"So how was the meeting?" Kakashi asked when I entered the tent our team had been offered, looking up from his usual dirty novel. I put a finger to my lips and took a look around with my Sharingan, spotting nothing suspicious. Then I withdrew some pre-prepared sealing tags I had made during our night in the woods and attached them to the corners of the tent.
"Alright, that should keep us safe from any prying eyes or ears." Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Privacy seals," I explained. "Just because they're our allies doesn't mean I want them hearing all our conversations. Especially if there're spies about." My fuuinjutsu lessons with the foxes were really paying off. "Where's Sakura?"
"The medical tent, working on the more heavily wounded." I nodded and approached the table in the centre, where there was a map laid out for us.
"Good, that'll earn us some good will. She'll probably be needed there anyway soon enough. The strategic situation is complicated, but basically, there's a locked-in stalemate right now. Most of the outer islands are held by the rebels, with things getting more contested as you approach the main island, which itself is firmly under loyalist control. The rebels hold most of the trade ports and thus control access to imports and exports, while the loyalists have most of Mizu's local industry, farming, and infrastructure on lockdown. The loyalists have a numerical advantage, the rebels have an advantage in troop quality. But the rebels are too reliant on imports and their funds are limited, so sooner or later they have to make a push or else they'll just wither away to attrition. Unfortunately, their forces are too spread out holding all the islands to make big moves easily. Mei-sama expects to be able to hold out for no more than a year if things don't change."
"So this is where we come in?"
"Right. She has an idea to end the war quickly, but some of the leadership are sceptical of how much help we'll be, so we'll be taking an opportunity to prove ourselves before the big mission." I pointed to a small island not far from the one we currently inhabited. "This rock holds a high-security prison in which some of the rebellion's heavy-hitters are being kept. They were caught up in an ambush a while back and held off the enemy long enough for their unit to get away. Intel suggests they're going to be transferred to Kirigakure for a public execution soon. Our job is to take a small team and break them out before the transfer. We move out tomorrow."
"Spying on our new friends? Weren't you the one complaining about how alliances don't mean anything anymore?" Ao merely grunted, pointedly ignoring Zabuza's jab. The swordsman took a seat beside him and cracked open a beer.
"You shouldn't be drinking the night before a mission. Back in my day, shinobi had discipline."
"Sure they did." He took a swig. "So what're they talking about?"
"Can't tell. They've got some kind of barrier up that I can't see through." It was frustrating beyond belief to the older veteran. The Leaf could be planning anything in there!
"Relax, they're not gonna try anything," Zabuza said casually. "Konoha aren't like Iwa. Or us, for that matter." He chuckled.
"I still don't like it. That brat gives me a bad feeling." She had been polite and friendly in the meeting, but he'd gotten a look at her through his Byakugan. Her chakra was dense and dark, almost malicious. Nothing close to the Mizukage's when he channelled the Sanbi's power, of course, but it still put him on edge. Out of all the people he'd seen through his trophy eye, the only ones who'd had chakra like that were…
"You've gone pale. Need a rest old-timer?" Zabuza joked.
"I need to see Mei-sama," Ao breathed, getting up in a rush. If they had another Kyougan Fugaku or Shunshin no Shisui in their midst, she needed to know.
At the same time that Ao left, the girl they had been discussing emerged from the tent, spoke briefly to a passing ninja who pointed towards the training fields, and headed off in that direction. Zabuza considered following her to see if Ao's worries had any merit to them, but caught sight of Haku trailing her from a distance and decided his little apprentice had it covered. The boy was better with people than him anyway.
"Chidori." I looked up from my fuuinjutsu practice and smiled at the chirping lightning that covered my clone's hand.
"How many seals?"
"Just three this time." I nodded to my clone, pleased with our progress. The clone training was paying off. Any time I wasn't out on a mission, I'd have clones working on the arts of ninjutsu and genjutsu, as well as mastering the Mangekyou's abilities, while I personally worked on my taijutsu, kenjutsu, or fuuinjutsu. This system allowed me to devote as much effort to each individual discipline as a specialist, and had also had the welcome side effect of dramatically improving my chakra capacity. Forget being a jack of all trades, I was determined to be a master of all. Her arm out in front of her, my clone narrowed her eyes and focused, and soon enough the lightning coating her hand began to extend outward. It took some time, and the result was barely half a metre in length and seemed to quiver and shake, but it was definitely recognisable.
"We're getting closer to the Chidori Eiso (Chidori Sharp Spear)," I commented, and she nodded.
"Doesn't really feel like much of a spear though, does it?" she mused. "Let's call it the Chidori Tsurugi (Chidori Straight Sword) instead." I shrugged.
"I guess that feels more fitting." Chidori Tsurugi it was, then.
"An impressive technique."
The clone dissipated, and I sealed away my fuuinjutsu supplies and stood to meet Haku, now without his porcelain mask. A year older than when we last met, he still possessed the same pretty feminine features as before.
"It's still early in development. Right now I think it would break if I tried to hit someone with it. What brings you out here, Haku-san?"
"We have not had much opportunity to speak. I was hoping you had a moment?"
"Of course." We each leaned back against a tree stump and Haku looked at me searchingly.
"If I am not mistaken, you went by a different name when we last met."
"Didn't like the old one," I shrugged. "Didn't like a lot of things about myself."
"I see. You have changed quite dramatically."
"I know. Perhaps you like what you see?" I gave a cocky grin.
"You are not trying to flirt with me, are you?" he asked coyly. "Because you are bad at it, and Tayuya-chan would strangle you if she saw." I laughed.
"No, no. Sorry to disappoint, but I don't generally go for guys. But you and Tayuya-san, huh? Bet there's a story there."
"Not a very interesting one. We were assigned some early missions together and found that our styles complemented eachother, so we began to work more closely together. Over the course of several life-or-death missions together, our working relationship developed into something closer." He smiled fondly, apparently recalling some pleasant memories. "And you? Do you have someone precious?"
"Not in the romantic sense. I'm not overly interested at the moment." Not until this body gets a little older, at least. "Besides, between my endless training and my writing, I wouldn't have time for a relationship."
"How strong would you say your training has made you?" A bit of a blunt way of fishing for information, but I couldn't begrudge our allies for wanting to know. They asked for backup to fight a war, and got a single jounin and two chuunin. Even if we were a legendary elite, a kage's apprentice, and the killer of an S-class missing-nin, they would naturally be sceptical of our value.
"Well, without using a certain secret technique of mine, I'd say I'm about Kakashi's level, and he's much stronger than when we last met. With it, I'd probably be considered low S-class. Strong enough to not instantly die in a solo fight against a kage, but not so much that I wouldn't be looking to retreat ASAP." Haku nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer. He stuck around for a while longer, and we swapped stories for a time before I decided to turn in for the night.
"What did you learn, Haku?" Zabuza asked when his apprentice reentered the camp.
"She claims to be as strong as Hatake-san, and to have a secret technique of some kind that brings her up to S-class. Given that she killed Orochimaru, I am inclined to believe her."
"Heh, I figured as much, but that wasn't really what I meant."
"You want to know if we can trust her?" The swordsman nodded, and Haku did not hesitate to answer. "Mostly, so long as we do not harm her or her teammates." Zabuza raised a non-existent eyebrow.
"'Mostly?'"
"Apparently she is a fox summoner, Zabuza-sama. You know the stories." Zabuza grunted. Fox summoners weren't generally known to be treacherous like snake summoners, but they historically had a bad habit of 'acquiring' things they shouldn't have, both material and information, and were known to enjoy screwing with people in more than one sense of the term.
"A fox summoner with a Sharingan…" he mused. "So we should keep an eye on our gear, avoid practising jutsu where she can see us, and give the men in the camp refreshers on their anti-seduction training."
"Actually, in light of my conversation with her, I believe the latter would be more beneficial to the women, Zabuza-sama."
The next morning, eight of us traveled out to a nearby port held by the enemy, ready to carry out our rescue mission. The three of us Leaf shinobi as well as Zabuza, Haku, Tayuya, and two rebel Anbu known to us only as 'Midori' and 'Shiro' in reference to the coloured swirls on their masks were to hijack a supply ship bound for the prison island, free the captured rebels as well as any other prisoners willing to join the rebellion, and make way for a different island in northern Mizu where we would meet up with the Mizukage and her elite forces again. Since Zabuza was apparently Mei's third-in-command and I was the leader of the Konoha squad, he and I were in joint command of the operation. We were currently spread out atop various rooftops surrounding one of the warehouses, out of which we had seen workers loading the ship we were targeting. The ship was relatively small, with a crew of only fifteen, none of whom were shinobi.
Over the course of an hour, we slowly killed and replaced eight of the workers, stuffing the bodies into crates that we loaded onto the ship with us. Once we were underway and the port had disappeared from sight of the ship, we slew the rest of the crew and dumped their corpses overboard for the sharks. Phase one was complete without a hitch, though a certain pinkette did not seem to be taking things too well. Though she kept her expression stoic, her face was pale and her hands were shaking just slightly. I had a feeling I knew what was wrong.
"Are you doing okay?" She jumped slightly at my approach, apparently having been lost in thought.
"Yeah…" Her answer was hesitant.
"You've never had to kill civvies before, have you?" I asked, and she shook her head. It figured. I had taken plenty of infiltration and assassination missions over the past year and had grown used to shedding blood. Not everyone I'd killed had deserved it, I knew full well, but sometimes that was just how the mission turned out. Sakura, however, usually worked in the hospital or took escort missions, and if she was in the field she was almost always in a supporting role. She had killed plenty of bandits, mercenaries, and shinobi before, but only in defence of herself, her allies, or her clients. Killing people who were, as far as she knew, completely innocent was not something she had dealt with before. "I know it's not much help, but the best advice I can offer is to try not to think about it. At least until we get home and you can book a few sessions with Inoichi-san." At least that got a slight laugh out of her.
"You've been seeing a therapist?" she asked, raising a sceptical eyebrow, to which I shrugged.
"Sometimes, when I need the help. It's not easy staying sane in this line of work, you know." There was a good reason high-ranking shinobi tended to be a little eccentric. A touch of madness was practically mandatory for anyone above chuunin, and not all of them started out that way. "Get below and get some rest. You shouldn't need to do any more killing today, but we might need you depending on the state of the prisoners."
"Right," she nodded. "Thanks." While she took my advice, I looked out over the ocean, hoping its calmness was a sign of how our mission would unfold.
"Midori is bringing us close to the prison now," the Anbu agent known as Shiro informed us below deck. "We will be arriving in a few minutes."
"Good," I replied with a nod. "Everyone remember the plan?" A chorus of acknowledgements greeted my ears, and I grinned in anticipation. "Alright. Transform and make ready." The room was briefly filled with smoke as we all applied our Transfomations. "Time to go to work."
The guards of Kodokutsuchi Prison lazily watched the workers tying up their supply ship. It was a calm, clear day for once, the usually omnipresent fog absent in favour of bright, warm sunlight, and so many of them were more concerned with enjoying the rare pleasant weather than with carefully observing the sailors unloading their next month's worth of food and medicine. Perhaps this was why none of them noticed the red-eyed raven that gazed intently at them from atop the ship's sails before taking flight towards the tower at the centre of the prison. It may also have been the reason no one felt much concern that the crew appeared smaller than usual. After all, no one would be insane enough to mount an assault on a fortified prison in broad daylight with only eight people. That would be suicide.
The raven's eyes carefully observed the patrolling shinobi manning the prison walls from her perch atop the central tower. Already, she was seeing a major exploitable flaw in their defence – the guards were only looking outward towards the ocean. Exactly as Zabuza had expected, the fools had arrogantly disregarded the possibility of an infiltration, secure as they felt in their isolation. Oh well, it only made her job easier. She took flight once more and circled around the tower until she located her initial target: the aviary. While there would be next to no chance of reinforcements arriving in time to stop them even if a message were to be sent out immediately, she was not one to take such chances. Better to be absolutely sure. She flew down and perched herself on the window ledge, grabbing the attention of the single kunoichi within.
"Huh? A raven?" the woman questioned. "Don't see those around here often. Weird eyes, too. You a summon or something?"
"Or something," the bird answered in a human voice before the kunoichi was paralysed by a genjutsu and engulfed in black flames. Unable to move or speak, her body was reduced to ash and none of her comrades outside were any the wiser. Makoto's Shadow Clone returned to her human form and stretched out, wiping away a bloody tear from her eye. She found the screeching of the messenger hawks irritating, but they were quickly silenced by a handful of shuriken. "That's communications down," she said to herself before initiating another Transformation, this time taking the form of the woman she'd killed. "Now onto stage two." She pulled out an explosive tag and smiled. "Paper bomb, my beloved."
For half an hour, Clone Makoto wandered the prison, taking in its layout and defences while planting explosive tags in various places. The aviary, several stairways, the barracks, the mess hall, multiple restrooms, the guard towers. She was just leaving the warden's office after sticking one to a load-bearing wall within when she ran into someone interesting: a slender man with flowing silver hair in a black Anbu mask carrying a familiar straight sword at his waist.
"Yuna-san." His voice was low and smooth, and carried with it the innate threat of violence should he be displeased. "You were supposed to be manning the aviary today."
"Yes sir! We received an important message, and I thought it best you be informed as soon as possible!" the disguised clone replied quickly. She was taking a risk by assuming he was in charge, but considering the weapon he carried, it was a solid guess.
"Indeed? What was so important that you had to abandon your post?" The clone grinned.
"It said you should probably tighten security." With that she formed a seal of confirmation and pulsed her chakra, and instantly dozens of explosions rocked the complex. The clone dispelled just as the shinobi before her began to draw his sword, allowing her chakra to return to her creator.
Stage three had just begun.
The guards turned away from the supply ship to stare in mute shock and horror as the prison was shaken by dozens of explosions. Men were thrown from the walls, the towers collapsed, the air was filled with dust and screams. In that moment of stunned distraction we struck, and the guards were cut down where they stood. Where once there had stood eight dock workers, now there were eight battle-ready shinobi. Zabuza unslung his sword and rested it on his shoulder.
"Hatake-san, Haku, with me. We're going to make some noise," he ordered, a grin apparent even beneath his wrappings.
"Shiro and Midori, we're on prisoner rescue," I added. "Sakura and Tayuya-san, guard the ship and make ready for any injured. And everyone watch out for a guy in a black Anbu mask. I think he was carrying Nuibari."
"Kirigaya Yasuke," Zabuza grunted. "My old teammate. We run into him, he's mine." With that, we sprinted through the blasted-open gates into the courtyard and split up into our designated teams. The two Anbu operatives and I stuck to the shadows around the outer wall while Zabuza's team ran straight in, openly spilling as much blood as possible to take attention away from our efforts.
The infiltration was a simple matter. Thanks to my clone's reconnaissance, I already knew how to reach the cells and roughly how many men were in the way. Most of the guards were still shaken up by the explosions, occupied trying to dig their comrades out from beneath rubble, or wounded themselves. Even those who were healthy and on guard were only chuunin-level grunts, and fell quickly to hails of thrown weapons or precision ninjutsu. The three of us left a trail of corpses in our wake without stopping or slowing en route to our destination.
Zabuza split yet another enemy in half with his blade before glaring at the group of terrified ninja before him, flaring his killing intent. Beside him, Kakashi slashed his opponent's throat with a kunai held in a reverse grip, while Haku's senbon pierced another's heart.
"So, who's next?" the Demon of the Hidden Mist casually enquired, shouldering his enormous blade. The terrified guards turned tail and fled, leaving Zabuza shaking his head in disappointment. "This is what passes for shinobi in Kiri these days?" he complained. "Not even worth killing."
It seemed that someone disagreed with him, because the moment he said that, a figure appeared on the other side of the fleeing group in a Shunshin, a blade glinting in the sunlight. Blood splattered and screams filled the air, and soon enough the fleeing men were strung up by razor-thin ninja wire, their bodies held as if crucified. The figure strolled casually toward Zabuza's team, his dark Anbu kimono stained red with blood.
"Been a while, Yasuke," Zabuza greeted the new arrival casually. "Still just as bloodthirsty as ever, eh?"
"Zabuza. You know that traitors and cowards must be made an example of." Yasuke took up a fencing stance, Nuibari pointed toward his enemies. "Even old friends. Mizukage-sama will be glad to have Kubikiribocho back in our possession." Zabuza readied his blade and stepped forward.
"Haku, Hatake-san, back off. Don't interfere unless he targets you. This is my fight."
We reached the prison cells without sustaining any injuries or expending much chakra, which left me mildly concerned. Surely there should have been someone of consequence posted here? These prisoners were, after all, some of the rebellion's key assets.
"Watch the entrance." The two rebel Anbu nodded and took up guard positions while I approached one of the cells. Inside was a teenager with blue hair and glasses who looked up at my approach. The guy was a mess, covered in cuts and bruises and with what looked like a broken right arm, but his eyes still held defiance within. Choujuurou. Mei's bodyguard. "Someone order a prison break?" I asked casually just as he opened his mouth to speak. He froze, blinked, and laughed.
"Took you long enough."
"Well, I did have to come all the way from Konoha." With two swift strokes from Kusanagi, the cell bars clattered to the ground. "Come on. Mei-sama is waiting for you."
I made my way down the hall, freeing anyone who was either a member of the rebellion or who agreed to fight for them in exchange for freedom, until at the very end I came to what appeared to be a fish tank complete with coral, though with no fish were contained within. Upon my approach, a human face with white hair and purple eyes materialised in the water.
Suigetsu? I guess he wasn't taken by Orochimaru yet.
"Hey tree-hugger, feel like getting me out of here?" I raised an eyebrow at his tone.
"Is that any way to speak to your rescuer?"
"You try getting stuck in a fuckin' fish tank for a month and see how polite you feel by the end of it," the water user complained.
"Fair enough I suppose. Hold on." I stood to one side and shattered the front of the tank with my sword, sending water spilling all over the stone floor. A moment later, Suigetsu's body emerged from the puddle, thankfully clothed.
"Well, thanks I guess. So Mei-sama went and called the Leaf for help? You got a battalion with you, right?"
"Nope, just me and two others!" I informed him with a smile, to which he facepalmed.
"Right… Great…"
"Hey, the three of us are worth way more than a battalion of faceless scrubs. Now come on, let's-" before I could finish, I heard a rush of displaced air and ducked only for a mass of chakra, dense enough to be visible and shaped like a hammer, to fly by over me and take off Suigetsu's head with a splash. It quickly reformed, and we along with the other prisoners turned to see a dark-haired woman in a Kiri flak jacket wielding a massive, flat sword with two handles whose blade was coated in chakra. At her feet, the bleeding forms of Midori and Shiro lay.
"So it's true," she commented casually. "The Houzuki really are immune to blunt-force trauma."
"My sword…" Choujuurou mumbled from behind me.
"All of you, stay back. You're in no condition for a fight after being in prison for so long," I ordered the rescuees, stepping forward and taking a stance with the Kusanagi, Sharingan active.
Zabuza grunted in irritation as once again his downward swing was parried and pushed aside expertly by the wielder of Nuibari, and the wire attached to the needle sword's hilt whipped across his arm, drawing more blood.
"You shouldn't have challenged me alone, Zabuza," Yasuke taunted the ex-missing-nin. "I was always a better swordsman than you." Zabuza chuckled darkly.
"Yeah, I'll admit that's true," he said, reaching into his equipment pouch with his off hand and withdrawing a scroll. "But your ninjutsu was always trash." The scroll opened, and Yasuke barely avoided being struck by the torrent of seawater that was released. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" Two more Zabuzas formed from the water now coating the ground and charged while the original began making more seals.
Yasuke leaped over a horizontal slash from one Zabuza and contorted his body to avoid the vertical follow-up from the other, taking the opportunity to stab Nuibari into his neck and dispelling one of the Clones. He then blocked a swing from the first with both hands on his blade, only for another to form from the liquid behind him and slash at his neck. His eyes widened.
"Senshouheki (Wire Barrier)!" His chakra pulsed through Nuibari's wire, dramatically strengthening it as it was shaped into a square shield that blocked the blade. However, now he was trapped in place between two Clones. He shifted his weight, planning to kick one in the crotch then quickly stab the other.
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Panicking, he made his move.
Just a moment too late.
The Clone in front of him was dispelled by his kick, but he was not fast enough to avoid the torrential vortex that the original sent his way, and was smashed against the prison wall hard and pounded into submission, leaving him with several ribs and both arms broken, as well a major concussion. With great difficulty, he looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Don't worry. Yagura will be joining you soon enough."
His head was separated from his shoulders, and he knew no more.
"Stand still so I can kill you!" Hiramekarei's temporary wielder screamed, swinging wildly, the chakra that emanated from the blade rapidly shifting forms. One swing it was a long blade, the next an axe, then a hammer.
"Now why would I do that?" I asked in between Shunshin-aided dodges. "Doesn't seem like it'd benefit me much." The woman screamed.
"That's it!" She raised her stolen blade over her head. "Time to fucking die!" Hiramekarei began to shine with chakra, a ghostly blue blade extending all the way up to the ceiling above.
"Kitsune-ryu," I whispered, weaving a genjutsu. "Kuukyou no Mai." She swung with all her strength as I moved, just in time to avoid getting cut in half along with the wall behind me. The woman panted.
"That's it… Finally got the bitch… Ha…" She pointed at the prisoners. "Now you fuckers get back in your cells or I'll-" she stopped and hacked up blood. My blade was thrust through in through her spine and out just below her ribs. "How?" she coughed out. I declined to answer, instead twisting my sword and slashing sideways through her body, sending her collapsing to the floor in a pool of her own blood.
"How she of all people managed to beat two Anbu operatives is beyond me," I muttered. Picking up the two-handled sword, I approached the wide-eyed prisoners and handed it to its rightful owner. "Try not to lose it again," I advised with a smile before forming two Shadow Clones who picked up the defeated Kiri Anbu that had come in with me. "Now let's get going. Unless you'd rather remain in prison?"
"Damn, Momochi-san, you look like a wreck," I greeted the Demon of the Mist casually back in the courtyard. The man was covered in lacerations over most of his exposed skin, his outfit torn, though he was now carrying Nuibari in addition to his own blade.
"You should see the other guy," he deadpanned, nodding his head in the direction of the black-masked man my clone had run into earlier, mangled and headless. I whistled.
"On second thought, you're looking pretty good by comparison."
"What happened to Midori and Shiro?" he asked, spotting my Clones carrying the two injured operatives toward the ship.
"Ambushed while I was freeing the prisoners, I think. Some woman had taken Hiramekarei. She wasn't much of a challenge though, way too much of a temper on her."
"Hmph, fools must have dropped their guards. I'll be having words with them when they recover." He turned his attention to the two teens just behind me. "You look like shit, Choujuurou-san."
"Z-Z-Zabuza-sama!" the blue-haired boy stammered nervously.
"Hey, Senpai," said Suigetsu. "Figured they'd send you to break us out. You really wrecked the place, huh?"
"That wasn't me, kid. It was all the Uchiha brat." Suigetsu looked at me, then around at the destruction, then back at me.
"What the fuck?"
"Explosive tags!" I grinned. "My truest love!" Suigetsu stared, looking distinctly disturbed.
"Best not think about it, kid," Zabuza sighed and muttered something about 'damn fox summoners' as he went to check on all the other prisoners. Kakashi was the next to come speak to me.
"You're not injured?" he asked cautiously.
"Not a scratch. Those Anbu guys are in a bad way, though. Sakura should be able to stabilise them, but…" I shook my head. "I should have kept a closer eye on them."
"Sometimes things like that happen on a mission, Makoto. You kept your head and managed to get them out alive, that's what's important."
"Yeah. I've just never had anyone under my command get so seriously injured before. Suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later, though…" I sighed. "How'd things go on your end?"
"About two dozen enemy KIA with no friendly casualties, and we recovered Nuibari for the rebels," he reported matter-of-factly.
"Good. Then we'll get everyone on the boat, sabotage the ones in dock, and be on our way. Hopefully Mei-sama's not too pissed about her guys getting wounded."