It was a chilly morning in early December, and there was very light snowfall. Weak rays of the sun illuminated the area. The Roman camp in the southern Land of Lightning was all quiet. They had marched almost 200 kilometers across the coast of the Land of Lightning in nine days. The path wasn't easy with numerous skirmishes and minor battles with local samurai, feudal lords, and shinobi garrisons. But the path was easy to traverse, unlike the rough and mountainous terrain you'll face immediately if you go inland.
The soldiers in the camp were already awake, but not doing much. Some made campfires to combat the cold, others cooked stew on the fire, and some were busy tending to their damaged armor and gear. The camp was on an easily defensible but large plateau, that directly overlooked the seashore.
Quintus Germanicus was also busy in his own right, heading a meeting with all the centurions in the force. The meeting was held in the commander's tent, which was heated by a fire whose smoke could be smelled in the entire tent. They had recently been provided with reinforcements, consisting of one thousand units. five hundred auxiliary horse archers and five hundred light Cavalry, to be exact. The meeting's topic was how the campaign should proceed. Titus Superbus, one of the prominent centurions, spoke,
"Yesterday evening, as we all know, arrived reinforcements from Rome in the form of Cavalry, which were crucial for our campaign. We have also received news that we would soon be joined by more Roman troops and Konoha shinobi to mount a full-scale assault on Kumogakure. Thus, I propose we should remain still and wait for further reinforcements."
Another centurion scoffed at this, and replied,
"Wait and be sitting ducks for the Kumo shinobi? Please, sir Titus, our enemies are not the usual field armies of the battlefield. These are professional spies, saboteurs, and assassins, that are trained just for that since childhood. Not to mention their abilities with chakra. I suggest that we divide our forces into smaller contingents and march through enemy territory while ravaging the countryside and capturing towns. This will cripple the enemy's ability and will to fight."
But the centurion was opposed by Quintus himself, who finally spoke,
"Our advantage against the shinobi lies in our discipline, teamwork, and sheer numbers, that we can easily surround and overpower the shinobi who are in much smaller numbers. The mountain passes that lead inland in this nation are pretty isolated, and any passing force is very vulnerable to ambushes. If we divide our forces and march separately, that is if we even march inland, then they can easily finish us off one by one before the contingents can meet again.
The enemy's economy is dependent on its vast number of coastal towns and ports, through which it has access to and controls many trade routes by sea. I suggest that we send the one thousand Cavalry we received to ravage these coastal towns and the countryside around them. While we shall march to capture the Turtle Island, which has been located not far from here and is vital for Kumogakure."
There were a few whispers here and there among the centurions, but all seemed to agree with their commander. The Primus Pilus, who was the best centurion in the legion and commanded the best 120 men, as well as the right-hand man of the commander, spoke,
"I support General Quintus' idea. We aren't yet capable of mounting an assault on Kumogakure itself, but we're still powerful enough to capture this turtle island. Soon, we will also be equipped with two cannons and several trebuchets from Byzantium, that will allow us to capture the fortified coastal settlements of the Land of Lightning. I am in favor of the general."
There were murmurs and talking among the centurions and tribunes, but no one objected. Quintus finally spoke calmly,
"So it is decided then, we will march over to the turtle Island and capture it. While the Cavalry, aided by the artillery we are soon to receive, will ravage the Land of Lightning's villages and towns." After a brief pause, he continued,
"I am appointing tribune Publius Agricola as the commander of the Cavalry force. The rest of you, assemble your men and inform them of the decision. We will be marching off after lunch."
After this, the meeting slowly dispersed, as the centurions made their way to their respective centuries. The Roman camp was all of a sudden full of activity, as the soldiers were ordered to pack up their belongings and dismantle the buildings and tents, save the cooking tools. The soldiers weren't too happy to know that they would be marching during this cold, but orders were orders. The most essential pillar of the Roman military is discipline, and it must be maintained at all costs. It took several hours to completely pack everything, and after taking their midday meal the soldiers were off once again.
At approximately 6 o'clock, near the border of the Lands of Frost and Lightning
It was a blizzard. The strong and cold winds were howling as they hit the many armored soldiers who were somehow making their way through the snow. The entire surface was covered with snow, enough that an average man's entire foot below the knee could get stuck in it. The soldiers marched in disorganized but identifiable lines, one after another, using their spears as support to get through the deep snow. But while the common soldier struggled, it wasn't easy for the higher officials either. Although they had been granted a horse to use, the steed also found it quite hard to traverse the snow and blizzard. The eyes of the mounts and pack animals had to be covered with leather straps to protect them against the strong winds, while the soldiers tilted their helmets downwards as well.
Quintus Germanicus marched at the front of the column, while the Primus Pilus, who was Janus by name, rode at the back with a small personal retinue of soldiers to help any stragglers and those struggling. There had been rumors and sightings of marauders and robbers around the snow-covered flatland, who kill the soldiers that wander too far away from the main column and rob them.
"Cruel whether, this is." One of Janus' retinue spoke. Janus replied in a low tone while blocking the wind with his left hand,
"Yeah, this is going to be a difficult march." Another of the soldiers agreed,
"Quite right, sir. This continent is quite strange, we're facing blizzards and snow up here, while there lies a desert in the south." The Primus Pilus raised an eyebrow,
"Really? Well, this is an interesting land then. I suppose-"
Janus was interrupted by a soldier in the front, who called for everyone's attention,
"Look there, it seems to be a group of men." And indeed there were approximately ten soldiers, resting around a warm spring covered in their thick portable blankets, with their javelins planted upwards in the ground that formed a circle around them, and a fire lit nearby. Janus approached them, and spoke to them,
"Get up, you all. If you don't catch up with the rest of the line, the robbers may get you."
One of the soldiers replied,
"These men are too tired and sick to continue in this blizzard, sir. They need rest, I am healthy and merely here to watch over them." Janus thought for a while, and replied,
"Well then, let them rest. I will send another man here to watch over them with you. We will send a scouting party in the morning to come and fetch you." The resting men weakly smiled, and one of them spoke in a weak voice,
"You are very kind, sir." Janus merely rode back to his retinue, where he commanded a soldier at the back of the line to go and watch over the sick men, and then continued on his way.
Janus and his retinue slowly continued on their path, watching for any potential dangers. But suddenly, an uproar was heard at the front of the line. Janus became cautious, drawing out his blade and leading the riders to the front with some difficulty over the snow. But upon reaching the vanguard, the sight that greeted them was one of joy instead of danger.
There was a village in front of their eyes, but not an ordinary one. These were burrows dug inside a large hill, with a few huts out in the open. The soldiers were celebrating, as they wouldn't be sleeping out in the open during this blizzard. Janus also sighed relief, when he was called over by Quintus. The Primus Pilus trotted over to the commander, who greeted him,
"Ah, Janus, isn't this a relieving sight? It will be dark soon, and we will at least have a roof over our heads." Janus looked at his commander and replied,
"Well, we will have to speak with the inhabitants here." Quintus nodded and pointed towards the village,
"Let's go over and talk to them, then." Saying this, the general rode towards the village, followed by Janus and their bodyguard.
Inside the village
The inhabitants of the village watched the Romans closely from their small, circular windows. There was only one entrance into the village. On the outside, it seemed as if the burrow-like houses were stacked on each other, but in reality, a system of tunnels and paths connected the numerous rooms and houses. \
As Janus and Quintus got closer with their horses, they could see the figures of three men outside the village's entrance. Upon coming closer, both of them saw one old man who used a simple walking stick, and two younger adults waiting for them outside the walls. The two Roman commanders dismounted their horses and slightly bowed to the old man in a show of respect. The old man returned a nod and spoke in a frail voice,
"Greetings, strangers. May I ask about your purpose here? I am the headman of this village." Janus looked at the old man. He was probably in his sixties, short, lean, and a shaven face with wrinkles all over it. The old man had red hair, that was probably brighter during his youth but had lost their color, he leaned on a walking stick he held in his left hand, but his back was straight. The other two younger men also had red hair and looked identical to the old man in facial features.
"We are an army from Rome, village elder. We only seek shelter and food for the night, if your village can provide that." The old man looked behind Janus and Quintus, and after a brief moment spoke,
"I doubt there will be any food left for us for the winter if we go on to feed your army," Quintus replied with a friendly gesture,
"Don't worry about that, sir. We have our rations of food and wine, we will only need a little fraction of your food to properly feed our men. Moreover, we also request that you shelter our men through this harsh blizzard."
The younger men were annoyed at the suggestion, while the elder raised an eyebrow, and replied,
"Well, why should we do that?"
"We are willing to pay you for your help, about thirty-five pounds of gold and silver. I can conclude from the size of your village that if each house can adjust with six men for one night, all will be well."
The three men were shocked to hear the payment they had been promised, but the elder kept negotiating,
"We demand that the payment will be done beforehand."
"Of course, we accept that." Quintus quickly replied and commanded three of his men to bring the payment. The higher officials of the army were invited inside the elder's house for discussion. The soldiers were assigned where they would sleep today, followed by the centurions and other higher officers, and now only Quintus and Janus remained in the room with the elder. The chamber was lit up by flickering torches and candles, while the blizzard could be seen raging outside from the window. The room had an earthen smell and no proper walls as the hill did the job. While the soldiers outside seemed to celebrate, eat, and drink.
"Your men make a lot of noise." The old man commented.
"They're just jubilant about having got out of the blizzard." Janus, sipping on some tea that had been served to them replied,
The old man adjusted himself on his seat, and then spoke, grasping both Janus' and Quintus' attention,
"Now that we have a deal and are on good terms, it is time for a proper introduction. My name is Hikaru Uzumaki, and these two young lads here are my sons Inari and Keito."
Quintus raised an eyebrow,
"Uzumaki?"
"Why, is there something wrong?" The old man asked calmly,
"Well, we thought the clan was all wiped out." Hikaru sighed and briefly looked down. His face looked normal, but it seemed he was grieving on the inside,
"If that's what you think, then you men have been misinformed." Janus and Quintus showed interest in the topic, Hikaru continued,
"I suppose you may have heard about the fall of Uzushiogakure?" The two Romans gave a nod,
"It all happened during the second shinobi world war, which lasted three years. It was between the forces of Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri on one side, while Konoha, Uzushio, and Suna on the other. Uzushiogakure at that time was a growing power, not recognized as a great village but likely to soon become one. The specialty of the Uzumaki was in their sealing techniques, the clan is even believed to be the creator of fuinjutsu. We also had exceptionally high life force and chakra reserves, much more than even our Senju cousins.
I was a young lad back then, probably sixteen or fifteen, Chunin. We were assigned alongside another squad to aid Konoha in an offensive. I do not remember the objectives well, but we were fighting with Iwa Shinobi. We were successful in the attack and returned to Konoha triumphant. Me and my team stayed there for a day, after which we headed off back to Uzushio. As we approached the island, there was black smoke rising. We were alarmed, and made our way to our village, only to find..."
The old man paused and seemed to almost whimper. One of his sons gave him a glass of water and after a brief pause Hikaru continued with his narration,
"Only to find it in ruins. From some nearby villages, we gathered that the attack had happened three days previously, while we were away on a mission. Oh Kami, the destruction we witnessed. The tall stone buildings were brought down. The water in the moat that surrounded the inner village was so mixed with blood that we refrained from drinking it. And what had they done to the central Uzukage's tower, it could've been said that the building never existed had the base of the structure not survived. We could see the corpses of our kith kin, they didn't even spare the children!"
At this point, it seemed the old man was on the verge of breaking down. But the wounds had probably been soothed after all those years, and he continued with a sad voice,
"After that, me and my teammates were given an offer by Konoha to join that village, alongside many other surviving Uzumaki and Namikaze clan members. I might have forgotten to tell you, but the Namikaze also used to live in Uzushio. They were a minor clan, related to the Uzumaki by blood. It was like the relationship between the Uchiha and Fuma clans, except our relationship was much closer as the clans lived together. The Namikaze clan was also blessed with large chakra reserves but had no kekkei genkai like us. Nevertheless, they were like family.
The small number of surviving Namikaze clan members accepted the offer and migrated to Konoha, where according to my knowledge, they mixed with other clans and the civilian shinobi and quickly ceased to exist as a distinct clan. While the surviving Uzumaki scattered in the different parts of the world. I settled in this remote village, and have been here since. We had heard from the other survivors of the attack that the clan would've been completely wiped out, had it not been for an allied force of 500 Romans and their commander, Lucius Julius Calidus. Although they weren't many, they fought heroically and are one of the key reasons the survivors were allowed to escape the slaughter and the clan survived. For that, I am eternally grateful to the Roman state."
There was silence for a while in the room, which was broken by Quintus,
"Yes, from previous records I've come to know that there was a Roman cohort present to defend the village. It almost dragged Rome into the conflict, but it was soon resolved with negotiations."
Hikaru nodded, and got up,
"Anyways, I have told you much. It is time that you rest. You're my guests, so I have arranged for separate rooms for you. My sons will accompany you there. Good night, lords."
After having finished their tea, the Primus Pilus and Quintus were escorted by the two young men to two small yet spacious rooms, with a comfy bed, table, and a few candles lit around. Quintus' room was on the exterior part of the hill, and out of his glass window, he could see the blizzard outside. It was still raging on, the general wondered how long it would last. The snow will probably be a few centimeters deeper when they move on in the morning.
Quintus was anxious about the campaign plans, and how would they proceed tomorrow. But he put these ideas to rest along with himself, as he turned and rolled around in the bed, trying to fall asleep.
Author's notes
So, how did you like the chapter? If you didn't, get used to it. I'll be emphasizing more locations and nations outside of Konoha and the great villages, but that doesn't mean I will ignore Konoha entirely, my protagonist(s?) lives there. Kishimoto had such an opportunity for world-building, but he didn't utilize it. I will.
Do rate the chapter if you've read it this far.