Kapitel 14: ch 14
Konoha
A soft breeze blew through the sleepy streets of Konoha. At this hour of the night, hardly anyone was awake save for the standard compliment of guards stationed around the city. One such guard, Shinta, stood at his position at the southern entrance to the city and lit his cigarette, careful to cover the light of the flame from view so as not to give away his position. He wasn't a complete moron after all.
He pulled his Chunnin jacket on tighter, hoping to keep the wind from chilling him even further. His eyes did a quick check of his perimeter and found nothing to be alarmed by.
Despite the rumblings of a pending war between Iwagakure and Konohagakure, nothing had been declared as yet. Most Konoha-nin though found it odd that Danzo had not ordered an increase in patrols or guards. Shinta scoffed. He, like most Ninja he knew, didn't trust Danzo for a second. Even in their minds they couldn't refer to him as the Hokage. Somehow that title just didn't seem to belong to him.
He sighed and pulled on his cigarette. Two more hours till sunrise, he thought, I think I'll have…
A well thrown kunai pierced Shinta's head and prevented him from ever finishing that thought. Five shadows slipped through the gate and into Konoha, leaving Shinta a lifeless lump in the dirt, the slow burn of his unfinished cigarette smoldering next to him.
The shadows didn't make the mistake of going to the Konoha rooftops; such a move would just silhouette them against the night sky. They moved with intense speed through the shadows of alleyways and dimly lit streets. The map they had memorized serving them well as they split off into one man missions.
The names on their lists would die tonight.
It was a little known fact in Konoha that Maito Gai was a very light sleeper. He would say that the fire of youthful flames kept smoldering and would not be contained even in slumber. Whatever the reason, the shadow that approached his apartment expected to find a sleeping Jounin who specialized in Taijutsu, so he should have been an easy kill for a Ninjutsu expert.
As he slid open the canvas screen door, however, the fist that crushed his nose was far from the sight of a slumbering Martial Artist that he had expected. Like a true ninja though, he did not let a little pain slow down his purpose. In one fluid movement, he stepped forward with his right leg and drew the sword from its scabbard on his left hip. With a soft whistle, the blade sliced through…the air. He looked around frantically, the man had disappeared.
With a guttural laugh, Maito Gai landed feet first on top of the intruders head, crushing him downwards into a heap on the floor. The intruder spun with the impact and twirled, fingers making quick hand seals. He fully intended to bring a torrent of stones down on Gai, his earth type jutsu were the best of the Iwa Assassination squad. However, Gai moved faster than his fingers could form the seals, and the intruder tasted the sole of Gai's boot. The side kick sent him crashing headfirst through the concrete wall and into oblivion.
Asuma and Kurenai were walking back to his apartment after a very nice night out, when the two assassins found them. A fist made of stone rose out of the ground and tried to snatch Kurenai. Simultaneously, a brace of shuriken raced their way to Asuma. He dodged the shuriken effortlessly, parrying some with his knives, only to realize that some were also illusions.
Shit, he thought to himself. It was infinitely harder in the heat of battle to discern illusions when they were mixed in with real weapons. He squinted his eyes seriously, glancing over to ensure that Kurenai was alright. She had disappeared from the grip of the fist. The rocks seemed to be tracking something moving, Asuma assumed it was her under the guise of a Genjutsu, trying to find the source of their attack.
He trusted in her to handle her opponent, and pumped chakra into his blades. He too needed to find his assailant. Another brace of shuriken flew at him, this time numbering at least twenty. He dodged ducked and blocked, this time one nicking his arm.
Another set of the deadly projectiles came, this time as many as forty. Asuma growled and jumped directly into them. He had seen the shadow that was his assailant. Asuma passed through a few illusionary shuriken, and twirled in mid air, landing with a side swipe at the discernible shadow. He felt his legs connect and knew he had just caught the man off guard, not having expected a counterattack. On instinct Asuma continued his spin and raised higher off the ground, pivoting on his left foot. As he made a full circle his right foot lashed out at the ninja who was falling in mid air from the side swipe kick.
The effect was brutal as his boot connected with unprotected ribs. Asuma heard them crunch as the man got thrown into the street. He saw him breathe painfully for a few seconds then stop all together. Apparently he had crushed the man's lungs.
Kurenai was having similar success against her assailant. He clearly had planned to kill her with the first blow, his subsequent attacks were clearly weaker. She supposed his chakra capacity could just be low, but that really was none of her concern.
She found him in the shadow of the closed and darkly lit noodle stand. The ninja was frantically doing jutsu after jutsu, trying to find her. She managed to get right behind him before he noticed, and by then it was too late. Her dagger slipped quietly between his ribs and he died looking at the ghost who had stabbed him.
The fourth intruder found Ibiki waiting for him quietly in his room. There were two placings for tea and Ibiki gestured to the open chair. The ninja was startled and faltered for just a few seconds from his mission, trying to comprehend. He shook it off though and reached for his shuriken.
Ibiki smiled at the man who prepared to attack him. Instead, he fell to the ground unconscious. Ibiki sipped his tea and opened a window, breathing in the fresh air. The odorless poison was strong enough to knock out his would be assassin for a day. Long enough to move him to somewhere secure to be interrogated. Ibiki smirked, his sources had told him less than a minute ago of the attack. The informant was awfully knowledgeable about the incursion, including the targets. Ibiki hoped that three of the targets were OK. The fourth he had no concerns for.
The fifth intruder stared at the empty house. It showed no sign of being lived in for at least a couple weeks, enough for a thin layer of dust had settled in. He cursed; Kakashi was clearly not in the village at the moment. His target was not there, so he had to meet back up with the others. Of all the Iwa assassins, Kogoro was the only one to have ever faced his target before in battle. That was many years ago of course, and it had been a stalemate then, although the scar running across Kogoro's chest where Kakashi's Raikiri had narrowly missed was a burning reminder that he had almost lost.
He turned to go when the markers on his arm pinched one by one. He glanced at the temporary tattoos assigned on this mission as one by one they were crossed off. That meant the others were either dead or captured.
He raced for one of the exits to the village that he had memorized. He knew the consequences of being captured, and that lent speed to his movements. Unfortunately it seemed as if someone had raised the alarm and he could feel three, no maybe four, ninja chasing him. He swore violently and made several hand seals, almost there.
Five seconds later, and he could feel the ninja almost upon him, just as he finished his jutsu. He puffed into a cloud of dust and raced back into the forest. The ANBU following him saw the small dust cloud go, and even fired off a few kunai and shuriken that passed right through it.
Iwagakure
Two nondescript men walked into the village of Iwagakure, dressed as traders and with bags of goods. Absolutely nothing gave away the fact that they were Ninja of the Leaf, and had an arsenal hidden amongst the bags, and under their clothes.
They approached the very center of the busy marketplace of the city. An almost imperceptible signal was exchanged between them, and then the larger of the two thrust his hands into his robes and came up clutching handfuls of kunai with explosive tags attached.
He threw the kunai in one movement in an arc first to the north, and then in a repeat of his movements, to the south of the Market. Several bystanders were hit by the kunai, even though they weren't specifically aimed at people. The screams started almost immediately and the Iwa ninja police raced towards the two men.
In the blink of an eye, the world changed. The collective force of the simultaneous explosions rocked the city. Dust and debris flung high into the midday sky. Bodies and body parts rained down on the city. The devastation was incredible.
The Ninja Police found the two intruders unscathed in the center of the Market. The smaller one was making seals and chanting. The police could see a barely discernible dome over the two of them. The larger one readied another round of tags inside the dome.
The head of the Iwa police force, Tatsuyi, was no fool. This was a coordinated attack and those two ninja were clearly a team accustomed to working together. They expected them to try to attack them, kill them.
He made some quick hand seals and slammed his fist into the ground. A dome of rock formed out of the ground. Moving up and shifting until finally the hole at the top of the dome was filled, sealing the two inside. Another Ninja Police officer ran up and touched the dome of rock, as he did so it hardened even further into near steel. His clan ability being one that can refine the minerals found in dirt. Very useful when your country's jutsu were earth based.
A faint vibration of the dome told the police that the two had tried to blast their way out. The head of police shook his head. Inside that dome with no escape, no air, the explosion would have killed them, and if it didn't the sudden loss of all the oxygen would have.
He surveyed the damage in the marketplace. It was disheartening to think that all these innocent people had died so brutally. He couldn't know for sure, but he felt strongly that the two were Konoha-nin. He saw a trader close to him struggling to get to his feet. He reached over and held out his hand with a concerned look.
"Come on, I'll help you to the hospital," he said. As he looked into the man's eyes, he felt warning bells go off in his brain but it was far too late of course to do anything about it. Tatsuyi became slightly glassy eyed and then straightened his back and walked away without a word. The man on the ground collapsed back down.
The war they'd all heard rumblings about had officially started.
Danzo surveyed his gathered Jounin and Chunnin. They lined the southern edge of a large valley with heavy forests, a small lake, and a river running through it. It was the perfect battlefield for Ninja and it was where they stare across the distance at the Iwa army. He could see the banner of the Iwa Royal Court, there to witness the glory of their army's victory. He smirked and glanced left. The Fire Country Royal Court was off to the opposing side, perched where they could clearly see the battlefield. The fools thought this would be entertaining.
His primary ninja force stood behind him. He knew that many were unwilling participants, but that did not matter. They were still Konoha Ninja and fierce loyalty to Konoha would drive them to fight. He spoke loudly for them to hear.
"I know many of you hate me, but I care not for such foolishness. Ahead is our enemy, the enemy of Konoha, the enemy of our Daimyo. That is all you should care about. Look at them, hate them; kill them. We take no prisoners today."
There was a bristling in the gathered ninja and an almost perceptible electric current in the air.
Danzo squinted and looked into the valley where the Iwa ninja had begun to enter.
"Go," he ordered, and his ninja vanished from behind him and headed to the battlefront.
Rock Lee, Ten Ten and Neji raced down the hill, Gai leading the way. They would be the second line of attack as close range fighters. The long range Ninjutsu experts would be firing off salvos about now. As if on cue, fireballs flew the length of the valley towards the Iwa side. However a whistling sound signaled that the Iwa long range experts were also engaging. Boulders the size of Chouji in cannonball mode rained down upon them. Lee and his team dodged them effortlessly, racing for the clash up ahead.
Gai made several hand signals while running. The team didn't bother to respond as Gai's back was to them. They broke rank and split off into different directions, making a sprinting circle to meet fifty meters ahead where Gai had spotted the enemy racing towards them.
A five man team of Rock ninja emerged from the foliage. The one who was clearly the leader rushed at Gai. The other four hanging back slightly, looking for other Konoha nin. They were not disappointed as Lee was a whirlwind of kicks and punches, taking two Iwa nin to the ground with broken bones.
Tenten exploded out of a bush and threw a brace of kunai at her target. He pulled a wall of dirt from the ground to block them and created spikes of rock which erupted and seemed to chase after Tenten. She took to the air in a massive jump and unleashed a hailstorm of weapons. The ninja tried to block and dodge but there were too many. He pulled a kiwaraima, only to find as he appeared that Tenten had faster reflexes than he did and threw a kunai directly into his chest.
Neji was a blur of hand thrusts. His enemy was quick, but no match one on one for his deadly palm strikes. This was no Chunnin match, so Neji held no punches. Each strike incapacitated, permanently. The man shrieked in pain as Neji's last strike caused his heart to explode.
Gai was a force of nature. There was a reason he was as feared as Kakashi was. His Taijutsu was unstoppable. Using his elbows to ward off hand strikes from the Rock Nin, Gai's fists flew into the man's head, neck and chest. In circular hits, Gai hit the man in his chest, ten, twenty, fifty times as he fell backwards onto the grassy forest floor.
He looked up at his team, glad they were all OK. Hearing a unique whistling noise coming closer, he looked up and saw a huge boulder almost upon them.
"Move!" Gai shouted and they dove out of the way as the round rock crashed and rolled back towards the Konoha side.
Shikamaru hid in the thick leaves of an oak tree. Asuma stood below the tree, pressed against it, knives drawn. Their tactic was going to be an ambush, waiting for Iwa ninja to pass by. Ino was also hidden. Chouji stood ready to support Asuma in any actual attacks.
A lone rock nin came crashing through the bushes. He saw Asuma by the tree and made some hand signs. The ground fell away into a sinkhole, causing the tree Shikamaru was in to collapse. He dared not give away his position though so he held on tight as the tree fell.
Ino concentrated and pushed the man's mind to the side as she took over his body. His friends showed up a second later and she/he turned on them and buried a Kunai into one's chest. He gurgled and collapsed, taking her/him down with him. Ino left his body just as another rock ninja speared him.
Asuma ran in with his knives, battling the spear wielder. Shikamaru had recovered by now and latched his shadow technique onto the man. He froze with his spear extended and Asuma slid in and cut his throat.
Ino looked away from the blood. It wasn't a fair fight, but as Asuma told them before they left Konoha, this was war.
Shino, Kiba and Hinata stood at the side of the new Daimyo and his Royal Court, which was the entire royal family. It was decided their talents would be better suited for defense. Shino had his bugs around the area, and Kiba and Akamaru were smelling for anything suspicious. They were supported by at least ten Anbu in their task of protecting the Royal Court.
They could see small pieces of battles through the trees. Hinata clenched her fists every time someone she recognized fought. Kiba was annoyed to be left out of the main battle, but understood that it was likely they'd see action anyway.
Scores of ninja poured into the thick forest below. Fireballs and rocks flew the length of the valley, falling into the patches of ninja; both sides trusting that their own comrades could avoid the barrage. They saw a huge hand slam down in the midst of the fighting. Chouji's clan was definitely doing massive damage to the Iwa ranks.
A sudden explosion rocked the valley. Hinata stared with her activated Byakugan at the battlefield.
"One of the Rock nin is exploding the boulders that the others threw into the valley. He's converting them into small sharp shrapnel," she said her voice taut with tension.
One of the ANBU cursed.
Shino spoke up. "That would be Tatsuo. He's in the Konoha bingo book."
A coordinated series of blasts with the telltale sound of exploding tags closely followed. Screams echoed up the valley. The smoke was making even the Byakugan almost useless to see the action below. The royal court though seemed to be enjoying the show. They cheered as they heard explosions, and had a story teller giving them an elaborately embellished rundown of the events as they took place.
Hinata was completely disgusted by them. People were dying. Konoha and Iwa alike.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, scowled as he surveyed the battlefield. He was losing many men. This battle was quickly becoming a melee. That was the plan yes, but he didn't want to sacrifice too many men, he needed them for what came next.
He looked left where a small squad of ninja waited. "Go," he ordered. They disappeared in an instant. He was proud of his assassination unit. He hoped Danzo would hold up his end of the bargain, but if not, he had a backup plan for that too.
One didn't get to be Tsuchikage without thinking ahead.
Danzo signaled his own team of root ninja and they too disappeared in a flash. He fixed his steely gaze on the far ridge where he knew the Iwa Royal Court lay. He fought the urge to glance over at his own royals. The plan had come this far, nothing would stop it now.
He knew what was going to happen just as it did. A single scream. An ANBU took an arrow meant for one of the Court. A lady of the court shrieking as his blood spurted onto her finery. Five ninja appeared from nowhere, clubbing the Hyugga heir unconscious. The bug child fought bravely with one, but the ninja he was fighting used an exploding fireball jutsu and sent him flying back down the cliffside. The dog boy did the best, actually killing one of the assassins, tearing out his throat with his bare hands.
One of the assassins though quickly put four kunai into both Kiba and his dog. They lay in the dirt, barely breathing, while the assassins continued to decimate the ANBU stationed there and the Royal court.
Danzo had positioned himself far enough away from them that even his attempt to 'rescue' them may seem genuine, but would be futile. He knew the caliber of assassins Iwa had.
Almost as good as Konoha's.
The Konoha assassins were as good as Danzo had promised, Onoki noticed. Within seconds they had taken out the guards he had stationed around the court, and subsequently drugged to slow their reflexes. He knew Danzo would have done the same. Old warriors don't take chances.
Onoki knew it was coming of course, as soon as the last royal was killed, the assassins sped towards him and his personal bodyguard across the ridge. He grinned, he had overestimated Danzo if this was the best plan the old fool had come up with.
Danzo watched as the Iwa assassins killed the last royal. He and his men were running towards them in an effort to 'save' the royals. He couldn't help his smile as the last one died. Perfect.
He stopped his men and made two hand signals.
A hailstorm of Senbon rained down upon the assassins. Two managed to escape the barrage, disappearing back down the cliff. Out of the bushes came four of Danzo's most trusted Root ninja. His most powerful.
"Snake and Scorpion, take the west ridge. Centipede and Gecko, the East. You know what to do."
Onoki laughed as the last Konoha assassin was killed. It was time. He fired off a special blue fireball into the sky. There was a thunderous roar and a huge four tailed gorilla came into sight. Danzo had actually been expecting this. His spies had told him that Iwagakure had at least one of the tailed beasts.
Grimly, Danzo watched as the beast stepped into the valley, wreaking havoc on the Konoha Nin. Onoki was being a better puppet than anticipated.
He saw a small spec launch itself from the East ridge and land on the Gorilla's arm. What followed next was thunderous. The root ninja known as Centipede, was a flurry of punches and kicks, each one a thunderclap that echoed in the valley. The fighting warriors below actually stopped and stared as Centipede rapidly destroyed the left arm of the giant Gorilla. Each punch seemed to explode, the Chakra that made up the monster dissipating and falling away.
Onoki stared in disbelief. One lone ninja was destroying his greatest weapon.
Danzo smiled. Centipede's chakra poison attack was strong enough and fast enough to disrupt the control of the Jinchūriki. The Gorilla swiped at him but he just jumped and landed on his other arm, running up the shoulder to the head. Again, kicks and fists and destruction.
Onoki cursed and wished Han was here. That damn Jinchūriki had gone off on a private mission months ago and hadn't been seen since. Onoki had to use Rōshi even though his control of the Yanbi was far from perfect. He was still a formidable weapon though and the ease with which he was being taken down disturbed the Tsuchikage.
He called his reserve Ninja, in hiding for this moment. Fifty fresh ninja appeared, ready for battle. "It's time. Kill the Hokage!"
The Ninja ran into the valley, racing for the southern side, jumping from treetop to treetop.
Danzo of course saw them coming, and just waited. Another hailstorm of Senbon rained down, this time into the valley. It was a massive sight, millions of needles falling from the sky. He knew Snake and Scorpion were expert poison senbon users, so he had no doubt that no one struck would survive.
Gai saw the needles begin to rain down and shouted to his Genin team. "Underground! Now!"
Neji and Ten Ten used the Ninjutsu hidden earth technique and vanished in an instant. Lee didn't have that option but he had been taught another by Gai Sensei. He raised his foot directly over his head and brought it down with all his might. An explosion of earth and he had made a hole big enough for himself to get into. He dove in and punched the side of the hole, caving it in and holding his breath. He hoped he could hold it long enough for the Senbon storm to end.
Shikamaru and his team saw the needles coming too. They were exhausted from chakra use though and couldn't do the hidden earth technique. Shikamaru had them do the next best thing. They dove under the bodies of the Iwa Ninja they had killed, just as the first needles began to strike the ground. They could feel the dull impact as the needles struck the lifeless bodies flesh.
Chouji grunted and muttered under his breath. "I will not die as a shish-kebab." He held onto the two bodies he used as a shield tightly and waited for the Senbon storm to be over.
Onoki cursed as he saw his assassins fall victim to the Senbon Storm. A few made it past the first wave, and continued to race towards Danzo.
A shadow of movement and one was dead with a finger strike to his throat. Gecko had joined them on the treetops, balancing precariously but effortlessly on the very tip of a Fir tree. He made some fast hand movements then launched at them.
In a display of Taijutsu that might give Gai a run for his money, he killed the remaining assassins in a matter of seconds.
Onoki growled and turned to order his men to retreat. This battle was lost. The Jinchuriki was defeated and his army was at best in a battle of attrition at this point. The plan had worked, the two royal courts were killed, but Onoki's own plan to kill Danzo had been overturned.
As he turned to tell his general to order the men back, one of his personal guards - a man he knew from a child and had grown up to be head of the Iwagakure police, Tatsuyi - thrust a Kunai into his chest. Onoki spurted blood and fell to his knees as the other guards turned on Tatsuyi and killed him. Onoki lay in the dust and saw Tatsuyi's eyes unglazed just before the moment of death; the look of horror on his face as he realized what he'd just done.
Onoki died looking at Tatsuyi's face.
Danzo smiled grimly. The Tsuchikage and the Earth Country Royal Court were dead. It was time for the final blow. This one was mental though. He did a fast hand sign and touched his throat. This jutsu would ensure that all the warriors could hear him for miles around.
"Ninja of Konohagakure and Iwagakure! Stop fighting! The Tsuchikage and the Royal courts of both Fire and Earth have been wiped out! This battle is over! I, Danzo, Hokage of Konohagakure, do hereby take control of the Land of Earth and the village of Iwagakure! All Rock Ninja who will swear allegiance to me will be spared! All others will be killed immediately! I am your conquering Lord, the power supreme in our countries. Swear allegiance! Swear it on your honor!"
On signal, another barrage of Poison Senbon rained down into the valley. Shouts of pain and anguish rose up from the valley.
"None will be allowed to leave this valley alive unless you have sworn allegiance! Choose!" Danzo shouted with finality.
Gai and his team dug their way up from the dirt, Lee exhausted and breathless, the others nearly as bad. They had heard the proclamation of Danzo. They had won the war, but what was he doing trying to take over the Earth Country?
Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino stood up and faced the southern ridge where Danzo stood.
"He's done it," Shikamaru said quietly.
"I'm afraid so," Asuma agreed. "He's molding himself into the feudal warlord of both countries."
"What does that mean for us?" Ino asked.
"It means we need to keep our secret even better than before Ino," Shikamaru said gravely, as Rock ninja surrendered to the will of the new Lord of Fire and Earth.
Tengoku
Mabry's wagon burst through the clouds, and landed with a bump continuing to roll. It was followed by several other wagons, coming through the clouds one at a time. They all landed roughly but managed to maintain their balance and loads.
Naruto sprung out of Mabry's wagon first, excited to be back home. It dawned on him that he actually considered this place his home. He grinned broadly and stared wide-eyed at the progress his village had made. None of his clones had dissipated in a while, this batch was much stronger than any before.
The white tower was finished.
Over 12 stories tall, it stood shimmering in the daylight. A giant quartz stone set in the top, shaped to be a ball with many facets set all over it. It reflected light in all directions, including down onto the white stone walls of the tower, making it seem like it was glowing.
Naruto felt a warmth run through him. Senji and Nagi fell in behind him and look up in awe at the tower. It was indeed a spectacle to behold.
Sakura, Hiroka and their new friend Calamity also walked over from Mabry's wagon. Calamity was dumbstruck. This place was more than she'd ever imagined it could be.
One by one the new villagers came out of the wagons. Naruto turned back to them and said loudly.
"Welcome home!"
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein