The four of us stood gathered around a table, a large map spread over its surface. Misaki's hands rested on the hilts of Kiba's blades at her sides. Itachi stood still, eyes flicking over the map. Only Kakashi's left eye, sharingan ablaze, was visible. His right eye, now replaced by Itachi's sharingan, was closed with his forehead protector pulled down over it. The headband also covered the seal Misaki had laid over the eye, preventing it from draining Kakashi's chakra until he needed it. The Hyuga Clan's emblem was tattooed on my captain's shoulder.
"Things are bad." I observed, looking at the sea of red flags, representing enemy positions, all closing in on Konoha. Iwa had pushed well within our borders, claiming far too much territory. There were several marks on the map noting suspected Kumo nin positions as well. We were outnumbered and losing groundfast.
"They will get better. We will make them better." Itachi said, eyes narrow in determination.
Misaki pulled a seal from her pouch and produced blank paper and writing implements from it. Hurriedly, she began copying down everything written on the map.
While she worked, I turned to Kakashi. "How long do you expect before that force moves on our position?" There was a gathering of red flags a few kilometers away from the post the four of us were speaking in.
"We expect them any day." Kakashi said gravely. "They set up their forward operating base almost three full days ago. They've been in a position to attack that entire time. We suspect they were waiting for reinforcements or orders from their village."
Misaki pulled her hastily scribed map from the table with a flourish. "I will return in a moment." Her form flickered and vanished. She hadn't possessed the capability for long, but I could already easily recognize the telltale sign of her using the Hiraishin.
"If they lacked the numbers to attack, did you attempt to counterattack?" Itachi asked.
Kakashi shook his head. "We don't have enough nin. We fortified our position and hoped for reinforcements. Now that you're here–"
As one, all three of us snapped to look off towards the north. A massive chakra flare was just sent up, flashing the Konoha code for 'Attack'over and over.
A seal in my jacket popped, a seal-inscribed dagger already in my hand, sent into the ground. There was no immediate answer. I frowned.
"On me." Kakashi ordered. He flickered away, Itachi and I on his heels.
'Forty confirmed enemy nin closing in on the walls. More approaching.'a Telepathy message reached me. I wasn't sure who cast it, but it was safe to assume it was one of our sensors.
'Do not leave the walls. Stay together. Use the defenses to defeat the enemy.'A message sent from Kakashi quickly followed.
I flashed through hand signs as my shadow armor solidified around me. Streams of water slipped out of my armor to form four water clones at my side. Each clone summoned its own set of shadow armor then leapt off in opposing directions.
A rush of displacing air heralded the arrival of Misaki at my side, using the seal she'd drawn on the inside of my jacket to teleport to me. Kiba's blades were already in her hands, electricity crackling along them. There was blood on her white Hyuga robes. She started running with us the moment she appeared.
'A large number of my daggers were just thrown simultaneously. Every position they have reached is under attack. I cannot be at every location simultaneously.'Misaki's Telepathy reached me.
Kakashi looked over his shoulder at us. The linear scar over his left eyes was slowly subsumed by dark, inky flames. He pushed his headband up and ripped the seal off his right eye. Two spinning sharingan stared back at us, framed by the dark chakra flames of Misaki's chakra-boosting seal.
'The village needs you. All of you, go. I will hold this position.'Kakashi ordered.
Misaki nodded sharply, running up to Itachi and I, placing a hand on each of our shoulders.
I flashed through hands seals once more, four more water clones poured out of my armor.'Direct them.'I sent to Kakashi, leaving all of my clones behind.
Misaki pulled us away before Kakashi could respond.
The world around me twisted, then rapidly righted itself. I was no longer in a forest, but a vast open plain. There was a small gathering of buildings off to the right. Nin in Iwa headbands flooded towards the village. Only a dozen Konoha nin stood in their path, protecting the village.
'More daggers have been thrown. I will coordinate us as best as I can. Be ready to be transported at a moment's notice. If I leave you, fight until I transport you again. I will return, Shinto.'Misaki sent Itachi and I with Telepathy. Moments later, Itachi and Misaki vanished, teleporting away to some other location.
I didn't waste any time. The Iwa nin had nearly joined battle with the Konoha nin. Steam jets erupted from the back of my shadow armor, propelling me across the field at breakneck speeds as I wove hand signs. I interposed myself between the two forces just as they would have clashed.
"Futton: Steam Vents!" I yelled, slamming my hands into the ground. The earth fractured, fissuring apart as columns of steam rose up in a cone in front of me. Iwa nin frantically leapt away, but many were caught unawares, screaming as the super-heated steam incinerated them in mere moments.
An Iwa nin leapt up and away, his hands flashing through hand signs. I pushed my forehead protector up away from my eye.
Instantly, the world sharpened. I could make out the detail on each blade of grass. I could see droplets of sweat falling away from my enemies. I could see bits of melted flesh drifting into the air from the corpses of those I'd caught in my attack. Every minute movement of the Iwa nin's hands was marked and instantly memorized. It seemed like he was moving in slow motion, so slow that I could copy his movements as he made them.
"Doton: Flying Thrown Stones!" the Iwa nin screamed.
A Kokoha nin flickered up to my side just as I was about to respond, hands already up in a hand sign. "Suiton: Wall of Water!" The Konoha nin spit out a stream of water that shaped into a wide wave, reaching wide like a cloak to intercept each of the hard-packed balls of dirt sent towards us by the Iwa nin.
I fell into my shadow, sipping across the ground. I drew Nuibari, stabbing upwards into sheltering Iwa nin fleeing the wall of water. Precision strikes saw claimed several enemy nin in moments.
I emerged from my shadow just as another Iwa nin finished making hand signs.
"Doton: Tearing Earth Palm!"
The ground beneath me turned into an unstable, swirling vortex threatening to suck me down. Steam jets erupted from the feet of my armor, launching me into the air. The wire attached to Nuibari snapped backwards underneath me, winding around the nin's neck and taking his head.
I landed in front of another group of Iwa nin, stepping forward to attack. A rush of air. A flash of blue. A hand on my shoulder. And I was somewhere else.
I was in a dense forest. Thick trees rose high all around me. Bodies littered the forest floor. Clashing steel and explosions told the tale of a fierce battle waging around me.
At my side, Misaki was wreathed in her lightning cloak. Kiba's blades were under the same effect, shining bright, almost like lightsabers.
'They still need my help.'I sent Misaki with Telepathy as she and I ran towards the sound of the fighting.
'Everyone does. I left Itachi there when I took you. I need you to make as many clones as you can. Leave some behind at every destination I bring you too. There are far too many battles and only three of us.'
'I already made a lot. I don't have enough chakra to create them endlessly.'
'Then getmore.'
Misaki flickered to the right. Four Iwa nin leapt down from the trees above, attempting to surprise her. Misaki began to spin, her arms and legs moving in a display that was almost like a dance.
The blue energy of her lightning cloak swelled, pulsing up away from her in a dome. Kiba's blades whipped back and forth, trailing the energy, causing it to stick to the swords, elongating into electrical whips. Misaki leapt upwards, her body hidden by pure blue light that expanded outwards in a ball, claiming two Iwa nin that moved too close. The whips of energy connected to Kiba's blades snapped around the ball, whipping around trees, killing Iwa nin in all directions. Both those that were hidden and those that were in the open.
Seeing she had that direction well in hand, I sped off towards the sound of fighting in the other direction. Two more water clones seeped through my armor, leaping off in separate directions. I entered a clearing. Iwa nin and Konoha nin squared off against each other. I moved to join the fray.
A hand on my shoulder. I was somewhere else.
Misaki teleported away the moment she deposited me here, leaving me alone on a beach surrounded by high, rocky slopes. Out on the water nin ran in every direction, sliding across the water as if it were solid ice.
An Iwa nin snapped to look at me as I charged towards him, flashing through hand seals. Each seal was cataloged in my mind. The way his chakra molded was memorized with precision. I made eye contact with the nin just as he completed his final seal.
"Suiton: Water Bowl!"
A beam of pressurized water shot forth from the Iwa nin's palm. The technique sailed harmlessly over my shoulder, drilling a hole in the stomach of the Iwa nin that was approaching me from behind.
I'd always been good with genjutsu, but I'd sidelined my potential in that department to focus on my shadows. With the sharingan Itachi had gifted me, I was able to create practically whatever image I wanted so long as I was able to bring the enemy under my spell, which I could now do with simple eye contact. It was almost shockingly easy to interpose my own image over the other Iwa nin.
As I dropped the genjutsu, the Iwa nin froze, realizing he'd just killed his friend. He was completely unprepared to defend against my shadow as it immobilized him. The shadowy gauntlet around my right hand sharpened to a spearpoint. I drove my arm into the Iwa nin's chest. My threads flooded into his body. He screamed, attempting to thrash against me for a painful moment as he died, but my shadows held him in place. I tore my arm free, a pulsing orb flowing up my forearm. I felt my draining chakra swell as my reserves substantially increased. I couldfeelthe nature of the heart as it settled inside me. Water. Not ideal, but I could be picky when I wasn't embroiled in teleporting combat across the entire front line.
An idea occurred to me, and the pulsing orb exploded out of my elbow, wreathed in threads. Shadow armor solidified around the large, hulking monster standing atop the water, the shadows drifting in and out of the threads as it charged towards the enemy.
A shadowy tendril pulled the body of the other Iwa nin to me. I speared my hand into his chest. Another water heart. I'd worry about being picky later.
I saw a Konoha nin catch a kunai in the shoulder and dashed over to cover them. Before I could reach them, Misaki appeared at my side, reaching out towards me. She paused, spinning around to scoop up the injured Konoha nin. She vanished a moment later.
I charged through the space she'd vacated, flashing through hand signs as I approached the Iwa nin who'd injured the Konoha nin.
"Futton: Scalding Mist!"
Superheat-ed steam flooded the air in front of me. I wasn't able to see the result of my attack.
A hand on my shoulder, and I was somewhere else.
I was in another clearing. There was only one other Konoha nin fighting. The rest were fleeing.
Nearby, a blood-red, glowing ribcage hovered protectively around a young nin with shurikens spinning in his eyes. Itachi threw himself into the flood of Iwa nin, flickering to-and-fro. Skeletal arms smacked them away. Fire black like night turned them to ash. The Iwa nin's blades found each other's throats.
I turned to my left. There was another group of Iwa nin moving to chase down the fleeing Konoha nin.
Steam jets launched me into their path, spilling my mist into the air as I opened vents in my armor to spill even more mist. The nin in the lead whipped her head to look at me, flashing through hand seals. She…was wearing a Kumo headband. Kumo had apparently decided it was time to join the fray and eliminate us.
"Raiton: False Darkness!"
I fell into my shadow, zipping under the lightning bolt and emerging directly behind the woman. My shadow connected to hers, immobilizing her. The woman let out a brief scream then went limp as my arm stabbed into her chest from behind. Her heart flowed down my arm to settle in my chest. Lightning. Pity I only knew one lightning jutsu; the ery jutsu I'd just copied from this woman.
Mist still poured from the vents in my armor. The Iwa and Kumo nin were closing in on me now. There were easily over forty of them, all within the bounds of my mist.
I flashed through hand signs as I fell backward, dropping into my shadow.
"Futton: Grease Fire!"
Steam jets propelled my shadow self away from the epicenter of a great explosion. Screams were drowned out by the sound of a titanic boom that shook the sky, cratering the earth. Blood mixed with water and rubble as it rained down from the sky.
The second water heart I stole from the nin killed by his ally on the beach sprung from my chest. A giant beast made from black threads wreathed itself in shadowy armor as it sprinted towards where Itachi was surrounded on all sides by teams of nin. I moved to follow.
A flash of lightning. I was somewhere else.
I was back in a forest. This one had thinner, more sparse trees.
'Clones now.'Misaki sent.
I complied, sending five water clones away in various directions. The moment they were away, Misaki pulled us to another location.
Misaki and I stood atop a hill before a great fortification. Fighting was thick on the ground around the fort and at the base of the hill. Iwa had the numbers advantage against the Konoha nin, but our nin were holding for now.
'They have some form of high-speed communication network. Kumo is working with Iwa. They're regrouping and preparing for my teleports. They know about what we're doing.'Misaki sent to me with Telepathy, slashing behind us with Kiba. A whip of lightning claimed an Iwa nin.
'Can you see the ones sending the messages?'I sent. Four more water clones leapt away from me to join the fray. I spun, leaping up onto the wall. Threads spread out through cracks that opened in my armor as I landed. The Kumo woman's lightning heart pushed out of my back, moving towards the other side of the fortification with several of my storage seals to replicate what I was doing here. Threads and shadows alike held senbon and kunai coated in poisons. I spun, predicting enemy movements with Itachi's eye after catching nary a glimpse of them.
The Iwa and Kumo nin atop the wall fell immediately, riddled with projectiles. Storage seal after storage seal popped inside my jacket to fuel the onslaught of deadly steel I launched from atop the wall, layering castings of False Barrage over every volley. From the enemy nin's perspective, it was as if the very sun had been blotted out by my weapons.
Unprotected Iwa and Kumo nin fell all across the field. The ones that attempted to deflect my projectiles fell as they blocked false images, succumbing to the true weapon. Only those who sought cover or erected barriers with jutsu were safe.
'There are groups of Iwa and Kumo nin spaced at different intervals all around us, but I can't determine which ones are relaying messages.'Misaki sent me, hopping up onto the wall at my side.
'Then I guess we–'I gasped, staggering a step, my rain of steel briefly faltering. It felt as if a void had just opened up inside me.
"Shinto!" Misaki said aloud, arm around my shoulder to support and protect me.
I waved her off as I got my breathing under control, continuing to rain steel death down on Iwa's forces.'One of the hearts I stole just died.' I sent her with Telepathy as I realized what happened. I could no longer feel a connection to the second water heart I'd stolen on the beach. It was gone. I didn't get a set of memories from it either. Evidently, it didn't work like shadow clones. I didn't know what killed it.
Misaki spent several long seconds staring seriously at me before turning back to the fight and lashing out with the whips of lightning connected to Kiba.
'Then take more to replace it. You are not allowed to die, Shinto.'Misaki ordered directly in my head.
'Yes, ma'am. Now get us back to Itachi. I left the heart with him.'
The world twisted and I was back in the field I'd just been pulled away from.
'You arrived at a good time. I was about to throw your dagger to summon you.'
Misaki and I were on guard, but slowly relaxed as we looked around the clearing.
The Konoha nin that had been fleeing were now out of sight. All around us, the field was littered with the corpses of Iwa and Kumo nin. Standing in the center of a ring of bodies was a young Uchiha with blood staining his clothes and skin. He was the only sentient being left standing amidst a village's worth of dead.
'There is nothing more to be done here. Please transport me somewhere else where I may assist Konoha's forces.'Itachi sent another message.
Misaki laid a hand on my shoulder. Her head perked up.
'I just received another summon beacon. I'm taking us there. I haven't scouted it, so be prepared for anything.'
Misaki teleported us over to Itachi, then teleported all three of us away from the clearing.
X
For years, Kakashi had been tired. He had been tired of a lot of things. He was tired of the way that ramen stand kept making his noodles too spicy. He was tired of that dumb cat that wouldn't get along with his dogs. And he was tired of everything always being so serious. Mostly though, he was tired of the endless fighting that threatened his home. He was tired of watching his friends die.
He remembered every detail of Yamato's death. Obito's final gift to him ensured that. The sharingan was both a blessing and a curse in many ways. The perfect recall granted by the sharingan plagued him by haunting his dreams with memories of the fight against the Four-Tails, allowing him to play out scenarios where he and Yamato could have beaten the jinchuriki together. Where theybothcould have lived. But that's all they were – dreams.
When the Hokage had sent him to the front, he knew he was likely saying goodbye to his friends for the last time. His task would be to stall long enough for them to be ready, but he wasn't stupid. He expected to die in the attempt. He waspreparedto die in the attempt.
Then the impossible happened. Not once, buttwice.
Misaki learned the technique that made his sensei famous. The Uchiha Clan Head had given Kakashi a second sharingan from Fugaku Uchiha, said to be his father's last wish. The son of the disgraced White Fang, disgraced himself for returning from a mission with his teammate's bloodline limit in his head had not only been forgiven by the Uchiha Clan, but, in an act of acceptance and even permission, been granted the Uchiha Clan's legacy a second time.
The flames of the Hyuga genius's seal painted his face as Kakashi charged the enemy alone, moving to meet them from the front. The more they were focused on him, the less would move towards the fortification. That would make it easier for those under his command to survive. He had no ANBU under his command. They had all been sent north to aid Shikaku. All but three of his jonin were dead. The majority of those under him were chunin and genin. By making himself a target, he would hopefully ensure they survived. And it wasn't like Kakashi was sacrificing himself. No, he was going to make these ninpayfor everything they had taken from his home.
A chakra flare was sent up in front of him, then another. Three more Iwa flares rose up as he charged them. Kakashi noted the Iwa nin arcing wide around him, cutting off his escape. Good. That meant they were only sending a scant few of their number to the fortress.
"Copy-nin!"
Kakashi stopped, pulling his balaclava up to hide the flaming seal Misaki had given him, pulling his forehead protector back down to hide Fugaku's eye. He adopted a relaxed posture, putting his hands in his pockets, leaning his weight on one foot.
Iwa nin flickered in around him. They'd formed a perimeter around him, still giving him space. They were waiting for an order to attack.
A burly Iwa nin in a red tank top bowled his way forward. "You're mine, Copy-nin! This is for Aki. This is for Su-sensei. This is for every one of us that you're killed!"
Kakashi tilted his head at the man. "I could list names you have never heard and shout about revenge as well, but I will not. Instead, I will say this…"
Kakashi slowly pulled down his mask, revealing dark flames dancing across his face as he spoke. "I am Kakashi Hatake, Konoha's Copy-nin," Kakashi pushed his forehead protector up, smiling as he saw several Iwa nin take an unconscious step back away from him upon seeing the second Sharingan. "I know over a thousand jutsu, and now, I will show you themall!"
Kakashi's every muscle was primed, ready to be called upon. He felt an instinct deep inside him, an overwhelming urge todirect. Kakashi flooded his eyes with chakra. He felt a stab of pain. Blood fell from his eyes like tears. A fuma shuriken and a curled disk of a shuriken spun to life in Kakashi's eyes.
Electric blue chakra flowed up Kakashi's left arm. Blood-red chakra swam up his right arm. The two energies met at his head, mixing together into a magenta energy that exploded into a corona around him.
Kakashi was as shocked as the Iwa nin surrounding him. A massive magenta ribcage and spine settled around his body. Was this…?
"Kill him!" the same nin from before yelled, his voice now filled with terror rather than determination.
Kunai and shuriken sailed towards him from all sides. Kakashi held shuriken between each of his fingers. Electricity danced across the shuriken as he threw them, leaping forward into the largest concentration of enemy nin.
X
"Bring me more gauzenow!" Tsunade barked at the pale faced genin standing frozen in the doorway. The nin beneath her was bleeding from too many wounds for her to keep him alive long enough to heal him. She had to deal with the bleeding first.
The young boy jolted in place. "Hai, Tsunade-sama."
He was way too green. Had that kid just graduated from the Academy? He seemed young. Typically, only the special ones graduated early. Was Konoha really so desperate for nin that they were forcing kids to graduate early?
"Tsunade-sama, there are new arrivals in the lobby." A large white-blue slug perched on her shoulder informed her.
Tsunade grit her teeth. "Shizune! Take over here!"
"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" her apprentice responded immediately, rushing into the room to take over healing the nin beneath her. Like Tsunade, Shizune had a slug on her shoulder.
"How many does this make?" Tsunade asked as she briskly walked through the halls.
"With this new group of arrivals, that makes 207." Katsuyu answered.
Tsunade frowned. This tide of patients had come unexpectedly. One moment, sensei is sending Tsunade a Telepathy message to let her know that Misaki Hyuga informed him Iwa was moving, the next moment, Tsunade hears tell of Misaki Hyuga dropping casualties off in the hospital every thirty seconds. T was here, getting in Tsunade's way, as they interviewed the casualties good enough to speak about the situation. Tsunade had been a little too focused on keeping everyone alive to bother trying to get the full story, but from the snippets she'd overheard, it sounded bad.
There was nothing she could do from here but keep everyone alive, so that waswhat she would do.
"We're spread too thin. We can't treat that many at once."
"I can heal the more minor injuries and keep those with severe injuries alive long enough for you to reach them." the slug said.
Tsunade pursed her lips. "What about the message I asked you to send?"
"Almost there. I will let you know the moment it is received."
"I'm counting on you, Katsuyu." Tsunade said as she strode into the lobby. There were three fresh casualties waiting for her with med-nin crowding around them. Tsunade began barking orders to get them treated. A white-blue slug crawled onto each casualty as they were hauled away. Tsunade followed after the most severely injured nin to treat her personally.
X
"Take everyone and fall back now!" Shisui shouted, his emerald susanoo exploding into being around himself.
Shikaku Nara raised his arm, cloaked in a shadowy gauntlet, to intercept an attacking nin's blade. He trapped the nin as the sword impacted his arm, sending a tendril of shadow to skewer him while he struggled.
Forming a perimeter around the ruined remains of Konoha's outpost, giants approached. From the north, a feline made of azure flames. From the west, an ivory horse. From the east, a mass of swirling purple tentacles affixed to a body reminiscent of a bull's. Konoha's fortifications lay in ruins, her nin dead or dying on the ground around them. There was nothing they could do now but flee.
At his side, Inoichi's body snapped to attention as the man came back to himself. Shikaku let him free of shadow possession the moment he was in control of himself once more.
'They are using Telepathy to coordinate with their entire invasion force. They have groups of nin spread out at the very edge of each other's ranges, sending the same message along the moment they receive it. This attack coincides with others. They are hitting our entire front simultaneously.'Inoichi explained as quickly as he could. The information he'd pulled from the enemy he possessed helped Shikaku fill in the blanks. If Iwa and now Kumo were attacking the entire front simultaneously, andallof their jinchuriki werehere…
Shikaku shoved the corpse of his attacker away, expression grave. He cast Telepathy.'Shisui, they are here for you. You are the only nin we currently have capable of fighting them without support. You must survive this fight.'
"Iwill notrun when I can save you all." Shisui screamed, trails of blood leaking from his eyes. "Gather the wounded andgo!"
Shisui didn't wait for Shikaku to respond, charging towards the cat in the north as his susanoo completed forming around him. As he expected, the other jinchuriki abandoned their assault on Konoha's retreating nin, moving to surround him and cut off his escape. Good. That would buy the others time.
Shisui stood in the middle of a slowly closing triangle of bijuu. He knew he wasn't going to make it out of this alive, but hewouldhelp Konoha one last time on his way out. The question was, which one would be the best choice?
"Heard about your Clan Head, red-eyes!" Yugito Nii called as the flaming cat she inhabited stalked closer. "I would've expected better from Wicked-Eyed Fugaku. Losing to the Four-Tails after seeing him in action…it makes me think you Uchiha get weaker faster than the rest of us? Areyougetting weaker too, Shisui of the Body Flicker? Are you actually going to live up to that fancy name everyone calls you?"
Shisui grinned, ignoring the very slight blurriness at the far edges of his vision. He wasfarfrom blind, but the ailment Fugaku-sama spoke of was starting to appear. Using his susanoo so much these past months had taken its toll. "We'll see, now won't we, kitty?"
Yugito Nii was strong, but she wasn't a good target. The Five-Tails was strong, but the jinchuriki was not in as strong a position as the others. The Eight-Tails… The Eight-Tails was the strongest of the beasts present, and its jinchuriki was both strong and the brother of Kumo's kage. Shisui had his target.
Moving fast, faster than any of the jinchuriki had expected, Shisui of the Body flicker lived up to his name.
For the briefest moment, Shisui stared at the mass of tentacles that was the Eight-Tails and called upon the powers of his eye. The stream of blood pouring from his eyelids turned to a flood, but he felt the technique place a firm hold over Killer B.
Shisui smiled. Now, even after he was dead, he would still be able to help Konoha.
"Enough of this." a deep voice spoke from the form of the Five-Tails. "You will fall, Shisui Uchiha."
Shisui readied himself to fight. He readied himself to die.
His muscles tensed. His eyes tracked a small object moving towards himfast. He was a heartbeat from flickering away when a great blue flash filled the area. Shisui felt the world twist around him. Suddenly, he was standing several hundred kilometers away. He could still see the jinchuriki, but he was back behind the fort in the direction he'd told everyone to flee.
"What…?"
"We retreat." Shikaku Nara said, standing at the head of a small group of Konoha shinobi.
Misaki Hyuga frowned. "They are all in one place, Nara-sama. We can take them now."
"Shisui's exhausted. We'll get them later." a man wreathed in shadows said. Shisui was finally starting to put together what was going on.
'We need to leave. I affected Killer B with a genjutsu. We need to let it do its work.'He implored his allies.
Shikaku Nara's eyes narrowed minutely. He shared a look with Shisui, making it clear this conversation was not over. "We retreat," he repeated.
Another flash of blue, and the group vanished from the field.
X
"Your intel better be good, old man." the hard voice of Kirigakure's new Mizukage growled.
Jiraiya chuckled, flashing Zabuza a bright smile. "Weren't you the one who said you wanted Kiri to be feared again? That doesn't happen without a little risk!"
"Mizukage-sama, I must again protest this decision." Mei Terumi said with hard eyes. "We need more time to recover from the Civil War. Yagura hasn't even been dead a week."
Zabuza grinned eagerly. "We're the Bloody Mist, Terumi. We recover best when we have something to kill. Point us at an enemy that isn't each other, and wounds will heal far faster than they would if we sat around and did nothing." Zabuza turned back to Jiraiya. "You better have that support waiting for us."
Jiraiya gave him a thumbs up. "Don't you worry. It'll be there!"
A white cloud appeared over Jiraiya's shoulder. Jiraiya turned to the cloud in confusion. This was the second message he'd received in less than an hour. First Tsunade's message from Katsuyu and now a toad? What was it now?
Jiraiya wordlessly took the scroll from the toad and cracked it open, aware of the eyes of Zabuza and Mei Terumi on him as he read the paper. He pursed his lips, wondering what this would mean for their plans.
Why were large numbers of Suna nin spotted in Kumo?