent burst of exertion to escape the ever-changing environment.
The Mountain Maze Jutsu began as little more than a dark, stone prison which had swallowed the surrounding trees and trapped them with pairs or trios of Stone shinobi, from what she could sense beyond her own prison. It trapped them in an open battlefield, at first. Hardly a maze.
After their initial skirmish within, however, the environment underwent a rapid transformation. New slabs of earth rose from the floor, walls, and ceiling, creating a maze which altered its halls at random intervals. Spikes, like those below her, were their newest deadly additions.
At a T-junction, Yūgao peered to the left first. The path was obstructed by severed tree trunks caught in the upheaval of earth. She peered right. All clear and absent of spikes.
After a short leap she continued her exploration down the right path.
The shinobi are concealing their presence within the walls of this maze, she noted, searching not with her eyes, ears, or nose, but with her senses. The powerful chakra flowing through these walls is a natural concealment, obscuring my sensory abilities like a thick smog. Pinning down the one controlling it will be difficult.
Hmm, she paused, humming thoughtfully. Yūgao placed a hand on the wall for a brief moment, then moved on. In the darkness none could see the Seal she left behind.
They will either have a Stone Clone in each of our prisons altering the maze's environment, or the original will take control as a Stone Clone fights in their place.
There was no denying the Stone shinobi held the advantage within their Mountain Maze. They transformed the battlefield to suit their strength in Earth Style Ninjutsu. Additionally, every second they wasted of hers and Tenzō's time theoretically brought them closer to fulfilling their true objective:
Capture Haya to claim Madara's final descendant, capture or kill Sasuke, and doubtlessly eliminate Mimi and Aoko before they could become a full-fledged threat to the Stone.
Of course, the shinobi of the Stone were operating on the ignorant presumption that Haya, Sasuke, and Mimi and Aoko were not already a threat.
Their enemies were all Jōnin, certainly. And although not a gambler, she was confident in betting the sum of two jackpot lotteries they were handpicked by the Tsuchikage for this mission; five of the six were faces she recognized from the Bingo Book, and Yūgao presumed she would recognize others among the six cornering Haya's unit.
However, their enemies foolishly looked upon Haya, Sasuke, and Mimi and Aoko as mere children, helpless and weak in the cruel world of adults.
For all the advantages the Stone shinobi held, that single fatal error could be enough to sink their mission, as it had throughout history when shinobi underestimated children like Kakashi, herself, Tenzō, Shisui, Itachi, and Aimi.
Haya's unit, she thought calmly as she made it halfway to the next curving right turn, are not mere children. Your greatest mistake is believing they require our protection. They aren't fresh graduates from an Academy or inexperienced Genin. So even if you manage to delay Tenzō and I, you shinobi of the Stone will learn firsthand why it is the Tsuchikage has deemed them too dangerous to live. However—
Tremors rolled through the corridor, vibrating up her legs and across her body, interrupting her thoughts. Yūgao paused, cautiously probing the environment with her senses. It seemed the Stone shinobi were ready to attack again.
The harsh snarl of stone grinding against stone scraped her eardrums as the maze came alive once more. She felt the earth rising beneath her feet. The curving path ahead, once level with the horizon, was quickly transforming into an incline, elevating higher, higher, and higher still as the T-junction rotated on an axis.
As soon as she felt gravity tugging her body backwards a faint blue hue surrounded the soles of her sandals. The corridor kept rising, until it suddenly lurched to a halt with an ominous, rumbling growl. Now the passage appeared to be a garbage chute. Yet the transformation wasn't complete.
A second wave of vibrations rolled through the earth like an earthquake's aftershock, the harsh snarling scraping her eardrums once again.
Yūgao quickly glanced over her shoulder and down the chute; the spiked floor from the hall before was sliding into position beneath her. The Stone shinobis intentions were clear, their battlefield set. Now came the—
Her narrowed eyes flicked left, towards a disruption within the flow of chakra. Closer to the center of this stone prison they had erected.
There you are.
Pushing off the wall abruptly, air whooshed beneath Yūgao's back as she flipped over a slashing blade. She landed feet first on the opposing wall, she saw the responsible party leaping to meet her—a kunoichi of shoulder-length black hair, sharp features, and eyes colored like carnations. She wielded a katana covered in stone.
Nakano Futaba, the Leaf kunoichi recalled. A soldier and assassin of the Stone, Nakano entered the Third Great Ninja War at the same age as Kakashi, and survived in a war that had claimed countless other children.
Yūgao retreated up the vertical wall with a small leap, eyes never leaving the enemy kunoichi, who bounded across the gap, landed precisely where she stood a breath before, and darted up the wall. Wind Chakra whirred around her blade, then a violent and piercing and drawn out screech echoed through the chute as Wind and Earth Nature chakra collided.
Their blades met once, twice, a third and fourth time, fierce red sparks flashed in the darkness and rained down upon the spikes below. Yūgao blocked another powerful strike, leapt back. Potent chakra set her sense alight.
As soon as her sandals touched earth again Yūgao sprang off the wall into a rapid corkscrew as the second Stone shinobi emerged behind her, his gloved fist narrowly passing by the back of her flak jacket.
Nakano, leaping after the shinobi, met Yūgao mid-flight. Another screech of blades, another rain of red-hot sparks and grating of Wind and Earth reverberated through the maze, stabbing their ears and leaving behind an incessant ringing.
She kicked the Stone shinobi, pushing away for breathing room. The two kunoichi landed on opposing walls feet first. The second Stone shinobi, a tall but portly man, sprang after her with surprising agility; he was upon Yūgao in a breath.
His fist appeared to strike her abdomen, then phased through the Afterimage and smashed into the wall behind her.
Materializing higher up the chute, sliding backwards, Yūgao grimaced and shut her eyes as the darkened environment flashed blinding orangish-red. The roar of an explosion and shattering of stone deafened her entirely. Heat rushed past her skin.
Isoroku Tojo of Explosion Style, she noted. He earned his place in the Bingo Book and the Stone's Explosion Corps during the Third Great Shinobi War. I can't let him land a single blow on me.
The Explosion Style kekkei genkai utilized Earth and Lightning Nature Chakra together. For Isoroku, he only needed to establish direct contact with an enemy by punching them, and then he could generate an enormous explosion from within their bodies.
Ears ringing and vision blinded, Yūgao slashed her blade and unleashed a sharpened gale of wind at the two Stone shinobi below while continuing to quickly retreat backwards up the wall. She couldn't hear the gust as it howled down the chute, she couldn't see their reactions, nor did she need to.
The earth trembled beneath her feet. She sensed new walls extend in front of her enemies, then felt the pulse of wind rise up the chute and gush like an intangible wave over her body. Isoroku and Nakano vanished into the earth. It didn't take long for either to reemerge.
Another fist phased through Yūgao. Having pushed off the outside of her left foot while Body Flickering, she materialized at the corner of two walls, now above and behind Isoroku.
Blindly, relying solely on her sensory abilities and spatial awareness, she darted a quick half circle down the wall, slashed for his exposed back, but as met by the sudden stiff resistance of Nakano's Earth covered sword. Again the sudden screech and harsh grating of their swords went unheard; the ringing refused to abate.
His Explosion Style is dangerous, but it could prove useful…
Their swords separated. Yūgao sprang back and across to the opposing wall, dashed three long strides up the wall, then leapt again at a diagonal. She parried aside Nakano's strike as they crossed paths in air, raining more red tears onto the spikes waiting far below. This time she saw the sparks fly, her vision slowly reacclimatizing to complete darkness.
At the top, where the earth curved right, Yūgao's momentum carried her along the curve as though gliding on a snowboard. Again Isoroku was upon her with his surprising agility. She pivoted quickly, leapt aside.
As anticipated, he detonated the wall to cushion his fist. She didn't see the flash, eyes already sealed shut. She grimaced as yet another violent explosion skewered her ringing eardrums, but she found solace in knowing this agony afflicted her enemies as well.
When the savage punch of the shockwave struck her being, Yūgao opened her eyes and immediately squinted as the hot gale howled by, biting at every exposed area of flesh it could. She could still see, however. Clearer than in pitch darkness, for the fading orange-reddish light still illuminated the corridor.
Isoroku was sliding backwards down the curved wall, chunks and slabs of stone were falling from the ceiling. She saw a small portal leading out of the corridor, opened by his explosive punch. Nakano was charging her, nearing striking range—three steps, two steps, one…
The Anbu agent feigned a block. Nakano made a quick and powerful cut, which sliced through air and the Afterimage of Yūgao. Whirling around, the Stone kunoichi saw the Anbu agent vanish through the open portal.
Haya's unit may not necessarily require us to protect them, she thought as she honed in on the Stone shinobi controlling the maze. However, I will not wander aimlessly through this maze any longer, nor will I allow you to complete your mission. You should be far more concerned with what I will do to protect them.
They may be your targets, you may be veterans of the Third Great Ninja War and a wielder of Explosion Style. But I am the student of the Mistress of Shadows.
It's time I show you what knowledge she passed onto me.
From beyond the grave, Yūgao sensed, Miyako Nara was grinning with all her devilish charm.
"A bomb on almost every corner?"
The Fifth Hokage could hardly believe the report. Shikaku couldn't deny how unsettled it left him, either, but he was confident in the map his son's unit created, and grateful for the visualization it provided of Gennō's trap.
The map itself wasn't anything special. It displayed the entire Leaf Village in detail, something anyone could pick up from a convenience store, sold for the purposes of aiding non-natives find their way around the Village—generally traveling merchants, foreign allies, or civilians looking to set up their life within the walls.
However, their young shinobi had used a pen to mark every single Paper Bomb awaiting detonation within the Leaf with an X.
X marks the spot, thought the Nara, examining the map calmly. In this case hundreds of spots. All right under our noses.
Gennō was living up to his legend. Unfortunately.
"Lady Tsunade," Shizune spoke up, "we must evacuate everyone as soon as possible."
Shikaku raised his stern eyes to the Hokage's assistant. "Calm down, Shizune. Don't act rashly."
"Rashly? The whole Village is in grave danger!"
"They're in no greater danger now than they were yesterday or a half hour ago. The only difference now is we know what precisely that danger is. By ordering an evacuation, we'll tip Gennō off that we've discovered his trap, and he won't waste anytime detonating it."
"But Shikamaru's unit has disarmed his triggering device."
"The triggering device at the Academy is disarmed, sure. But not the Paper Bombs themselves. Think this through Shizune. Do you honestly believe Gennō would leave his ultimate trap's detonation strictly to the chance of whether or not an Academy student has practiced their kunai training enough?"
The Hokage's assistant hesitated, catching his point instantly.
"While I'm sure it would've allowed him a cruel final laugh," Shikaku continued calmly, "watching us as we were destroyed by our own ignorance, disarming his triggering device isn't the end of our troubles. I guarantee you he can detonate these Paper Bombs remotely."
He drew his eyes to the Hokage. "We cannot forget that Gennō is alive, likely observing our activities from whatever hole or shadow he has hidden himself within. If he sees our people rushing with whatever heirlooms they can carry for the gate we have to believe he will set off his bombs."
"I see," Shizune replied.
"What do you suggest we do in the meantime?" Tsunade asked.
"As it stands, we already have several units coordinating with the Crows to discreetly disarm the bombs. It also doesn't appear Gennō is aware we've discovered his trap, so we should leave disarming the trap to them for now. In the meantime we need to continue combing the Leaf for Summoning Seals."
He settled his gaze on the map again. They couldn't risk believing they had the upper hand yet on Gennō. No, that was too risky. Too arrogant. There was a chance he may have supplied an entry point for an invasion force to assault the Leaf from within.
Could Gennō be working with the Stone to ambush Yūgao's and Tenzō's unit? Is it the Foundation? The Masked Man? Or another party altogether?
Those answers would have to wait. Later they would analyze this life or death puzzle. When the Leaf was secure and Yūgao, Tenzō, 'Risu, Sasuke, and Mimi and Aoko were safely within its walls again they could dissect everything.
Until then their main priority was securing the Leaf as efficiently as they could; without that they couldn't provide any extra aid to their comrades ambushed by the Stone, or their comrades currently fighting on the frontlines of the war.
Examining the X's on the map, Shikaku narrowed his eyes.
Something about this isn't sitting right with me, thought the Nara. All these Paper Bombs, even with his level of ability and months on his hands to plant them…
We're missing something.
He had to figure it out.
Time was running out.