Pre-Chapter A/N:Another chapter on time? Guess my lock-in is going pretty well. If you haven't already, I recommend turning on notifications for my stuff so you can see when new stuff drops right as it drops. Next five chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio.
XXXX- SHORIRAMA SENJU
"What's wrong with her?" her mother asked, standing above me as I leaned down to watch the toddler as she fussed on the bed. She was unconscious, but she was still having fits. I looked across the bed to see Kagame looking through the results from the diagnostic seal placed on the bed.
"If we knew, we'd have told you already," Kagame said with her usual impeccable bedside manner.
I gave her a warning look as I spotted the Uzumaki woman begin to flush. Dealing with a worried Uzumaki mother was one thing. Dealing with an enraged one was another—and that was a harder one.
"Riku, the second we know something, we'll let you know," I said.
"I already looked at the seal. There is nothing wrong with it. The Tailed Beast shouldn't be able to do something, but we've never sealed the Four Tails before, and we've never used this particular seal for a Tailed Beast before. Something could be happening, and there's no way to know," she said, wringing her fingers. I looked over at her before returning to my examination of the seal. There was nothing I could do that would reassure her more than telling her what her child was going through.
"Mahito told me. He told me many times that I shouldn't have let you do this to her. Now she's sick, and we don't know what is wrong with her," she bemoaned, beginning to pace across the room. I said nothing about her assigning the blame my way. It was to be expected. She was a worried parent. That was why I didn't point out that no one had forced her, or that the same man who had told her not to now lived at home all day, not having found a job thanks to the payments the village made as a result of their daughter being a Jinchuriki. This was not the time for it, but a reminder would be tendered eventually.
"You don't know what's wrong with her. I, on the other hand, do," Kagame said after a few more minutes of silence where Riku lamented our ignorance over and over again.
"Do educate the class," I said when she remained silent for too long after saying the statement to show that she was going to wait for someone to ask before doing the reasonable thing.
"You haven't taken care of any children, so it makes sense that you cannot see it. Her chakra network is incredibly developed for a toddler her age. What is happening, most likely, is that the Tailed Beast within her is developing her chakra network so that he can impart his kekkei genkai into her while she remains young," she said. I gave her a look, and she gave a single sharp nod to confirm my suspicion.
The reason she knew what was going on was because of her efforts to transplant kekkei genkai into children and the effects she was seeing from that. That also meant that she was probably right in her determination since she probably had more experience on the subject matter than anyone else in the world.
"So that means this is normal?" Riku asked, pointing at the fussing child.
"Normal for this particular Tailed Beast in this particular situation, yes. You should even see it as a good thing. The Four Tails, if memory serves, imparts a particularly potent affinity for Lava Release. A kekkei genkai like that would give your daughter even more options in combat when she finally reaches the age where it would be expected from her," Kagame said.
Riku remained silent at that while I gave Kagame a warning look. No parent wanted to be reminded that their child would be expected to fight, kill, and maybe even die for the village while said child was barely out of their infancy.
"So she's fine, Riku. There is nothing to worry about," I said, rising to my feet and straightening up. I'd examined the seal in more than exacting detail to be sure that nothing was wrong, and I could tell that everything was working according to plan, and that was probably why the child was experiencing so much discomfort. I considered not saying anything, but looking at the woman's pale face, deep bags underneath her eyes, and overall worried expression, I decided to offer her some relief at least.
"The reason she's fussing as much as she is, is because of the seal. It restricts just how much chakra the Tailed Beast can tunnel into her system at this stage to prevent undue influence on her at this point in her development, but that means that this process is both taking much longer than it should and being more painful as a result. If we loosened up the seal a bit, we could allow the Tailed Beast to use more of its power within her body and consequently solve most of the discomfort she is presently experiencing," I said.
"Won't that be dangerous? If the relaxation is as slight as you say, then we have little to fear of the seal breaking, but the influence of the Tailed Beast on her mental state is still something I find myself justifiably concerned about," she said.
"There's really no way to avoid it. Unless you are fine with her continued fussing," I said.
"Is it just fussing? Are there going to be any other effects?" she asked.
I looked over at Kagame, and she shook her head subtly.
"No. No other effects," I said.
"Then we will be fine with it," she said, stepping forward to pick up her daughter from the bed. I watched as the girl began to stir from the change in her position.
"Don't hesitate to bring her in again if there are any other causes for concern," I said. She nodded back at me as she left the room.
"Don't look at me like that. She's a worried mother," I said.
"Your granduncle wouldn't have let anyone speak to him like that, clan member or not," she said.
"I'll prevent it from happening again, but I won't just punish her for being worried. There is a reason we didn't use any of the Uzumaki orphans for this. We need that familial love and affection. It's not that the village is going to look down on her for being a Jinchuriki, but the love will make it easier to fight the Tailed Beast's anger and hatred when the time comes for her to tame him," I said.
"Is that what happened with you and the Nine Tails?" she asked. I heard Kurama's growl from within my head not even a second after the question was asked.
"He'd kill anyone who dared to say I tamed him. And in truth, we came to a logical agreement between ourselves in the end," I said. With my reply assuaging his rage, he returned to what he was doing. He had moved from watching movies in my memories to reading manga. He had a love for Blue Lock now, and I couldn't wait for him to notice that I hadn't been able to complete the manga before dying. The crash out would be legendary.
"Hokage-sama," the Anbu agent that body-flickered through the open window whispered as he landed on one knee in a perfect bow.
"Yes, Raccoon?" I asked.
"Dragon-taicho said to inform you that the preparations have been concluded," he said, and I felt a smile cut my face in two. Oh, perfect. Fucking perfect.
I tapped his mask as I nodded my goodbye to Kagame. In a flicker, the both of us were in the top-secret Anbu base, underneath the old Hokage tower.
"Uraume, what do you have for me?" I asked as I tracked her position with my gaze. Anbu agents milled all over the large assembly hall.
Uraume just waved me over to where she was speaking to Shika.
"You need to hear what she's saying," my Hyuga cousin said, pointing at my Nara cousin with more aggression than I'd seen either woman ever direct at the other.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"I think we should hold off on the attack," she said.
"What? You were the one that planned the damn thing. Are there any concerns that have just made themselves known?" I asked.
"Yes. I don't think New Stone did it," she said. There was no need to ask her what 'it' was.
"Their calling card was left carved into his chest," I said.
"Yes, but that could have been faked. Even the battlefield could have been faked by a discerning enough group. We did much the same when we set the stage for a battle between Iwa and Kumo, remember?" she asked.
"You think we are being played," I surmised.
"Yes, I do. Rivers is just too far away from them considering what we know about their outfit now," she said.
"So who do you think is playing us?" I asked.
"I don't know yet," she said.
"She has no evidence of any of this. Just suspicions and feelings." Uraume shoved her way back into the conversation.
"It just doesn't make sense. We were already cracking down on them pretty hard. It wouldn't make sense for them to provoke us further," she said.
"Alternatively, they could have decided that since we were already cracking down on them, then there was no need for them to hold off on doing whatever they wanted. It wasn't like they could get us any angrier," Uraume countered.
"Except that they could. We had Anbu choking the Land of Earth, we mobilised Shori's students, and we got permission from the Daimyo to wage a war of annihilation within the Land of Earth. All these things were directly motivated by their actions."
"It wouldn't be the first time people have carried out actions that ended up being against their interests in the long term, however," I pointed out.
"Yes, but it still feels wrong. Is it impossible that we are being played here?" Shika asked.
"No. But there are lots of things that aren't impossible. Doesn't make them all true," Uraume cut in.
"It doesn't matter in the end," I said. Both women turned to me.
"We were never going to allow New Stone to rise. Not under our watch. We were always going to crush them. So what does it matter that we do it earlier than expected? The results are the same. Shika, when we have crushed them underfoot, you can go ahead and find out who really killed Kizuru. Whoever it was dies next," I said, and then turned back toward the waiting Anbu. They had left their previously leisurely poses and arranged themselves in straight lines.
Seventeen rows of eleven. One hundred and eighty-seven shinobi. The weakest of them was Chunin level. They would make up the backbone of our attacking force.
"Today, some of you will lose your lives," I started. There was no reaction from them. These were Anbu, after all. They lived their whole lives ready to die for the village.
"But rest assured, your sacrifice will see to it that one of Konoha's greatest enemies is buried forever. Today, we bring an end to the Hidden Stone Village for good. These remnants have been a thorn in our side for too long," I said.
There were no nods or applause. Anbu did not do that. I felt my connection with my seal form as it was dropped in the chosen location. I took a breath inwards, and then another outwards.
"Today, you do your duty. Good luck," I said, and then I turned away from the stage.
I went to the wall at one end of the room. It had already been marked with the seal I needed. I weaved seventeen hand seals in quick succession.
"Flying Thundergod: Sustained Guiding Thunder," I said, and then there was a flicker as the wall became blurry. The space in front of it was altered to lead elsewhere.
I nodded at Uzume and Shika. They looked at each other before Uzume stepped up and then walked through the portal. Once she did so, about half of the Anbu followed in quick succession.
I ended the jutsu, and then weaved the same set of seals again before triggering the jutsu, except this time it was connected to a different marker. Shika went first, and the rest of the Anbu followed her.
There were five sects of the New Stone. All five of them together weren't as strong as the weakest of the Great Five, so split up, they were easy pickings. Shika and Uraume were going to head to two of the sects. The ones in the Land of Earth in particular. We had permission from the Daimyo to root out the New Stone, and so we were able to excuse large militarisations there. An army had left Kusa a day ago, and they would receive their orders to begin their attack in a few minutes. Uzume was dealing with the sect on the border town with the Land of Wind.
While I was going to deal with the largest and most well-equipped of the sects. The one that those stealth suits had come from. The one that held a member of my clan. His rescue was one of my objectives. The other was bringing it all down around their heads. I closed my eyes and took a deep inhale. I exhaled in the Land of Earth. It was time. War had come again, and now it was up to me to carry out my duty. I followed the route that Shika had had me memorise until I reached the opening that led to the secret entrance. It was a tiny hole in the side of a hill.
I weaved the seals and flexed my chakra in the right pattern, and the door opened for me to enter their hideout. I walked inside, still wearing my Hokage robes with some armour underneath it. I didn't even attempt to hide, so it was no surprise that my presence was noted in a matter of seconds. The first man to see me and log just what I was wearing froze still. He took a step backwards, his face paling in the lit cavern. I paid him little mind, studying the place.
It was a massive underground complex lit by crystals of some sort. They had gone to ground quite literally.
"Die, Konoha scum!" one voice shouted. I tilted my head to spot the approaching woman. She held a hammer in one hand. Her chakra spiked as she approached. The earth at my feet loosened to trap them and prevent me from moving. I watched her as she approached. So slow she was that I almost yawned in my waiting. When she did finally arrive, my feet ripped through the earth that tried to trap it. Before she could bring her hammer down, I was within her guard.
I tapped her in the chest once. Her body slumped, falling over.
"Y-you…" Whatever words she would have said next died with her. Her death seemed to open the floodgates.
They screamed war cries as they charged and fell silent as they died. I was a scythe as I cut through them, showing the deadly nature of the Gentle Fist with each movement.
XXXXXXX- TAERU KAMIZURU
Death had come to the Hidden Stone Village once again, he thought to himself with a scowl. From a rooftop, he watched as Shorirama Senju, Konoha's butcher of a Kage, cut through his shinobi like a farmer on slaughter day with a herd of cows. If only it looked so brutal, in fact. There was a beauty to the butchery that made him squirm to notice it.
It was like a dance with a hundred unwilling partners—the Butcher's actions. His feet never remained still for more than a second, and his fingers were deadly rapiers that ended lives wherever they struck. He knew about the Gentle Fist. He had studied every account that had survived the destruction of the Old Stone on the Hyuga's famed taijutsu style. He studied every bingo book entry about the man, the ones from his youth included. He had studied and trained and prepared himself for this day because he knew it would come.
But none of that had readied him for this. Because it was like there was nothing those who surrounded him could do to him. He was a god on the battlefield. A god of death and beauty. He was like an artist, and his paint was death. He decorated the canvas that was the New Stone with that paint as he moved.
"Have you found anything yet?" the voice to his side asked.
"Not even a single opening," he said, not able to suppress the rage in his voice. His people were dying, and he told himself it was for a greater purpose, but their deaths would be a waste if he couldn't kill this man here—avenge them once and for all.
"I'll make one for you, then." And before he could say anything, his oldest friend jumped into the fray. Kaneru's red hair shined like a beacon as he stepped into the battlefield. Those who surrounded the Butcher stepped aside as he walked forwards to the front of the battlefield.
The Butcher turned to regard him, and for the first time, there was something other than contempt or boredom on his face. But then why was that feeling that appeared now recognition?
The Butcher said something, and Kaneru seemed to flinch away from his words before he stood resolute. From his back came a series of chains that slapped out at the Butcher. He looked shocked for a second, but the surprise that was Kaneru's kekkei genkai wasn't enough to get a clean hit in. The first chain slammed down with all the force of a raging god, and the Butcher slapped it away with his bare hands, not even flinching at the contact. Taeru had seen those chains smash stones to dust.
A/N: And so the battle in the New Stone begins. Next five up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early.