Maximus leaned on a tree on the outskirts of Konoha, from where a dense forest starts that spans over a radius of dozens of kilometers. It was a bright sunny day, but the leaves of the trees formed a canopy. Beside Maximus was Hayato, the man had straight black hair, tanned skin, black eyes, a lean body, and average height. Both men were chatting casually. Maximus spoke first,
"So, they say Konoha is hosting the chunin exams," Hayato replied in a calm tone,
"Seems like it."
"That just means more work for us, as chunin." Maximus sighed, Hayato agreed,
"Yeah, you're right." Hayato glanced back at the village, at Konoha's hospital building that was just a few meters away from the Hokage tower,
"Reckon how much time until she's back?" Maximus also looked at the large hospital building in the distance, and replied while squinting his eyes due to the sunlight,
"Probably another week. The medical department has proposed to train every kunoichi in a squad for basic medical ninjutsu." Hayato chuckled lightly at this,
"She? and Medical ninjutsu? I would rather die before getting treated by her." Maximus eyed Hayato for this, and replied calmly,
"This same policy was the reason Konoha won the Second Great War."
"Yeah yeah, nerd." Maximus ignored it and just glanced at the village. But suddenly, a man wearing the Anbu gear and mask appeared before them. Hayato nearly leaped, although Maximus wasn't so surprised. The Anbu looked from Hayato to Maximus and then spoke in a cold voice,
"Julius Maximus, the Hokage has summoned you. It's important business." Before Maximus could ask anything, the Anbu disappeared in thin air.
"Seems you've gotta go" Hayato spoke to Maximus, the latter replied,
"Yeah." Saying this he leaped into the air and then sped towards the central Hokage tower, the tallest building in the village.
As Hiruzen was arranging some files in his office, the door to the chamber slightly opened. Hiruzen didn't look up and commanded,
"Come in." Now the door opened wide, and Maximus stepped inside. The Hokage looked up and gave a small smile, greeting the man,
"Good morning, Maximus. Please take a seat." Maximus heeded Hiruzen's words and quietly sat down at the seat in front of the Hokage's desk, which was looking more 'empty' than usual.
Hiruzen didn't say much after that. The old Kage opened a drawer on his side of the desk and took out a piece of paper. Laying it out on the desk, Hiruzen spoke again,
"This is a letter from Rome, they wish to acquire you from the village for a few months to complete an important task." Maximus looked puzzled and questioned,
"What sort of task? And why is it for a few MONTHS?"
"They didn't provide details, just said that it is one of great importance and your help is needed. And since you well, come from there, we have no objections over sending you." Hiruzen now handed over the piece of paper to Maximus and spoke again,
"This is the letter that they gave, although it says the same thing. We keep the official documents." Maximus nodded and took the letter. It was written in Latin, with the seal of the Roman Republic at the very end, an eagle, as well as Marcus' signature. But before Maximus could read any of the contents properly, Hiruzen got up and informed him,
"They need you as quickly as possible, so you'll probably depart tomorrow. I'll suggest you make preparations for the journey ahead." Maximus folded the letter and slipped it into his pocket. He then got up and respectfully bowed to the Hokage, then quickly left.
As soon as Maximus had walked out of the Hokage building, Hayato suddenly appeared in front of him.
"So, what is it?" Maximus put his hands on his waist and spoke rather casually,
"I'm going to the northern countries, it's a mission." Hayato sighed, he was visibly disappointed,
"Man, why is it only you two who get actual missions?" Maximus smiled and taunted Hayato while walking away,
"Maybe it's because we're better than you."
Southern Land of Cones
It was early afternoon, approximately 2 o'clock. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, and it was very hot. The landscape was hilly and barren, as was usual in this part of the Land of Cones. A long column of Roman soldiers marched over a dirt path in the uneven terrain. The weather was calm and the humidity was close to bearable, there were about 3,700 soldiers, 2,500 infantry, and the rest a mix of heavy and light cavalry, the latter traveled at the back of the column.
Riding upfront was Janus, the commander who was leading this force. He wore heavy armor and rode a fine sturdy black horse, and around him was a personal retinue of about a dozen elite soldiers also riding horses, they were both his bodyguards, personal attendants, and friends. Behind him the soldiers were marching in rows of three, a gap of several meters between each soldier and century. As they rode on over the barren path, one of Janus' guards spoke,
"It's been quite a while since we've been marching, where are those rebels?" Janus glanced at him and replied,
"Marcus says they are still mustering their forces into one big force, so we'll probably not meet any resistance on the road. But when we do, it will be something to be taken seriously." The guard nodded, Janus continued,
"Why don't we ride ahead and scout the area?" Janus didn't wait for any response and simply whipped his horse and sped forward on the path, his mounted bodyguards also followed him.
30 minutes later
The commander and his guard were trotting briskly over the dirt path, although they were fast enough to quickly lose sight of the main infantry column they had left behind. The landscape remained almost the same, the same rough dirt path and the rocky barren hills, but now there was a small river cutting through the hard stone of the hills that ran almost parallel to the dirt path Janus was traversing. As the men continued, Janus took out a leather container tied to his waist and drank some water, but as he did so Janus caught sight of something in the distance, as well as the rest of the party. Janus stopped his horse and raised his arm, commanding the others to do the same.
After about three hundred meters or so, the dirt path took a rough turn and joined a minor stone bridge that crossed the shallow river, but that was not the thing. Further away from the bridge, a fort stood on the path. It wasn't large, made of wood, and could probably house five hundred defenders at maximum. The fort had about nine feet tall wooden walls but had no battlements. There were also tall wooden towers on the corners of the rectangular fort, and from Janus' sight, there was only one entrance that opened into the dirt path. Moreover, a ditch surrounded the fort.
"Shall we proceed? It isn't confirmed that this is an enemy fort." One of the bodyguards commented Janus opposed the idea,
"We're only a handful, and the warriors inside can number into the hundreds. We can't take risks, let's get back to the main column." Janus turned and started trotting his horse the opposite way back, the guards glanced at the fort for a while and then followed.
Upon reaching the main column, Janus was quick to call his centurions and order them around. They were informed of the fort ahead and told to set up camp a fair distance away from there, just out of their sight. This was gonna be a siege, and one that would take its toll on the Romans.
A fortress in the Land of Jungles
The territories of the Land of Jungles were, as the name suggests, dense and lush tropical forests with an abundance of flora and fauna. The Land was fertile, too fertile, that these dense jungles were very hard to clear even with fire. Because of this the locals usually hunted for meat, fur, animal skins, and hides in the forest and gathered timber, these could be sold for a high price in the other nations. Living in this area for time immemorial, the locals had learned to utilize the terrain and forests to their advantage.
The fortress was large, built on an elevated position in the jungle which was cleared. There were large sturdy walls made of limestone bricks that enclosed a rectangular space, with tall square towers on the corners and battlements atop the walls, made in the traditional Japanese styles, and bamboo was used to make the roof. After the walls, below the elevated position, were deep and wide ditches dug around the fort, and filled with sharpened bamboo stakes. A wide river ran near the fort, providing natural defense from that direction.
In the middle of the fortress was a large palace-like structure made in the Japanese traditional style with tiled and curved roofs. Inside the palace was a large meeting room, with a big rectangular table in the middle, and was lit up with candles and torches. There were Samurai stationed at the corners of the room, while in the middle sat about a dozen men around the table. Ishikawa, the lord of this fortress and the fief was seated along the width of the rectangular table, while the others were seated on the sides. Ishikawa was an old noble, about sixty years old, with white-greyish hair, a small fine mustache, and a finely maintained full beard. The man's face had few wrinkles around the eyes, and he was balding, although he tied his hair in a samurai bun; he wore a blue-white kimono.
The people gathered here were the various leaders of the revolts in the Roman territories, as local nobles and small Daimyos banded together. But it hadn't been a coordinated effort, up till now. Ishikawa was the strongest and most influential among them, an old war veteran, samurai, and nobleman who had fought against the Romans back when the Land of Jungles was still independent under a Daimyo but was defeated. After the Land of Jungle's conquest, Ishikawa was forced to give up all his assets except his home fief, which itself was considerably reduced in size, and had to live off a pension given to him and what he earned from this fortress. Now, Ishikawa spoke first,
"All the respected Daimyo present here, I think the purpose of this meeting is clear. The Romans, outsiders thousands of miles from across the seas, just suddenly came to our continent and took what was ours. First, our sovereignty, which was humiliating as Samurai, but still bearable. But now, they intend to snatch from us our ancestral lands and fiefs, our birthrights, our honor.
I respect all the wise lords present here, and those who follow them, for they have recognized the the truth and are ready to fight for what is theirs. Up till now, our efforts have been disjointed, every lord working separately. This way we will never succeed against the Romans, who are masters of non-shinobi warfare like us samurai. But if we join together, and put up a united front against the invaders, I'm sure we'll be successful in driving out the Romans and reestablishing the old order."
As Ishikawa finished speaking and sat down on his seat, it was visible that the Daimyo agreed with him. A few moments passed as the Daimyo conversed amongst themselves and thought about what Ishikawa had said. And then Izuna, a young Daimyo who had only inherited his fiefs a year ago with his father's death, spoke enthusiastically about the offer, but with a tone that still had professionalism in it,
"I agree with Lord Ishikawa, his words make sense and we must drive out the Romans if we wish to keep our way of life and fiefs. All the other Daimyo present here are mainly from the Lands of Jungles and Cones, influential and rich men who also represent the countless landowners, minor Daimyo, and samurai in their region. But this won't be enough, words have reached my ears that the Romans are shipping another legion to this continent, boosting their military to 20,000 soldiers. Even our combined efforts won't be enough to defeat them, we must stir up the other Daimyo in other Lands to our cause, we can even get help from some specific villages." There were again murmurs here and there, everyone agreed with him. Izuna continued,
"But that is something that will take time. Our current concern must be dealing with the Roman force approaching here. It has been reported that they are marching through the southern Land of Cones in order to get here." Another Daimyo spoke after Izuna with a calm voice,
"I come from that region, I know the roads well. The Romans must be travelling on the path that goes from the former capital to the southern regions, and if that is so then our work is made easy. On the path is a bridge that is essential to cross the river that runs parallel to the path, and protecting the bridge is fort Naka with a garrison of between 400-500. If the garrison of the fort can hold the Romans there for enough time, we can march there with an army of our own and catch them between the fort and our forces." Ishikawa smiled after listening this, and spoke,
"If what you say is true, then this might be our only chance to fend the Romans off as of now. But before we plan that in detail, we must decide upon a leader to spearhead our cause." Izuna now got up from his seat once again, and announced to the rest of the council,
"I propose the name of lord Ishikawa. He is older and more power than us, and not only that he has had experience fighting the Romans previously, so we can greatly utilize that knowledge." Ishikawa seemed pleased with this statement of Izuna's. All the other lords thought for a while, talking amongst themselves. Then finally, after a few minutes, various lords spoke,
"My support goes to Lord Ishikawa."
"Mine too."
And this way, after a few minutes of talking with the other lords and coercing them, it was finalized. Lord Ishikawa Sakai will lead the coalition against the Roman Republic's forces.
Author's notes
I think this chapter did well to set the foundation for this entire arc. Most of the following chapters will be focused on this, as the Chunin exams will go just as canon aside from a few specific details, so I didn't want to write the same thing in a boring sequence. And I've played enough Total war games to properly narrate these battles, so it won't be disappointing.
Do write a review if you've read this far.
