Matsu Uzumaki:- Elite Jonin. Chief Medical Officer of the Kiri. Commander of the northeastern Front.
Sayuki:- Second in command of the Civilian Nin, Chunin.
Jonin Akiko - Matsu’s former sensei and exasperated mentor of other children, Matsu returned her beauty to her with the first plastic surgery no jutsu! Has taken on other students but still considers Matsu her best student.
Juzo Biwa:- One of the Seven Swordsmen and wielder of Kubikiribocho blade.
Kori Yuki:- Clan leader of the Yuki clan and the shinobi angling to step up as Mizukage when Gengetsu dies! Was gifted a Byakugan by Gengetsu to embolden him. Due to failing his attempt to have Gengetsu killed fighting Mu he was traumatised when Gengetsu ordered Matsu to extract the eye only to stop partway through the process.
Sharkbait:- real name Kenta Nogawa. Also now a Tk Jonin of Kiri
Sasori:- Jonin of Suna, ANBU, and member of the Puppetry Brigade.
_____________________
“Matsu… are you sure this is the best plan to pursue right now?” Sayuki asked me privately.
Next to her, Akiko nodded firmly; both women had quickly realised they were kindred spirits in their levels of exasperation with me and my seemingly harebrained plans. They had started working in shifts to contain or check in on me of late.
“Yes,” I replied as I rolled my shoulders and breathed in. The action did little for me, but it was an ingrained response to force my body to relax even as I cycled my chakra.
Sayuki clenched her jaw while Akiko rubbed her forehead. “Why are you leaving us behind then?” she asked.
“Because I trust you,” I remarked.
At their pointed looks, I elaborated. “I can’t leave Juzo or Kori here, as they will cause issues. Kori, more than Juzo; he’s still a bit uncertain, but he’s not someone I can expose myself to overly with. Instead, I’m going to take him with me. His skillset is highly suitable for my needs,” I rationalised.
Akiko worked her jaw. “And Kori? Why don’t we just take him out the back and dispense with him?”
“He has his uses,” I offered back.
Reaching up, I began rethreading my hair into a tall topknot, making sure to be careful around the hidden needles that would punish anyone who attempted to grab it during a fight.
Sayuki continued to stare. While they didn’t need to be read into everything that had been planned, I didn’t need to aggravate them. Loyalty should have some perks after all.
“He gets us Yuki clansmen. But in truth? He predominantly serves as a marvellous focus point for anyone who dislikes my plans or me in particular. If Juzo or his associates spend too long near Kori, I know what to expect from them.”
“You’re using him to flush out traitors?” Akiko muttered, rubbing her jaw. “Urgh. That's… not the worst idea.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
“Why attack now?” Sayuki asked before the moment was lost. “We need to consolidate what we have here. I know that things are progressing… at a terrifyingly fast pace, but still, going on the offensive now?”
“Because it is not what people will expect,” I replied as I raised my hand and began ticking off points.
“I don’t wish to give Hot Water a small wound that they can recover from. I mean to cripple them and, in doing so, force Konoha into Hot Water and cause them to clash with Kumo. If those two are distracted with each other, then we will have more time in which I can sit back and turtle up with Octocity.”
“We’re not calling it that, surely?” sighed Akiko, but I just shot her a proud smile. “Alright, it somewhat fits with the whole petal formation that you’ve got lined up for the city but… maybe Petal City instead?”
“I liked Metropolis, sounds futuristic,” Sayuki offered.
Snorting at her continuation of a joke that had come about from a small slip of the tongue on my behalf, I shook my head before replying, “Right, well, now that we’re done talking about this between ourselves, I need to tell the others of their assignments.”
Akiko and Sayuki straightened, their faces both slipping into matching masks of intent as they fell in behind me. I had to give it to them; they knew not to voice any open dissent at my plans, and that made any ‘council meetings’ I held to lay them out run much more smoothly than they might have.
They drew details out with questions, but never in an unsupportive manner. In truth, they made sure to do it in a way that improved my plans.
Which in turn made me want to read them into more and more of them going forward.
“Are you sure those people are even worth it?” Akiko asked.
“A dojutsu and a disenfranchised people? We’ll have to see about that one. That’s where the risk comes in,” I replied honestly.
“Oh, yeah, that’s where the risk comes in,” muttered Sayuki.
I reached for the door, but Sayuki spoke up once more.
“The second he attempts anything, or he loses his usefulness… If you won’t act, I will,” Sayuki stated.
I nodded, accepting her terms while Akiko shot Sayuki a surprised glance. Ah, she hadn’t been expecting such bloodthirstiness from my ‘secretary’.
She opened her mouth, but I shook my head lightly.
Akiko frowned, shooting me and Sayuki concerned looks, only to shake her head.
Ah, she thought, Sayuki didn’t stand a chance, did she? That a chunin could never overcome a jonin like Kori?
It was a fairly prevalent thought among many.
It was a pretty lie, though.
As I knew that in this world, some of the most dangerous and powerful people never even received formal rankings.
Also, you should never underestimate the person who has access to the entire jutsu records of a faction. Especially not one who observed hundreds of people’s training methods.
“For now, let’s focus on burning the Land of Hot Water,” I ordered, and she turned her focus from a near-certain future to the immediate.
I stepped up to the large doors and shoved them open in a needlessly dramatic manner.
I strode in like I owned the building, which, currently…
At the centre of the room, a large table dominated the space, with several maps of the elemental nations, the surrounding local islands, and other points of importance to us. Shinobi working as clerks kept a near-constant update process going with intel and estimates of enemy forces, along with notable names that were being monitored.
Around this table, the various big names of my forces lingered, taking in the details that were being freely offered up to them.
I stepped up to one side of the table and nodded to the Chunin running the intel for us. “Anything important I need to be aware of?” I asked.
Which I didn’t actually have to do, as I had a clone in the room tracking everything, and before I’d come, I’d popped him to absorb his information.
Not that I was going to tell Juzo or Kori that.
The clones also worked at keeping Kori blinded within the room, unable to see more than what was in front of him in any great detail.
He couldn’t track me and monitor the conversations I had, which was already a frustrating enough task with all the clones I had running around giving orders.
Too many moving parts worked to slow Kori down and keep him stalled on how to act against me. Any time he happened to walk around the city, I made sure to have other shinobi visibly nearby.
Never watching him openly, just present and aware of him.
So far he hadn’t done anything stupid, but there was still plenty of time for that.
When I received a shake of the head, I nodded and swept my gaze around the room. The subtle act of acknowledging only certain parties helped establish me somewhat, but I could see the tightening of eyes and the clenching of hands as pride was pricked.
“We’re going on the offensive,” I announced, not allowing anyone else to speak up first and instead claiming the moment.
That caused a shift as people’s heads lifted and their posters shifted forward. Like hounds eager to be loosened, some of them licked their lips as fangs began to appear around the room.
“Where?” asked Juzo huskily.
I brought my finger down upon Hot Water. “I have bloodied and disrupted much of the nation with my actions, but now it is time to strike at them properly.”
“I’ll say,” agreed Juzo with a fanged smile.
“So you have grown bored of your civilian project?” Kori asked, no doubt probing for more with the abstract line of questioning.
“No, I merely wish to keep Hot Water off-balance. I’ve hurt them but only in a small manner, and I would rather have them crippled early than have them lick their wounds and come back.”
I swept my hand across the map. “We will come in along the Haran Bay and strike from the mid ranges. There are patrols, outposts and resupply points that have been identified. This will cause their focus to split from Kumo, who are advancing alongside Frost shinobi to the east.”
Kori watched this closely, his lips thin with disapproval, but he didn’t speak again, instead choosing to wait.
“Think we can lead a strike upon their actual Village?” asked Juzo eagerly.
“I doubt it greatly, not unless they’re baiting us in or they're fumbling their defensive patrols. While I can’t say that Hot Water has ever impressed me with their shinobi, those are basics. We will have to settle for slaying a few teams of shinobi.”
“Hmph, you're sending me right?” Juzo grinned.
I nodded. “I shall be leading the force but you will be the point of the kunai while Kori will see to our western flank.”
One good thing about assigning him such a role was making it all but guaranteed that when our enemies came at us, that is where they’d strike from. If Kori let them get too close or tried anything, I could use it against him in many different ways.
It also kept him looking west and not to the east when we made our run, where my secondary objective for this mission would be.
“My Yuki and I have only just returned from the field,” Kori argued.
“Yes, your performances were extremely impressive to me,” I remarked casually, and a few people twitched, catching the double meaning of my words.
Kori raised his chin. “If you do not require our service..”
“You will what? Leave? I’ll be sure to inform Gengetsu of your clan’s contribution to the war… if you make it back to him,” I replied blandly.
“Are you threatening me?” he hissed.
I stared blankly at him. “You felt threatened by that?” I asked. “Hmmm, perhaps you should return to Kiri. It will only grow tougher to move about the longer the war continues.”
Locking eyes with him, I let a smirk slip through. “Is that not what you were afraid of?”
“I was not afraid!” he bit out, his singular visible eye boring into me, and even without my chakra sense, I would have caught that he had his stolen dojutsu active.
“Hmmm, then I can expect you to complete this mission to my satisfaction?” I asked, like there was any answer he could give that wasn’t a resounding yes, given how I’d framed our back-and-forth to this point.
“I will demonstrate how a true shinobi of Kirigakure operates!” he growled.
That got a smirk from me. Oh? To those who didn’t know how Kiri Shinobi truly operated, it would sound like he’d agreed to follow my commands. Shame it was just a thinly veiled threat.
Next to me, Sayuki gave Kori a slow, flat look. Akiko openly glared, and my other supporters shifted like they were ready to get into a fight.
Juzo looked amused. I had little doubt that if it came to violence here and now, he’d sit back and watch without a care in the world.
Instead of cutting out the threat, I just chuckled, channeling Gengetsu. “Heh, so easy to rile up. You need to relax some more Kori. We’re going to be up to our necks in Hot Water nin soon enough. Show off your aggression then, neh?”
Just to drive the metaphorical kunai in, I slipped a genjutsu past Kori’s eyes.
In the illusion, I suddenly appeared next to him, wrapping my arm around him and smiling. “And we don’t want to lose our heads, do we?” I teased, only to vanish like smoke in a hurricane a moment after delivering my message.
Kori’s glare disappeared just as quickly. A shiver raced along his spine, and he turned so pale I almost thought he was giving Orochimaru a run for his money.
Giving everyone a smile as the mood in the room shifted to wary caution towards me, I nodded. “With that all handled, shall we assemble our strike force and head out? The earlier we do so, the better.”
Kori all but raced out of the room like he was worried I’d second-guess my decision to let him live.
Juzo nodded and set out to collect his apprentice and the other swordsmen under his command.
I lingered, giving the board a long, thoughtful look. Sasori, with his mask firmly in place, watched me. “We will come with you,” he stated.
“... I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I replied, mentally adjusting for their inclusion. Clapping Sharkbait on the shoulder I pointed to Haran island. “Monitor that for me alright?”
He nodded firmly. Good, with him in position with a strike force of his own I could rest easy knowing the northern approach was safe.
Pieces were moving about the board, and I was about to throw yet another large rock into the mix that would send ripples out.
Just as I liked it to be.
____________________
The trip through the Haran Bay was made with haste. We selected the fastest clippers in the armada. This was made easier by an earlier decree that had them stationed upon the newly built docks so that they were always ready to deploy.
We swept through the waters like a hunting pack of orca, and while tempted, I resisted the urge to summon any of my orcas and instead relied on wind jutsu to speed us on our way.
We didn’t close on the eastern coastline of Hot Water until a scant few minutes prior to our disembarkation.
Something that again, didn’t rely on us actually beaching out vessels, or indeed getting close to shore.
"Reposition the ships as we discussed,” I ordered the captain before leading a charge over the railing. Other shinobi followed, hitting the water and breaking into headlong sprints as we leaned forward and accelerated.
Without needing to, scouts poured on more speed as we shifted into a common enough Kirigakure standard formation.
In it, people shifted around the main force while those with sensory abilities drifted to the outskirts of the group. The only variation to this formation was if the leader of the group had sensory abilities.
I didn’t position myself in the scouts, but I still held a forward position.
The only people directly in front of me were Juzo and his apprentice, as while I was also one of the best sensors I knew of within Kiri, I knew I also had some of the strongest jutsu around, and that wouldn’t change until a Jinchuriki took to the field.
Behind me, Sasori and the other Suna ANBU raced along.
“I’m glad to learn that you know water walking; I wouldn’t have thought that you’d have had many chances within the desert to learn that skill,” I asked once we made it onto land and started moving towards the Village Hidden in the Hot Water.
“We’re ANBU,” Sasori blandly replied.
“I suppose special allowances were made?” I asked, wondering whether there were water quotas or other rationing methods in Suna. It was never mentioned in the manga or any spin-offs, and I’d never read about it in any intel reports, but there still had to be some issues with living in a desert.
“We’re ANBU,” Sasori repeated, showing that he would not be revealing any information on this.
I suspected that quite a few potential conversations we could have would see similar responses.
Credit where it was due, it worked to politely shut down the conversation. A few of the shinobi with me side-eyed the Suna shinobi, but when I didn’t take any offence to being stonewalled, they turned their focus back to their surroundings.
After roughly thirty minutes of running, I raised my head as a cluster of eight shinobi entered my sensory range. Instantly, I pulsed my chakra slower, making sure to extend the range of my senses.
I found another two teams of eight within range of each other.
Instead of ordering an immediate shift, I kept news of the find to myself for another few minutes, then I spoke up. “Shift the scouts to a bearing south-west-west." And like a well-oiled machine, they shifted.
“Three teams of eight within range! I want all of them eliminated!” I projected firmly to each of the forty-man hit squad I’d assembled. Commands sadly had to be given verbally as there wasn’t a common hand sign language between Kiri and Suna that we could fall back on, and openly revealing our language would be a terrible mistake.
For all that was learned through interrogations and betrayals, the language saw an adjustment every few years.
Not enough to throw shinobi off that might be undergoing long-term missions, but enough that quick reads could trip up infiltrators or people trying to understand what would happen in a battle.
Rather than race ahead to claim the first kills of the coming battle, Juzo dropped back to run along with me. “If we let a few live, we’ll get more heat and attention thrown towards us while giving ourselves a solid lead on them, knowing our location.”
That got a snort from me. “No, I want to cut deep and make them scramble. See what they do when they have no choice but to react.”
Juzo nodded along, and rather than charge off, he hung back with me and watched as his apprentice savaged the eight-man team.
“Kiri nin!” bellowed one of the Hot Water shinobi. He fumbled for something in his vest, only to take a kunai in the throat.
Others copied his action in reaching for their vests while the rest threw themselves into the fight.
My force tore through them like they were made of paper; jutsu flashed out in tightly controlled bursts, while others shot into flanking positions with kunai or blades in ready positions.
The two nin that dodged the initial onslaught did so only to find blades waiting for them.
The pair that had hung back raised scrolls with firm expressions.
I lashed out in that moment as instinct took over, snaring them in an illusion of their scrolls triggering and launching a howling beacon of light and chakra that caused them to flinch before their expressions morphed into matching looks of triumph.
“Ha! With this, all of Yu no Kuni will know you are here!” roared one.
Kiri shinobi paused and shot each other confused looks, only to shrug and flick kunai into both of their skulls.
I didn’t let the enemy nin even register the blades coming for them, letting them hold to the illusion that they’d made a difference just now.
“That was weird,” muttered one of my nin only for another to slap him on the head.
“Idiot! That was obviously genjutsu! They were dead before they could do anything!” growled the second.
I landed next to the last pair of Hot water nin to have fallen and examined the scrolls in their hands. Hmmm, I’d been right. It was some sort of flare.
When I continued to search their vests, my eyes narrowed, however, as I found not just one set of flares but multitudes.
Each of them were actually a rather basic explosive seal. Things that most would scoff at due to only having light and noise to their names, rather than anything truly deadly.
For utility purposes, however, it presented a unique issue.
“They’ll know our rough location faster than they should,” I mused, tapping the scrolls thoughtfully. Credit where it was due, this was a rather ingenious solution that used simple methods to solve a glaring weakness.
“How so?” asked Juzo, as he landed next to me, only to click his tongue. “They’ve got too many flares for a simple patrol with a warning system. They’ll project these and give observation platforms updates.”
“And if they know anything, they won’t rely on a simple system.”
Kori chose that moment to slink up. “Perhaps it was a mistake to slay the first group we came across.” His expression was perfectly flat, but his tone oozed smugness at my ‘mistake’.
“No, we couldn’t have known about this prior to engaging with one of their patrols. Better we knew about these and cut a line before retreating. If we had left this group and struck another, they might have been able to zero in on our location faster.”
Triangulation was a bitch when it was used against you.
“Kori, I want you to record any flares that go up. The timing, duration, colour, height, and even angle they use – track all of it for later analysis.”
Juzo drew out some of the scrolls. “How’d they get so many shinobi trained in fuinjutsu that they could pull something like this off?” he asked.
I quirked an eyebrow at him, only to realise that most shinobi wouldn’t have more than a passing understanding of sealing.
“These are actually rather rudimentary,” I supplied. “It’s a simple patch that works very effectively. They wouldn’t need anything approaching a sealing master to churn these out. They barely count as explosive seals, which are some of the most basic seals around.”
Mostly due to using terrible syntax that causes inward collapses of chakra flow within a seal when anything is channelled through them.
Juzo gave me a long, slow look. “Oh, so that’s what it’s like having an Uzumaki on our side,” he muttered. He tapped the scrolls. “We gonna adopt this?”
Huh, that was a good point. My eyes flicked around. If each of the shinobi here and in the other groups had even five scrolls on them, then we’d get a hundred and twenty flares for us to start with.
“Yes, strip the dead of anything useful then seal the bodies up,” I called.
Scrolls, kunai and other small trinkets were quickly pilfered. Uniforms were separately sealed up for later false-flag missions and infiltration missions.
I was just about to turn away and discuss this find with Sasori when I spotted something odd.
“Stop!” I ordered, and around the battlefield, everyone went still, and I shunshinned up to a kneeling shinobi that had just been about to draw out a slightly different scroll.
Something about it caused my mind to itch.
Perhaps it was due to basically laser-etching the lessons Rei had given me into my mind, but the oddity all but screamed out loud that something was off.
It was too small to be a sealing scroll. And just slightly different to the flare scrolls I’d been seeing.
Instead of drawing the scroll out further, I drew my finger along the pocket holding the scroll, cutting it away and revealing metal wire digging into it.
The wires loosened from where they’d been about to cut further into the scroll.
“Deadman trap,” I announced, causing everyone to hiss in annoyance even as others began checking the corpses they’d been picking through with a more careful eye.
Instead of stopping to inspect this scroll more closely, I rose, knowing that if there was one such scroll, there might be others.
“Do you think the others might loot the dead? Civilian nin are known to do it, what with their poor educations,” mused Kori like he wasn’t taunting me with the chance the other teams striking at the eight-man teams might die.
Instead of responding, I formed a clone.
Clone Matsu cupped his hands in a stirrup, and I threw myself at him, only to be hurled skyward coupled with a chakra-enhanced jump.
With a higher vantage point, I made a show of flashing through some seals while in truth I connected the illusion of projecting my voice into the other groups that I’d sent off to deal with the other two patrols.
A quick whispered warning about the scrolls was enough for both as I pointed out the risks with such items.
I landed upon a small net of chakra wires that my clone had formed, acting like a trampoline that I used to bounce back to the ground without any harm.
Kori watched me with a cool expression while Juzo smirked.
“It’s not the deadman switch and looting that worries me, but the use of suicide bombers closing with taijutsu specialists.”
That made both men pause before nodding slowly.
Sasori’s gaze bore into me and my clone. “That was a novel use of chakra strings,” he murmured.
I nodded. “They’re a highly versatile jutsu I’ve found,” I offered back. With the warning given, I crouched back down and inspected the trap.
Once again, it was simple, elegant, and would have turned a nasty defeat into a useful trade.
“It would seem I can’t underestimate the shinobi of Hot Water. They are aware of their lacking skills and strengths and have some rather novel methods of balancing the scales.”
“Flares and traps – that’s nothing that impressive!” remarked Kori while Juzo shrugged.
“It’s a change from the last war,” he offered, rolling his shoulder and causing the giant blade on his back to shift around slightly. “Reminds me of something you’d see when fighting with those Iwa nin.”
Nodding, I rubbed my chin as I handed the explosive tag off to a clone to take hold of. Instead of opening it once it was clear of us, the clone formed a small tunnel in the ground that had been closed up before beginning to unravel the scroll.
Just in case there were any more tricks in play.
“No one is to use the flares in case they cooked something else into the sealing script or just flat out made a mistake. We’ll adjust for this tactic ourselves, but only once we get back to Octocity.”
That earned nods from the others, and I rolled my shoulders. “I want to shift into a more heavy genjutsu-based attack pattern. Let’s see what they’ve thought up for that, alright?”
“Cause they’ll totally have a plan for facing someone like Gengetsu,” chuckled Juzo sarcastically. “And if it’s all the same to you, I’ll stick with what I’m good at, which is hacking, slashing, and sticking the other guy,” he joked.
I gave him a nod, allowing the fabrication that Juzo wasn’t skilled at genjutsu to pass without challenge.
Most might assume that as a member of the Seven Swordsmen, he only required skills with his chosen blade, but I knew better.
A Jonin was still a Jonin, and a weak swordsman could never last in the Seven, let alone Kiri. For all that there was competition between apprentices for a specific blade when its wielder fell, they still made sure to train their apprentices up to a certain standard.
It would shame the entire group if one were to fall to a simple illusion or some ninjutsu.
There was also the future knowledge that Juzo would be partnered with Itachi Uchiha when he joined Akatsuki. He’d have to have some skills and/or awareness of illusions, as the Uchiha were rather notorious for their prized Sharingan.
“Right, let’s keep moving; now we’re on a deadline,” I ordered, pointing to the north-east to give us a direction.
It took another hour for us to reach the next patrol group and this time Juzo raced forward to engage.
I sped up to observe his skills first hand.
He started by throwing his giant blade in a lazy toss that saw it whirling through the trees and causing a loud warbling that drew the patrol group’s attention.
“What the—” muttered one of them only for Juzo to appear before the man with a well timed shunshin that let him disembowel the man with a simple kunai.
This caused the Hot Water nin to flinch and widen the formation.
One of the group Juzo turned towards, while flicking a brace of kunai behind him.
The targeted shinobi raised his own kunai in challenge only for Juzo’s blade to swing around and behead him.
The head rose atop a geyser of blood and Juzo smirked as he twitched his fingers.
Sasori, who’d landed next to me, grew very still at the second demonstration of chakra strings that had been shown today.
Juzo turned, Kubirikibcho in hand. “Hello there~” he said mockingly to the stunned patrol group.
“O-one of the seven?!” gasped a Hot Water nin.
Seeing an opportunity to end this quickly I lashed out, catching the survivors in an illusion that would have them lowering their guard as they thought that reinforcements had arrived to help them drive off their foe.
Instead of me flickered forward to slay them easily.
It was all going well until a brace of senbon slammed into one of the Hot Water nin at the back, causing him to stiffen in pain and the illusion binding him to shatter.
He took one look at the situation around him and, instead of fighting, threw himself backwards, his hand reaching for his vest.
I lashed out with another illusion only for it to fail to take.
What? Was he in too much pain or was something else at work?
Regardless, the man had just enough time to tear out a flare from the top of his vest and fire it high into the sky.
I grimaced as a bright red flare shot into the sky.
The Hot Water nin hit the ground with a loud crack but a defiant smile on his lips. I gave him a small nod of acknowledgement.
Then I turned and observed the people behind me. My gaze held on a Yuki clansman.
“Why did you use senbon from that distance?” I demanded. “You—” I twitched as the patrol groups that had been operating nearby to this one, all turned and sprinted towards us.
“Incoming! Kill them fast!”I ordered.
We surged forward to meet the Hot Water nin and straight away I knew that this was going to be messy.
Each of the enemy shinobi had a kunai and a flare in hand, and the first thing they did upon spotting us was to launch a barrage of flares high into the air.
Shit, no escaping it now. We were sprung; Hot Water and Konoha had to know we were here now.
Once more I lashed out with my illusions, and this time Juzo fell into the Hot water nin with his blade sweeping in great arcs, bodies and limbs went flying as he and his apprentice tore through the ranks of enemy shinobi.
Two went for their suicide scrolls only for Juzo to blitz into them and smash them away.
A large explosion erased them and part of the woodland we’d been fighting in.
The other nin continued to fight to the last, however, and when they fell, everyone twitched and glanced around, waiting for another group to emerge.
Most of the Kiri nin looked up to where several flares were starting to wink out.
I turned back to the Yuki clansman. “You have, in no uncertain terms, cost us a great deal of time and initiative,” I announced for all to hear.
Shinobi turned, scowls set in faces as they joined me in glaring at the Yuki shinobi. The man was lucky Juzo was inspecting the dead to make sure they were just that and not back here.
The Yuki swallowed, suddenly looking like he regretted his decision. “It was… just a misjudgement, I swear, Commander!”
For a long moment no one moved.
Eyes darted between us as I contemplated the Yuki nin’s fate.
Eventually I snorted in annoyance and looked away. This wasn’t the worst outcome, I could still move our troops northward to achieve my secondary objective.
Perhaps there was even an opportunity here? Might I be able to drive a wedge between Kori and his own clansmen?
“Hmph, regardless, it has cost us. In the next battle you best redeem yourself, am I understood?” I growled, still toying with the idea of cutting this man down here and now.
He swallowed tightly, well aware of where my thoughts must lay. “P-perfectly Commander sir!”
Grunting in annoyance I turned away from him physically while watching him closely with my other senses.
It would seem the Yuki were going to try and sabotage me.
“Keep moving; I want to make it within five kilometres of the Valley of Hell before sundown!”
“Not like it’s going to make much difference fighting in the dark for us,” Juzo claimed.
“Good, the colder conditions will suit us more. I want a large Mist Jutsu and several kill zones over the lands for what’s to come.”
Sasori slid in next to me. “And what will that be?”
“Their response,” I replied. “Will your shinobi be able to function within the Mist or do you need to set up elsewhere?”
For a long moment, Sasori didn’t speak; instead, he turned his masked head towards me and gave me a long, slow look.
“We are ANBU,” he repeated with a firm tone.
This time, I smirked and offered him a nod. “I look forward to seeing that in action,” I replied.
When we made it to the edge of the mountains that led up to the Valley of Hell, I had shinobi and clones begin forming large pockets of mist.
Nature took care of the rest, with the moisture buildup projecting the jutsu further and further than it should.
Once that was set up, I had Kori assume his position along with other scouts, but not before slipping the same anti-dojutsu illusion into his coils with the lightest of touches.
Then I swapped places with a clone. It was a risk to be sure, but one that needed to be taken. My clone would assume command and keep things turning over for the next day or so.
If it were popped, I’d know something was wrong and return.
It was always going to be a risk, and perhaps I was putting more up as my bet than I would like, but being daring had worked for me in the past too well for me to stop now.
Much of what I did I only got away with because I’d dared where no one else had even considered the possibility.
With that in mind, I turned my attention to the secondary objective of this mission.
Securing the Chinoike Clan’s allegiance to me, and through me, Kiri.
They weren’t a notable part of the series and had only truly appeared in the anime as part of a filler series.
I’d only learned of them in truth by stumbling upon them when I’d come through here with Akiko years earlier. I’d slain a contingent of Konoha nin while Orochimaru had threatened my sensei and her friend.
During the altercation, I’d felt a sizable force of people with active chakra observing me.
It was only later, upon reviewing intel reports of the Valley of Hell that I’d found out that they were not known to Kiri. Most spoke of the Valley of Hell as being uninhabitable.
The most notable part of their history that I could recall, thanks to many, many Yin-aligned memory dives, was that they were a clan forgotten to the world due to the harshness of the Valley.
It was said to have minimal resources and wildlife.
The intel reports I had also noted that the valley was often subject to storms that swept down from the Land of Lightning, only to be intensified by the cold of the Land of Frost, causing small localised tornadoes to sweep through the land.
In truth, it was a harsh land that you’d need to be mad to settle down in.
Or desperate.
I suppose I shouldn’t rule out stupidity, but if I did, I might cause more issues.
Better they be a hardened people than an idiotic, prideful sort… which, if I were to place a bet on which was more likely…
I raced through the pass leading into the Valley and immediately noticed that the landscape was starker on this side. Sharp, cutting lines lead downwards, with a gale-force wind knocking into me the instant I set foot into the Valley.
It would have been enough to deter others, but I pushed on, forming a point of wind chakra ahead of myself and cutting my way forward. The resistance all but vanished while the pull on my coils picked up as I sped back up.
While I charged through the valley, the wind picked up, and I had to grit my teeth as the temperature around me dropped. To counter it, fire chakra swirled through my coils, but not too much.
My breath began to cloud up in large clouds of steam, and to stop myself from giving too much away, I ate a handful of nearby snow only to taste metal on my tongue.
I looked down and found the snow tinged a little red where iron-like rust had seeped into its lower layers.
Hmmm, if I didn’t know any better, I might have thought this to be blood.
Sadly, I knew the taste of blood.
Life in Kiri…
Continuing my charge through the valley, excitement took hold of my heart when I came upon a group of roughly a hundred active chakra sources. What scouts they had were tightly huddled upon what amounted to a cliff face.
Ah, they were housed within a tunnel network? That made the most sense.
But why were they so close to their home? They should have had observers further out; this made little sense.
The temperature around me dropped again, and I felt the wind pick up again. Then, a loud howl began to sweep through the entire valley.
Like they were magnets drawn to iron, I found my eyes turning towards twin tornados that formed and began to roar their way down the valley and towards me.
Ah, they must have known this was coming.
Interesting.
I’d come to them due to their clan’s kekkei genkai and lack of allegiance to a major power, but if they were skilled enough weather readers, they might just find other uses within my plans for the future.
Darting in close to the cliff, I darted into a tunnel only to find that it was a dead end.
"Tch", I clicked my tongue, and as my Orca summons had taught me, I projected the sound and began mapping out my surroundings.
Hmmm, many of the tunnels around me were dead ends.
A few housed nesting birds that had shifted at the sound of my tongue click.
Changing position, I hurried out into the storm of sleet and wind and threw myself into a tunnel that was closer to the clan.
Another click, another small part of the world was mapped out around me.
Then a small chakra source moved away from the main group. I paused, mentally tracking the way they shifted and moved, drawing closer to the cliff only to reach it and pause. Moving to the edge of my cave, I didn’t peer out at the small chakra source.
Instead, I waited, allowing the small chakra source to observe the storm.
Before long, another, slightly larger chakra source raced along the same path the smaller one had. They came upon the small source, and straight away I had a rough idea of what I was observing via my chakra sense.
A young child had slipped away from their minder to watch the storm, only for said minder to find them and begin berating them.
Judging by the size of the second source, they were roughly genin level in strength, so possibly a teenager or a young adult. The chakra flow felt too quick to be older.
I considered the moment in my mind’s eye.
A child would have been ignored, but… two eyewitnesses?
That’d do.
I stepped out to the edge of the cave and locked my gaze upon the cave with the pair of arguing chakra sources.
Then I shunshined practically on top of them.
I reappeared in a cave with a storm at my back.
In front of me, a young boy had his shoulder and jaw set in a pose of stubborn defiance that was universal, while an older girl had her hands on her hips, her eyes bored into him.
Both of them had red eyes with rectangular pupils.
They almost looked like demonic goat eyes.
The staring contest stopped with my sudden arrival.
I smiled pleasantly at them both. The boy gaped while the girl’s jaw dropped.
When neither moved nor spoke, I took the situation in hand.
“Would you both mind informing your elders that a shinobi of Kirigakure wishes to talk with them?”
“Urk!” squawked the girl as she took a step back, only to stumble and turn the motion into a backwards run that turned into a full-on retreat.
“There’s an intruder!” she howled as she ran.
The boy remained still, like that would somehow help him. Then he blinked in shock at suddenly being alone with a foreign shinobi. He turned to me and swallowed, no doubt envisaging horrible fates already.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “You should probably follow her. I imagine you’re in enough trouble for sneaking out. If you catch up with her, they might forget about that with all the drama I’m about to cause,” I pointed out amicably.
“Oh,” he murmured. “Yeah… that should work.” He turned and ran, not even watching me over his shoulder.
I shook my head at how exposed he had left himself.
I considered the weather outside and grimaced, then at a leisurely pace that allowed the kids to reach the clan before me, I sauntered along the tunnel.
When I came to the branches in the tunnels, I examined them and compared them to the map I’d made, thanks to the pair of kids who had run through here twice now.
It made it all too easy to follow them back to their home.
When I arrived, I did so with the clan in an uproar. Shouting filled the cavern, only for the mouths that it had emerged from to clamp shut when I was spotted.
Giving a small wave, I smiled again. “Greetings I am Matsu—”
From five different sources illusions were stabbed into my coils as five different eyes glowed blood red.
Dead men and women tore their way from the ground while the roof grew eyes and the space between me and the clan began to twist and distort as voices shrieked for my demise.
Ohhhh, that was smooth.
I clenched hard and shattered the illusions while noting that none had interfered with the other.
In truth, they’d synergised into a slightly stronger illusion that added to the nightmare that I’d begun to experience.
Still, it was nothing compared to what Gengetsu could level against me on a whim.
When I spoke this time my voice was colder than a Yuki shinobi's kunai. “Do not interrupt me again. You will not like the consequences,” I stated firmly.
People shifted at this, and looks were exchanged. “How did you escape that illusion?”
I snorted. “Let's start again. I am Matsu Uzumaki, Jonin of Kirigakure, chief medic, and future Mizukage.”
For some the title meant little, while other older faces tightened. They had to know of Gengetsu, surely? They might have been here for years, but any awareness of the lands around them would surely let them know of him and his terrifying ability with genjutsu.
If not that, then the title of Mizukage being dropped so casually should tell them enough to make them not want to fuck with me.
“Tch!” A broad-shouldered man swaggered to the front. “You’ve all grown lax in your training! You failed to ens—”
Deciding to give back what had been done to me, I silenced the swaggering idiot, trapping him in a cavern without me. His mouth clicked shut, and people stirred as the man stared blankly off to the side.
“May I speak to your leaders?” I asked. “I have a proposal for them.”
A pair of men approached the stunned man and shot chakra into him, only for me to resist the effect, keeping the man under my illusion.
They swallowed and gave me worried, if more respectful, looks.
A runner tore away to the back of the cavern.
Soon enough, a trio of elders stepped forward, worn with time and grey in the temples. Their eyes, however, each blazed a darker red that held a glow.
I straightened, understanding that if they tried their hands, I might have to put some effort in.
Old shinobi and all that after all.
“We are the elder council of the Chinoike. You come to speak to the Chinoike Kiri shinobi? Why? To make threats?” demanded the middle kunoochi.
“No, to offer an opportunity,” I replied easily. “Do you wish to discuss this in front of your entire clan?” I asked, tilting my head and sweeping my gaze about.
“Feh, it is our way to keep our rulings in the open!” declared the single male of the trio. He raised his chin proudly. “We of the chinoike value seeing after all!”
Nodding, I smiled. “There is wisdom in that,” I offered easily. “Very well. This is my offer. I have begun to establish a city upon an island within the Haran Bay. I wish to include your clan within the city and establish yourselves as one of the main shinobi factions.”
“You would just give us a city to… what? Police? Rule?” demanded the central kunoichi once more.
"I was hoping you’d live there. Take it as your home and defend it and the people within, as their prosperity would in turn be for you as well," I offered back.
“What else would you demand of us?” growled the male.
Nodding at the point that might be the big issue, I took a moment. “I wish for you to become a satellite vassal of Kirigakure. You will have your own city outside of Kiri, but your clan will send your academy-aged children who wish to be shinobi to the academy. The Village will train, care, and house them during this period and for the times when they will contribute to Kirigakure through missions.”
“You wish us to serve you?” asked the woman.
My eyes darted from the two that were throwing out questions, taking the time to exchange who was questioning me while the final silent third member stood by and watched.
Hmmm, was she the true voice of the council? Or just quieter than these two?
“You would serve Kirigakure, yes, but you would be allowed to retain most of your independence. This is not a unique arrangement, as Konoha has much the same with their Kohaku clan. I wish to establish a similar agreement with you, giving you a better chance for you and your future children.”
Before they could ask another question, I began ticking off points for my proposal.
“With the new city, you will be able to expand your clan. Instead of hunting for resources, you will have access to markets that will allow you to grow and spend time honing yourselves in new ways or pushing what you already have further.”
Another finger rose. “You will also have better training. The methods of Kiri’s academy and graduation process are things of the past.”
That caused a few people to blink in surprise. Hmmm, so the horrors of Kiri’s graduation process were known to them? Good that I’d cleared that up early.
“You will have access to medics, the hospital, and also the chance to train your own medics.” My gaze swept over the clan. “I have no doubt that certain… ailments have begun to present themselves.”
Inbreeding for too long with cousins would, after all, cause issues before too long. But hopefully it was just nutrient deficiencies rather than some genetic issues occurring right now.
“You will, of course, also be protected by Kirigakure. This I swear to you.”
For the first time since introducing themselves, the third and oldest kunoichi of the group spoke with a raspy tone.
“Promises are words in the wind, and here the winds are mighty and would tear such words to shreds. To say such things…” Her gaze bore into me, and I felt a pressure build subtly.
Heh, another genjutsu? I let it slide off me without comment.
The woman nodded. “You must show you have the strength to back up your words. It is one thing to claim that you will be Mizukage, but another for it to be so.”
She had a point. Rather than argue, I nodded to her. “True enough.” Then I allowed a cocky smirk to take hold. “Power, however, is not something I lack.”
Tilting my head towards the Valley behind me, I projected my voice. “The tornadoes, they plague your homeland and stop much from growing, yes?”
“Of course, they are the winds made manifest,” remarked the third kunoichi with narrowed eyes.
“If I could silence them, would that work as a demonstration of what protection I might offer to the Chinoike?”
People shifted, sharing looks. My ears caught more than a few people scoffing at my claims.
“A tornado is no mere wind!”
The elders held their gazes upon me, ignoring the murmurs around us. Instead, they judged me.
I met them head-on, looking from one to the other. Without flinching in the slightest at their crimson eyes.
Staring into these eyes would be nothing. I planned to be capable of locking eyes with Madara Uchiha for example.
The man swallowed and broke the silence. “... There is a weather cave we use to watch the clouds and for any shifts with the wind. We shall lead you there, and you shall demonstrate this for us. Be warned that should you try anything, we will slay you.”
I held my tongue on the glib reply that threatened to spill out that they would ‘try’ before nodding my head and gesturing for them to lead on.
They called ten of their number to follow and the group fell in around me. I moved through their clan, an outsider in a foreign subterranean world.
Everywhere I looked, crude tools and housing methods were on display. The children were all dirty, and I suspected that the clan was only a single bad illness away from being cut in half at least.
Despite this, they raised their heads and watched me closely like I was a threat to them rather than a possible salvation.
Then again, if all you knew of outsiders was their cruelty, then it wasn’t a wrong approach to take.
We moved through tunnels seemingly at random, but I knew we were moving upwards in a twisting fashion. When we emerged onto a wide opening in the cave that looked out, I felt the wind cut into me.
Rather than brace and clench against it I stood tall, circling my chakra and staying warm while the Chinoike huddled in on themselves.
So small and weak… I thought with a mental shake of my head.
Part of me pitied that they could not stand in the face or harsh winds.
That they’d apparently either lost or never learned how to cut the winds with their own or to warm their bodies with fire.
If they didn’t have their kekkei genkai these people might not be stronger than an average chunin at most.
Despite myself, a smile flickered onto my face as I turned and assessed the tornado sweeping through the valley.
From our vantage point, it was a howling wall of wind and destruction.
Flexing my chakra, a pair of clones appeared next to me as I raised my arm. I wouldn’t be able to settle for something small.
But still, this jutsu was rather iconic, and my smile turned into a grin as a ball formed within a shuriken made of wind.
I poured my chakra into it, growling as half my reserve was taken from me to achieve what I needed.
Eyeballing the tornado, I judged distances and speeds as the jutsu above me grew larger. When it was fully stabilised, I drew my arm back alongside my clones as one formed a sling of chakra, then in one practised motion, I threw with a deep roar.
“Giant Rasenshuriken!”
The jutsu whirled through the air straight at the tornado and I took the moment to take some deep breaths. That had staggered me a little, but then again it was my most powerful jutsu.
If Naruto were ever born, I’d have to give him something nice, as while he’d struggle with the jutsu during its development, I had the cheat code with a step by step means to improve it.
I hadn’t been able to skip a step with sage mode empowering it to make it throwable, so instead I’d spent an entire year in real time with clones practising the jutsu to get the throw just right.
Subjectively, I shuddered to think how long it might have taken me to learn the jutsu without shadow clones.
I suspected it might not be possible, but then geniuses were terrifying in how quick they could manage certain jutsu or feats.
The Chinoike watched in awe as my jutsu cut through the tornado, leaving a visible line in its path before vanishing as the winds curled around it.
For a second the shrill sound of my jutsu vanished.
And then the jutsu detonated.
With a dull boom the winds expanded, causing the entire tornado to bulge like a snake that had tried to eat something far too large.
The tornado collapsed in on itself, and winds surged around us.
The second tornado, further down the valley, I was amused to note, also weakened from the loss of its partner. Hmmm, some sort of synergy in play or something else?
Regardless, I was going to pretend I had planned for that.
I turned slowly, allowing my haori announcing me as ‘chief medic’ to flare dramatically behind me while my hair twisted around behind me like a red flag.
The Chinoike, one and all stared with slack jaws and bulging red eyes.
Now they looked more like stunned goats.
“K-kai!” muttered one of them as he formed a seal and spiked his chakra.
Hmph, this was no illusion.
“So, about that proposal I had for you,” I began with a confident smile before anyone could try and deny what they’d seen with their very eyes.
The group shifted, their eyes darting to me and then back to where the tornado had been as I held my pose and watched them. I didn’t need to say anything more, just hold the silence and mount pressure on them.
Slowly, their gazes shifted to the still wide-eyed elders.
“You are strong,” admitted the third and eldest kunoichi with a nod. “But we cannot act with too much haste lest we cause ourselves further harm. We have heard that the drums of war are beginning to beat and soon there may be con—”
“The war has already begun. I am approaching you now because if I don't, there is every chance you will be dragged into it and wiped out. As you are now, you will be a minor footnote. I want more for you and from you,” I declared.
“That being said", I adopted a conciliatory pose. “You are not wrong that uprooting your people will not be without issue. I have made my proposal.” My eyes drifted to the side like I was looking over my shoulder. "Along with my demonstration… perhaps some good will would be best to show I mean no harm.”
I tapped at my haori. “As I said, I am chief medic; for a few hours I can see to any injuries, illnesses, or issues that are impacting your people if you would have me.”
That caused the Elders to stare at me while others shifted. Some of the adults bandied names about. From their muttering I knew that there was apparently a child with a broken leg and a few other small health concerns that they wouldn’t mind having seen to.
The Elders observed me still, holding their tongues.
Part of me wanted to say more, but I held back, recognising that I’d said and done enough. Now I had to let them be.
If they weren’t so isolated and this wasn’t so abrupt, I might have been able to stage a slower approach to integration. Instead, I was having to come out of left field for them and make a big show of it while promising a lot.
I didn’t like to think about how that would be taken.
So instead I used shounen logic. It was therefore fifty-fifty.
They either said yes, or no.
While I could say anything more without coming across as desperate, I did smile warmly at them and try to exude good intentions as much as possible. I truly did want to take this clan away from this horrible situation they’d found themselves in.
Once more, the eldest kunoichi spoke up. “We would welcome your aid," she declared, causing the other two to stir and eye her before snapping back to watch me, pretending like they hadn’t just reacted like their fellow had broken ranks with them.
Giving a small bow, I smiled. “I’d like nothing more,” I offered, and soon I found myself back in their rather primitive village healing and helping.
The Elders retreated to their personal cavern that had a cloth hanging over the front, where they appeared to argue with each other on my proposal, and their chakra grew agitated, and a few muffled sounds reached my ears from down the cavern.
I left them to it and instead focused most of my attention on healing.
When I was done, I had a satisfied smile. Yes or no, I knew that today I had done some good at least.
I approached the elders. And a guard entered to announce that I had returned.
They bustled out looking as put together as they could be considering they lived in a cave with no running hot water or other amenities. Huh, no hot water in the land of hot water. That was strange.
“I will have to depart and rejoin my fellows. Do you require more time to decide or…” I trailed off meaningfully.
The elders drew themselves up. “We shall send a detachment with you!” They announced. “We would see this city you are promising us!”
Ah, that was good news, although there was probably one other thing I should clarify.
“Ah, just so you are aware, there is another group of shinobi that will potentially be sharing the city with you. While the Chinoike have a fearsome reputation and kekkei genkai, having you as the sole protectors of close to ten thousand people would be rather too much, no?”
That caused another stir.
“T-ten thousand people?” gasped the male elder.
The women elders, however, scrutinised me. “Who else are you offering this deal to?” they demanded.
I gave them a whimsical smile. “I am hoping to find the remnants of the Shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Sky,” I announced.
That caused them to whisper.
“The… remnants?” asked the eldest.
I tilted my head only to blink. Ah, right, isolated to the extreme. “The Village Hidden in the sky was destroyed during the Second Great Shinobi War. As was the nation of Uzushio.”
“Two of the great nations!” shouted someone in the back, making me quirk an eyebrow. Did they… ah, they were small-time, so I suppose what I would deem as ‘small Villages’ they might think of as great powers.
Perspective was relative, I suppose.
The Elders shared a look. “This… this will need to be discussed; we shall still send our representatives, however!”
The male gave me a searching look. “If Uzushio was destroyed… how are you…” His eyes shifted to my red hair, and I smiled.
“That perhaps is a story for another time,” I demurred. “For now, I aim to raise my… clan within Kirigkaure.” It could be said taking two wives was certainly the beginnings of a clan.
A trio of young shinobi stepped forward. Two were men with thin looks and curious expressions, while the single kunoichi glared at me like I was trying to sell them a lie. Each of them had two gourds upon their hips, which I suspected had nothing to do with holding enough water for travel.
Again, I just smiled winningly and nodded. “Very well, at the very least having a better idea of the world won’t hurt.”
That drew some annoyed muttering, but no one could refute my words. I was right after all.
Inspecting the trio I hummed. “What are your names?” I asked.
“Fuma,” replied the taller man.
“Fugitora!” barked the stocky man.
“Kazetora…” bit out the sole kunoichi.
Nodding amicably, I smiled welcomingly before gesturing for them to follow.
My departure from the Valley of Hell was slightly slower than my entrance, as I had to match pace with the Chinoike trio. Instead of moving up with me into a diamond shape that was a standard shinobi formation, they instead clung closely together and off to the side.
I observed it with more worry.
One well-placed explosive tag or jutsu would wipe them all out… for that alone they’d be the first targeted in an assault.
Hmmm, it wasn’t just chakra manipulation but also formations that they lacked? Oh dear, the Chinoike might be liabilities for a good while at this rate.
Mentally I revised my plans for them as they struggled through the wind.
Initially I would have put them at chunin strength, but with how they struggled in the wind and cold, I had to revise my estimate down. Hmmm were they that reliant on their kekkei genkai?
When I approached the Kiri camp, I was pleased when I was challenged with a quiet trill of a nightingale.
I responded with the chirp of a cricket in a prepared pattern. I still had a team of shinobi drop down near me.
“Boss sent a clone out to do something?” murmured one of the shinobi as he inspected me thoughtfully.
I just smirked. “Went to find some new friends. You can never have enough after all,” I remarked, not touching on the clone comment. If my allies were sometimes confused by my clones then hopefully that meant my enemies would be equally lost.
The team of shinobi inspected the trio of Chinoike, and when the kunoichi glared and activated her kekkei genkai they hissed in surprise.
“Holy shit, is that the Sharingan?” muttered one of them.
I smirked. Ah, I suppose not many survived encountering the fabled sharingan, so they wouldn’t know about it more than it being red and glowy.
“Our eyes are nothing like those jutsu thieves!” replied one of the Chinoike. “Ours are stronger! This is the Ketsuryugan!”
The kiri team blinked at that and shared a look. “Riiiiight, well we’ll be leading you into camp, I suppose. But you will remain under escort going forward.”
I offered the shinobi a polite nod. That was the right call. I was just about to slip away when I felt a large number of chakra signatures enter my range.
Instantly I expanded my range with a low pulse that lit up more and more shinobi.
“We’re going to have to hold off on that,” I announced, my spine straightening as my eyes hardened. “It would seem Hot Water has gotten their act together, and Konoha is moving with them.”
I pulsed my chakra once in warning, ignoring the flinches from the Kiri team as they realised that I was no mere clone. Instantly, people that had been resting around camp were up and alert as people began to move about.
I shifted my attention towards Kori only to be surprised when I found him actually manning the eastern wing still.
Hmmmm, interesting, he wasn’t going to try anything with Konoha then?
Pity.
Battle is a wonderful place to do away with some nuisances.
I wonder who was leading this contingent. If I had a preference… well, Danzo would be wonderful to deal with here and now.
If there was someone I didn’t want to face… Well, Jiraiya came to mind, as he had a lot more up his sleeve than most knew, and I had no doubt after his near miss with Hanzo he would be stronger still.
Sakumo would be another, but that was hopefully not on the cards. He’d done well against Suna last time; surely Konoha would deploy him to the west once more?
The question of who was in charge had an answer much faster than I expected as I felt a familiar chakra signature slip into my range at the back of the retaliatory force.
Ah, it would seem it's time for a rematch with Orochimaru.
Well, that worked for me just fine.
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A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for their continued support!
It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!