Chapter 307: 299. Attack on Konoha
A/N:- These past few days, I was traveling to meet my sister on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan which is an auspicious Indian festival where a brother pledges to protect his sister from all sort of evils and the sister prays for the well being of the brother to help him through all sorts of rough situations.
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Swoosh…
A shadow creeps behind Izuna. Izuna turns towards the shadow.
"Huh?!"
A small wolf jumps out from the shadow.
"Master! There is an emergency."
The wolf has a grim expression on its face.
"So cute!"
The eyes of the three girls lit up. They immediately surround the wolf and stroke its fur.
"So soft!"
Ayaka wraps her arms around the pelt of the wolf.
"So beautiful!"
Hanabi wraps the tail of the wolf around her neck and cuddles it.
"Roen! I missed you a lot. You should come and play with me more often!"
Ayaka gently strokes Roen's neck.
Tickle… tickle…
She continues to tickle him.
Growl… ahhh… ahhh… Awoo…
Roen's ears twitch slightly and he growls in bliss.
"What an embarrassing sight to show to you, master?!" Roen apologizes to Izuna.
"Go on! Enjoy yourself!" Izuna takes another bite of meat and ignores Roen's plight.
Yakumo watches Ayaka and Hanabi play with Roen. She notices the soft and fluffy fur of Roen.
'I want to play too!'
She hesitates for a bit, but the charm of fluff is irresistible to her.
Yakumo also grabs the soft pelt of Roen and rubs her face against it.
"So fluffy!"
She turns to Ayaka and asks her.
"Who is this wolf?"
"He is Onii-san's summon. His actual size is enormous."
Ayaka expands her arms.
"He is almost as tall as the Hokage Monument. But Roen can shrink himself to this size. When I was small, I used to play with him a lot. Then, brother sent him away on a mission."
Ayaka snorts at Izuna.
Izuna ignores their banter and throws a piece of meat at Roen.
"Let's talk while you have some food. I will cook for you."
He turns towards the server and orders.
"Please send eight pounds of meat to our table."
Soon,
The server arrives with the meat.
Swoosh…
Izuna casts a silencing barrier around the group and turns to Roen.
"It has been four years since we met and three years since you left for your journey. So, how was your experience in these past few years? But first, tell me what is this emergency you speak of?"
Izuna curiously asks Roen as he grills the piece of meat for him.
Chomp… chomp…
Roen bites on the meat and answers.
"Master! As per your orders, I departed for the Land of Sky to search for the traces of the Zero-tails. After three years, I have finally found a lead when I abruptly sensed a large amount of dark chakra.
However, the chakra was immediately suppressed, and I wasn't able to pinpoint the exact location of the Zero-tails.
I tried to search for the trails of the chakra but lost the lead. So, I used our contract to reverse summon myself by your side."
Roen reports the incident.
"I see!"
Hm?!
He raises his head and gazes at the sky.
"Looks like the enemy is quite quick to act."
Whoosh….
Izuna flickers out of Yakiniku-Q restaurant.
He arrives at the center of the village and makes some hand signs.
"Barrier Gate Five Seals Technique: Castle Closing Eight Gates"
Izuna slams his palm on the ground.
Fwoosh…
A gigantic seal forms at the center of the village. The seal quickly spreads through the entire village and covers it.
A giant transparent barrier encloses the entire village.
"What?!"
"What's going on?"
The villager panics at the sudden appearance of the barrier.
At the Hokage Office,
Whoosh…
Tsunade and Shizune flicker to the top of the Hokage office. Both of them notice the giant barrier slowly enclosing the village.
"Tsunade-sama! This is… Is this an enemy attack?"
Shizune has a grim expression.
Hmm…
Tsunade focuses her attention on the barrier.
"No, it's not!" She shakes her head after a while.
"I can sense Izuna's chakra in this barrier."
Whoosh…
Izuna flickers towards the Hokage Office and approaches them.
"Tsunade! This is an emergency! An attack is coming Konoha's way!"
Izuna replies to her.
"An attack?!"
Tsunade's expression turns grim.
"Is it another of those otherworldly invaders?" She warily asks him.
"No! It's from the Land of Sky."
Izuna shakes his head.
"Land of Sky… land of sky…"
Tsunade ponders for a while as she tries to figure out the identity of the familiar name.
"Don't tell me it's the Land of Sky from the Second Great Shinobi War!" Tsunade has an anxious expression.
"Yes, it is." Izuna nods his head.
"I… I see!"
She turns to Izuna and asks him.
"You can easily handle the enemies if you want, so why inform me?" She curiously questions him.
"I won't help this time." Izuna shakes his head.
"I am a ninja not a nanny of the village who will tend to every problem."
"But…"
"Tsunade! The villagers must learn to fend for themselves. I won't always be here protecting them."
Izuna refuses to budge from his decision.
"Also, this barrier will only last for half an hour against enemie's relentless attacks." He informs them.
"Tsunade-sama! What's that?"
Shizune points towards multiple shinobis flying towards Konoha.
Tch…
"They are already here!"
Tsunade clicks her tongue.
"Send out the Level 3 security alert!"
She immediately summons the anbu.
"Immediately evacuate the civilians and alert the clan leaders to prepare for a battle!"
Tsunade hastily instructs them.
"It's not enough!"
She takes out a scroll and infuses some chakra into it. A Taiko drum appears in front of the group.
Bang… Bang…
Tsunade infuses chakra in her palm and slams the drum.
"That's an emergency signal!"
Nearby chunnins and Jounins immediately recognize the sound of the drum.
Whoosh… whoosh…
They quickly spread through the entire village.
Meanwhile, up in the air,
On top of a sky ship,
An elderly man with long grey hair, thick grey eyebrows, and yellow eyes with bags around them stares at Konoha with an evil glint in his eyes.
"Konoha! You will pay for your sins. Thirty years… it has been thirty years since I waited for this moment.
Back then, you crushed our Land of Sky through cruel and sinister means. It's time to pay back that cruelty. We have amassed our strength for the past thirty years. Now, it's the time to settle our grudge."
He tightly clenches his fist.
"We aren't like Sunagakure who trapped themselves in a quagmire. Our technology gives us an advantage in aerial combat."
"Men! Lay waste to every single structure of Konoha."
He points his hands towards Konoha and instructs his battalion.
Swoosh… swoosh…
Multiple sky shinobis equipped with Winged Mechanical devices fly atop Konoha.
"Release"
One by one all of them drop bombs on Konoha in an attempt to destroy everything.
BOOM… BOOM… BOOM…
Multiple explosion rings on top of Konoha as a faint barrier shields the structures.
Tch…
"There is a barrier protecting the village."
The elderly man clicks his tongue in dismay.
"Deploy the Barrier demolition squad. With their Flying Destruction Machine, they can easily get through this barrier."
He issues another order.
Swoosh…
Six giant flying machines operated by four people each fly on top of the barrier. Three of the people are operating the wings of the machine while the fourth person is sitting in an extendable compartment.
Bzzt…
The group of four focuses their chakra on a cylindrical structure.
Lightning flickers through the cylinder as massive amounts of energy gather in front of the cylindrical barrel.
SHOOM…
The machine fires a wide destructive beam of chakra.
BOOM…
The beam of chakra explodes on top of the barrier. The barrier successfully blocks the attack, but its glow dims down a little.
Back in Konoha,
Multiple Konoha shinobis are assembled on top of the roofs of the houses.
"Who are these enemies? How can they fly?"
One of the Akimichi clan members questions his partners.
"They are using chakra to pilot these things."
A Hyuga member points out.
"That mist around them is creating an air pressure difference between the tops and bottoms of wings causing them to stay in the air and fly." A member of the Uchiha Police Force inspects the sky shinobi with his Sharingan.
"Get ready for the counterattack. The barrier won't last long enough!"
An Aburame clan member warns them.
Whoosh… whoosh…
The members of Konoha 12 gather on top of the houses and stare at the group of flying shinobis.
"What's that, Dattebyo?!"
Naruto curiously stares at the flying shinobis.
"That headband! I have never seen such a symbol before." Sasuke inspects the shinobis.
"Also, these strange flying devices they are using… it feels familiar to the chakra armor we faced in Land of Snow."
"No matter who they are… Me and Akamaru will crush them? Right Akamaru?!" Kiba pumps his fist.
Woof…
"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but how do you plan to get up that high?"
Shikamaru asks him.
"I… I…"
Kiba turns silent at his remark.
"We will figure out a way!"
Woof…
"Looks like you have fed your intelligence to your dog. Even I can come up with better ideas!" Naruto smugly smiles at Kiba.
Chapter 308: 300. Team Three’s First B-Rank Mission
"You two snap out of your childish thoughts and let's focus on the enemy in front of us." Neji chides them.
Hmph…
Kiba snorts and turns towards the flying Sky shinobis.
BOOM… BOOM…
The Flying Destruction Machines continue to wreak havoc on the barrier.
Crack…
Numerous cracks appear on top of the barrier.
"Prepare for the attack!" Shikamaru warns them.
Bzzt…
Sasuke gathers large amounts of lightning chakra in his palm.
"Chidori Sharp Spear"
He uses the shape transformation to morph his Chidori into a long spear.
BOOM…
The barrier protecting Konoha shatters into countless fragments.
"Attack! The barrier is down."
The elderly man rallies his troops to attack Konoha.
Swoosh… swoosh…
Multiple sky shinobi in winged mechanical devices fly through the skies of Konoha.
BOOM… BOOM…
One by one they drop multiple bombs on the buildings.
Sasuke clutches his spear and aims it towards the retreating Flying Destruction Machine.
Swish…
The Chidori spear wheezes through the air and penetrates through the heart of the pilot.
BOOM…
The machine explodes into pieces and falls towards the ground.
AAAH…
The screams of the sky shinobis ring in their ears as they crash into the ground.
Swish… swish…
Sasuke makes some hand signs and slams his palm on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu"
Poof…
A giant brown hawk appears in front of the group. The hawk has dark marking around its eyes, and there are some red markings along the side of its beak.
"Hey, isn't it Garuda?"
Naruto immediately recognizes the giant hawk.
"When did it grow so huge?"
He curiously strokes the hawk's feather.
"You humans aren't the only ones who can grow tall." Garuda scoffs at him.
"Well… that's true!" Naruto scratches his head.
"Hop on! We will let them have a taste of their own medicine."
Sasuke gestures to Naruto.
Scree…
The hawk releases a shrill cry and leaps in the air.
BOOM… BOOM…
The sky shinobis continue to bombard the houses and other buildings.
At the entrance of the Uchiha clan,
Swoosh… swoosh…
Akira, Yagami, and Fugaku stand on top of a pillar and stare at the flying shinobis.
"It's them again!"
The three of them grit their teeth as some memories of Second Shinobi War freshen in their mind.
Fwoosh… Fwoosh…
The Sky shinobis drop their bombs towards the Uchiha clan compound.
"Not so fast!"
Bzzt…
Akira infuses some chakra in his palm and throws multiple lighting senbons at them.
Chii… chii…
The senbons pierce through the bombs and defuse them.
"Amaterasu"
Fugaku's right eye changes into Mangekyo Sharingan as he sets multiple sky shinobis on fire.
Caw… caw…
Multiple crows appear in front of the group as Shisui appears in front of them.
"Let me handle them!"
He jumps on top of a giant crow and flies in the air.
Slash… slash…
Shisui reaps one life after another as multiple sky shinobis fall under his blade.
On the other side,
The flying sky ninja shoots a barrage of kunai towards Naruto and Sasuke with their Handheld Kunai Launcher.
Clang… clang…
Naruto deflects all the kunais and forms a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu"
He creates two shadow clones. One of the shadow clones picks up the other clone and launches it towards the sky ninja like a projectile.
Bang…
The clone Naruto slams into a sky ninja and destroys his flying device.
AAH…
The sky ninja screams in fright as it falls on the ground and turns into mush.
"…"
Shikamaru and the group speechlessly stare at him.
"When he told me, he will use his head, I didn't expect he will use his head in this manner. He is bashing himself into the group of enemies."
Naruto continues to throw his clones towards the sky ninjas.
In front of the Hokage Office,
Chirp… chii…
Kakashi destroys another platoon of Sky shinobis.
Whoosh…
Itachi leads his anbu teams and takes down multiple flying units.
"We can't use any large-scale techniques here or it might harm the village."
He warns his team.
On top of the sky ship,
Tch…
The expression of the elderly man turns ugly.
"Looks like this amount of force isn't enough to lay waste to Konoha. I have to summon Ancor Vantian and uses its powerful chakra cannon to obliterate it in one go."
He turns towards the remaining sky shinobis and signals them.
"Retreat!"
Whoosh… whoosh…
The remaining sky shinobis turn around and flee from Konoha.
'I had already harvested enough dark chakra. It's time for Plan B.' The elderly man has a sinister smile on his face.
"Shall we chase after them?"
Kakashi turns to Tsunade for further orders.
"No need! For now, help the injured people and make a damage report."
Whoosh…
She returns to the Hokage Office.
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In the Yakiniku-Q restaurant,
Izuna is silently munching his steak as the rest of the customers together with the servers hide beneath the tables.
Team three is also sitting beside them as they warily stare at the flying sky shinobis.
Umm…
Hanabi and Yakumo bite their lips as they stare at Izuna.
Izuna places down his chopstick and turns to the girls.
"There is no need to worry about anything. You will be safe, as long as you're inside this building." He assures them.
"Ano, Sensei! You are also a Jounin, right?"
Hmm…
"Then why didn't you join the fight?" The girls curiously ask him.
"Well, I did. The barrier you saw earlier was created by me."
Ah…
The girls are stunned by his response as words remain stuck in their mouths. In the end, they don't inquire any further.
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Later at the Hokage Office,
Izuna and Team three are standing in front of Tsunade.
Tsunade puts down her brush and raises her head. She has an annoyed expression on her face as she notices Izuna.
"Why are you here now?" She angrily asks him.
"Well! I am here to settle the score with those sky scoundrels."
Izuna helplessly replies to her.
"You better do what you mean!" Tsunade snorts at him.
Izuna takes out a scroll and passes it to Tsunade.
"I have bad news for you."
"What?!"
"The Zero-tails has resurfaced."
"That's bad!"
Tsunade's expression turns ugly.
"It's the people of the Land of Sky."
Tsunade reads the intel in the scroll as she remarks.
"It was during the Second Shinobi War. When the war was about to reach its conclusion and almost all hidden villages had exhausted their resources; the Hidden Village of Land of Sky resurfaced with their grand ambition.
They openly challenged the Five Great Shinobi Villages for control of the Shinobi World. To prove their strength, they initiated an attack on Konoha."
Tsunade signals to Shizune who walks to a nearby shelf.
Shizune rummages through the bundle of scrolls and after some search, she appears with a giant scroll in her hand.
Tsunade lays down the scroll on the table and explains it to the group.
"The shinobis of the Land of Sky can mold their chakra in mist, which allows them to fly high in the sky. Thus, they are masters of aerial combat. This gives them an unprecedented advantage in the battle against the Land troops.
Their hidden village, Ancor Vantian, is a flying fortress armed with various powerful chakra weapons and cannons. It's powered by the Zero-tails and can easily lay waste to any hidden village."
Tsunade points towards an ancient flying city drawn on the scroll.
"Wow! So powerful!"
Ayaka's and Hanabi's eyes widen in surprise.
"Yes, they were extremely powerful. The Aerial troop of the Land of Sky bombards the ground unit of other villages with explosives. During the war, they leveled many small villages in the vicinity of the Land of Fire.
The sorrow, hatred, helplessness, anxiety, fear, desperation, and all such negative emotions served as fuel for the Zero-tails. It further bolstered the strength of the Ancor Vantian."
"Then how did they lose the war?"
Yakumo curiously asks her. The rest of the group, including Izuna, perks up their ears.
'Since this incident occurred during the second shinobi war, I have no clue how the village repelled the attacks of the Land of Sky.'
Izuna curiously awaits her response.
"Well!"
Tsunade has a hesitant expression on her face as she answers.
"During the initial phase of the war against Land of Sky, Konoha was on the losing side. The aerial troops of Land of Sky will bombard the village without any warnings.
However, the Root head Danzo Shimura formulated a strategy. His Root Anbus infiltrated among the ranks of the Land of Sky and secretly assassinated them in the dark.
Without the lead of higher-ups, the administration of the Ancor Vantian crumbled and thus our village was able to secure a victory against them."
Tsunade pulls out another scroll and passes it to Izuna.
"I see!"
Izuna reads its contents and nods his head.
"Who is Danzo Shimura?"
The trio of girls curiously asks them.
"Well!"
A conflicted expression appears on her face as she turns to Izuna.
The existence of Danzo Shimura is a shame to Konoha. Although, he led the village to victory on multiple occasions; however, most of these conflicts were orchestrated by him.
For example, Danzo joined hands with Hanzo, the salamander, and initiated the Second Shinobi War. This incident led to the formation of Akatsuki, the most powerful criminal organization in the shinobi world.
Later, he staged various conflicts at the border with Iwa, which ultimately led to the Third Shinobi War.
Not only this, he even joined hands with Akatsuki to massacre the Uchiha clan, which is the backbone of Konoha.
Sigh…
Izuna takes a deep breath and answers.
"Danzo Shimura is a traitor of the village. As for the rest of the information…"
He turns towards the trio and smiles.
"You three don't have enough clearance level to know the rest of the information."
Izuna purses his lips and avoids their question.
Tch…
Ayaka clicks her tongue.
"Alright!"
Izuna snaps his fingers to dismiss the previous conversation.
"Tsunade! I will handle this revenge mission with Team three."
"You better!" Tsunade firmly nods her head.
"I will handle the entire nation on my own!" Izuna confidently nods his head.
"It's just the remnants of the Land of Sky. I am more than enough to handle them. Besides, this will serve as a training trip to these little girls."
Izuna ruffles their hairs.
Hmph…
Tsunade snorts and takes out a brush and scroll.
"Investigation in the Land of Sky! It will be a B-rank mission for team Three."
She stamps it and passes a copy to Izuna.
"…"
Izuna is speechless to hear this.
"Tsunade?! Are you sure this is a B-Rank mission? Shouldn't it be an S-Rank mission?"
Tsunade continues to stamp other papers as she remarks.
"The village is quite low on funds after the previous incident. Besides, there was a certain someone who refused to make a move and let the entire village suffer heavy damage!"
"Wait! That was for the safety of the village!"
Izuna protests.
"If I made a move, then the village might suffer more damage from the backlash of my jutsus."
Tsunade places down her brush and raises her head.
"I will count it as your contribution to the village in the previous incident." She replies as a matter of fact.
"You got me!"
Izuna helplessly shakes his head.
"But if I complete the mission within a week, then you will treat me to an expensive meal in Yakiniku-Q."
He turns around and leaves without waiting for her response. Team three immediately follows him.
Tsunade takes out her purse from the drawer.
Buzz…
A fly buzzes out of the empty purse.
Whoosh…
Tsunade immediately shelves her purse. She turns to Shizune.
"Shizune… Can I borrow some money from you?
"…"
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