Chiaki was off with the other team captains meeting with the Kusa delegation. Only captains were allowed at the meeting. I'd been expecting Kusa to send a single team. Instead, there were six teams of chunin all led by a jonin. I wasn't sure what they intended with bringing a force as large as they had. Maybe they were just projecting strength? Maybe they were here to attack us with Kumo support? I was tense while I waited for Chiaki to come back.
We all looked up as Chiaki entered the small barracks we'd been assigned for our temporary stay, clipping her Eagle mask to her belt as she closed the door behind her.
"What's the word, captain?" Sogo asked as he stood off the bed he'd been sitting on.
"We will join five other ANBU teams heading towards Kumo's main forward operating base in Kusa. A Kusa team will accompany us to ensure we don't stray further than the base. They're not too happy that Kumo has taken up residence in their borders without their permission, so they're going to help us deal with them. The other Kusa teams will be going to other bases that other Konoha ANBU teams will be hitting."
"We're sure Kusa isn't leading us into a trap?" I asked, arms crossed over my chest. Maybe asking that made me an asshole, but I didn't want us winding up dead because we trusted a traitor.
Chiaki chortled evilly. "Typically, someone leading you into a trap doesn't come bearing the heads of twenty Kumo nin they uncovered in their borders. Kusa is tired of being run over. First Iwa in the last war, and now Kumo. They agreed to an informal alliance with us in exchange for Konoha's support defending their borders in the future. All the official crap will have to wait for when we've won the war."
"Works for me." I said, shrugging. I wouldn't have been able to fight with them if I hadn't asked the question, but I was willing to trust Chiaki's, a Yamanaka, judgment.
Seeing there were no further questions at the moment, Chiaki continued her briefing. "Once we're at our target, we'll meet up with the three Konoha teams we sent to scout and take the base. Our job will be to capture as many enemy nin as possible and flee while the other teams destroy the base." Chiaki relayed.
"We won't be helping them destroy the base?" Touji asked.
Chiaki shook her hand. "Between myself, you Touji, Sogo and Shinto, our team is uniquely equipped to take the enemy alive. Konoha wants as many prisoners as possible. The more prisoners we have, the more information we can take and the better our bargaining position. Ko, Misaki, your primary task will be to cover the rest of us while we organize prisoners. Falcon, Crane and Scorpion will be accompanying us to help you cover us while we work."
"Have we heard anything about Wolf and Jaguar?" Misaki asked, concerned about the injured members of Falcon's team.
"They'll be alright." I answered for Chiaki. "They're stable. It would be best if they were able to get to Konoha to recover, but they're fine for now."
"Two teams will be escorting the injured to Konoha while we attack the base to lessen the chance of them encountering an enemy presence." Chiki said.
Ko nodded along. "They're more likely to recall everyone to defend the base rather than try to hunt down stragglers."
"Exactly. Gather your gear and put your masks on. We leave in fifteen minutes."
X
Despite the large number of nin moving at speed towards the location Eagle provided, we didn't cause any major disturbances. We were silent. We wouldn't have been able to hide from any skilled observers at this speed, but no civilian would have been able to notice us. The nin we were moving to attack were another story, but they already knew we were coming. We needed to meet with the ANBU teams that had been sent to scout the base and attack before the Kumo nin were able to rally.
We were many kilometers inside Kusa's border when Hawk, the ANBU in charge of this mission, signaled for us to stop.
'Scouting teams one-hundred meters and closing.' Owl broadcasted to everyone.
The two scouting teams clicked out a code and joined us.
"Bark." Hawk said quietly, intently focused on the newly arrived ANBU.
'Shields the trees so they may shield us.' Deer replied to us all with Telepathy. Between knowing the code and being able to use Telepathy, it was pretty much certain that Deer hadn't been replaced by a Kumo nin while scouting. It would have taken Kumo too long to figure out how to use Telepathy from an unwilling prisoner.
'Join the attack.' Hawk sent, then motioned for us to split up. His team and one of the scouting teams moved north while our Kusa escort – who all wore blank Konoha ANBU masks for this mission – and the other scouting team moved south. Eagle held up her hand to us while the rest of the ANBU shot past us, heading directly towards the base.
We had eight ANBU teams as well as our Kusa delegation here. In addition to our team – that was bolstered by Falcon, Crane and Scorpion – there were more than enough nin to destroy the base. Our job was to single out Kumo nin during the fighting and take as many alive as we possibly could.
'Forward. Stay hidden.' Eagles sent us with Telepathy.
As one, we slowly crept forward until we made it to the treeline. Kumo's base was now visible. According to the intel Eagle pulled from the mind of the Kumo nin we captured on our last mission, this base was mostly subterranean. There should be three sublevels in addition to the two stories visible to me. It looked like a typical farmhouse complete with a front porch and everything, but it wouldn't have gone under the radar if it was obvious.
'Traps ahead. I will take point. Follow my steps.' Owl sent us with Telepathy.
Eagle fell back to let Owl take the lead. Owl led us between traps at a slow, stealthy pace. We were half-way to the structure when the first jutsu were thrown.
The clearing was overtaken by fire as our ANBU allies emerged from their cover and hurled fireballs towards the building. Nin exploded out of the windows of the house as Kumo nin rushed to defend against the flames. Lightning and earth jutsu rose to answer the fiery assault.
'Nin underground mobilizing. We are outnumbered, but Kumo only has two ANBU teams present.' Owl reported, her eyes allowing her to peer beneath the structure.
'Continue ahead. We–' Eagle's message cut out as Owl sent another.
'Kumo ANBU leading a team through hidden tunnel. Will emerge behind our forces.'
'Take us to the tunnel exit. Be prepared to engage the moment they surface.' Eagle ordered.
Owl zipped back the way we came, and we all followed her, leaving the sound of metal clashing and jutsu exploding behind us as we followed her in an arc around the battlefield. She was likely leading us around the many traps sent up around the perimeter of the base.
'Seventy meters ahead. ANBU rising to surface. Prepare to engage.' Owl reported.
'Tiger, Owl, Falcon, Badger, engage at close range. We will support.' Eagle ordered.
Wordlessly, we shifted our formation so the named ANBU could engage in melee, closing on the unseen exit just as a large hole opened in the ground.
I slunk into my shadow and zipped across the ground to the lip of the hole, letting two Kumo ANBU leap over me, completely oblivious to my presence.
Tiger let out a roar of challenge as his whole body swelled to three times its normal size. Owl leapt up on his back and jumped off his shoulder as the two closed on the Kumo ANBU that had leapt over me.
The Kumo nin hadn't been expecting us to know where their secret tunnel let out, so the first was caught completely by surprise as Owl's body flashed forwards, propelled by Tiger. Birds sang through the clearing as Owl's open hand cleaved through the Kumo nin's chest, sending drops of blood to fall like rain.
As the second nin moved to attack Owl, Tiger rolled himself between them and engaged the far smaller nin in taijutsu. So long as he remained undisturbed, he would be able to beat the Kumo nin in single combat, but Kumo reinforcements were already here.
Twelve nin all emerged from the hole, taking up defensive positions around it as three more went to rise.
Seeing that this was the best chance I would get, I rose up from the pool of shadow I was submerged in, my shadow clinging to me as it formed my armor. The nin standing right next to me – a Kumo ANBU – struck towards me with his fist, but all that accomplished was getting himself trapped in my shadow before the others.
"Mind Body Switch!" I heard a voice call the moment the man was trapped in my armor. Immediately, I felt the nin stop struggling against my shadows. I released him, and he leapt away, back towards where the rest of my team was.
With the nin Eagle was possessing out of my shadow, I wound tendrils around myself and shot them towards the rest of the nin that had emerged from the hole. I was able to ensnare two additional ANBU and four of the regular nin they'd been leading through the hole before the rest leapt back away from me. I felt every single individual under my control struggling to break free. I wouldn't be able to resist their combined strength for long.
I leapt back, using a chakra string to pop a storage seal in my jacket as I did. My chakra strings whipped around me as I ran towards my team, forcing the seven nin I captured to follow helplessly along with me. Each nin under my control was stuck with a senbon sent by my strings, transferring a paralytic agent that made it impossible for my enemies to move their muscles, ceasing their struggling.
When one of the senbon hit one of the nin not wearing an ANBU mask, the nin crumpled into a pile of dirt as the clone I'd unknowingly captured was dispelled. That was irritating, but I still had five prisoners in addition to the one Eagle had possessed.
Projectiles and jutsu were sent after me as I feld by the Kumo nin behind me, but Tiger, who'd dispatched his opponent; Owl; Crane; and Falcon interposed themselves between me and the enemy, blocking the thrown weapons and providing me cover to get away. I was almost back to the treeline where Bear was hurling jutsu to cover our retreat.
'Badger! Underneath you!' Owl's voice shouted at my through Telepathy.
I jumped, immediately sending a storm of steel towards the ground beneath me with my shadow tendrils and chakra strings as I emptied three of my storage seals at once, casting False Barrage for good measure.
The ground opened up like a sinkhole, revealing the man who'd escaped my shadows by using a clone. He looked like he'd just completed the hand signs for a jutsu, but he immediately switched to defending himself as he saw the wall of steel flying towards him. Trapped as he was in the hole, he had nowhere to dodge. As he tried to block the false images created by my genjutsu, the real weapons riddled his stomach, killing him instantly.
I made it back to the treeline where Ox and Bear were waiting. They quickly went about binding, gagging, blinding and deafening my captives as Falcon, Crane and Scorpion kept the remaining Kumo nin occupied.
'We have enough. Fall back.' Eagle's voice ordered. It was strange to still hear her voice given her limp body was currently being carried by the burly Kumo nin she was controlling, but Telepathy let you project whatever voice you wanted.
Tiger and Owl covered Falcon's team as they moved towards us. Before we began our sprint back to the Land of Fire, Falcon sent up a massive chakra flare that meant, 'Enemy here' to inform our allies of the secret tunnel.
Owl deflected a few final projectiles from the Kumo nin behind us and we fled, unconcerned with being followed as another Konoha team fell upon the Kumo nin behind us.
We ran full tilt back towards Konoha with the Falcon on point.
'Status?' Eagle sent.
'Injured arm. Stomach impaled by kunai. Will make it to Konoha.' Tiger sent back.
'Poison?' I sent, concerned.
'Negative. No poison.' Owl sent before Tiger could. With her eyes, she could see the wound and kunai both perfectly, so I was willing to trust her judgment.
We ran through the night. When the sun started to come up on the following day, we encountered another Konoha ANBU team that accompanied us the rest of the way back to the village to safeguard our prisoners. All of the prisoners were still paralyzed with the exception of the Kumo nin that was carrying Eagle's unconscious body. I imagined it had to be really weird to carry your own body as cargo while possessing someone else's, but she wasn't off her rhythm.
When we made it back to Konoha, our prisoners were taken to T&I and Tiger was brought to the hospital. One of the downsides of his Clan's techniques was that it made him a larger target and therefore easier to hit. He'd taken all of the enemy's attacks so the rest of us wouldn't have to.
I expected the rest of us to be ordered to turn right around and head back to the fight, but that wasn't the case. Both Team Fist and Team Kunai – Falcon's team – were given a month-long leave. Considering we were at war, I felt that was way too long, but Konoha's regular forces had likely joined the conflict by now, so I guess it made sense that two ANBU teams with injured teammates could rest for a little bit.
I had no idea what I'd do with the time off though. I'd need to think of something.