Chương 7: Chapter 7: Chains of Hatred III: Sabotage!
Konoha burned.
Great plumes of greasy, black smoke rose up into the sunny sky. The streets were cracked and littered with thousands upon thousands of kunai. Windows had been smashed, walls had been knocked over- entire buildings had collapsed in on themselves. The shattered husks of homes and businesses roared with flames as shinobi desperately worked together to put out the terrible fires. A powerful technique had been set off over the Naka River, which trailed from the beyond the Uchiha Clan grounds and through the middle of the village. Not only had a key bridge been destroyed but the river had been diverted into parts of the village and shinobi struggled to fuel their water techniques with the available water.
Konoha's warriors burned.
Grim-faced shinobi, their faces stained with ash and soot, retrieved headbands and ninja identification tags from the corpses of their comrades. Bodies were covered with grimy blankets. Protocol dictated that a Konoha Shinobi was to be cremated after death so that the secrets and techniques of the Village were kept hidden. A large mound of bodies blazed with fire as super-heated chakra reduced flesh and bone to ash. It was a horrible and messy task, usually suited for the specialised crematoriums in the hospital- but they had been damaged and there were far too many casualties. Secrets needed to be kept and the disease could not be allowed to spread amongst the living- so the bodies of their friends and families were put to the flame.
Konoha was hurting- but by no means was the blow that had been inflicted fatal.
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No later than ten minutes after the last Sky Nin had disappeared over the horizon then had Konoha's Village Council convened. The Hokage and his advisors, the ANBU and Jonin Commander and selected Jonin Squad Leaders and Clan Heads met in a small but secured room underneath the Hokage's Tower. The Hokage sat there in silence, his eyes hidden from behind his hat, as the council listened to a report given to them.
"…ANBU medical squad has been dispatched to locate survivors trapped in the rubble," the dragon-masked ANBU said quietly. "The hospital is nearing full-capacity and we have erected temporary tents to take care of the wounded. All medic-nin have reported in for duty and non-essential personnel are assisting."
"There was a visiting team from Taki who were caught in the battle," Homura informed them. "They have left behind several shinobi with medical training to assist us while they inform their leader of what has transpired."
Sarutobi remained quiet. His eyes were fixated on the three vacant seats around the table- seats that had been filled with some of his top Jonin less than an hour ago. Two were receiving medical treatment, one critical, while the third had been killed during the invasion. He closed his eye with a sigh and listened to his men and women converse.
"We need to decide on our next course of action," Yamanaka Inoichi said firmly. The blonde-haired man sat next to his two former teammates.
"I have sent a message to the Fire Daimyo," Koharu said, her voice somewhat wavering. She coughed twice and shook her head. "The Twelve Ninja Guardians will see to his protection. The Sky Ninja will not find an easy target at the capital."
"All Shinobi in the vicinity of Konoha have been recalled," Nara Shikaku, the Jonin Commander, said. His scarred face was deep in thought. "We are rebuilding our defences and rotating our shinobi force. What we do next is a matter for the Hokage."
Eyes turned to Sarutobi, who kept his head bowed. There was an awkward pause before the ANBU Commander broke the silence.
"If I may ask," he murmured politely. "What losses did we sustain during this attack?"
"Final numbers aren't out yet but we're looking at about 650 dead, twice that wounded," replied Ryouta Yakushi, Head of Konoha's Medical Corp. "Strategically speaking, only around four-precent of Konoha's total military force was killed."
"It is still a staggering loss not seen since the Third Great War," Inoichi pointed out. "I'm concerned about morale. For many of the new generation, this will be their first real war- one that has taken place at home. People are upset and disheartened."
"How shall the others of the Great Five react to this, I wonder," Homura mused out loud.
"Shinobi hold grudges for a very long time," Koharu said quietly. "It could mean war."
"No." Sarutobi spoke up for the first time. He lifted his eyes and they were as hard as stone. "The other Villages will not break the fragile peace we have- not over this. They too are at risk. They will watch and wait and see what happens."
"Can we count on Suna to send aid?" Chouza rumbled out. He sat cross-legged on the floor, still tall enough to see over the table.
"Officially, yes. Unofficially, not a chance," Shikaku answered dryly. "We might be able to organise a defence the bordering minor countries, if only to deter international interference on this matter."
"We will not defend," Sarutobi murmured but everybody heard him. They stopped talking and looked as the Third Hokage took a deep breath. "The enemy has cut us but it is a shallow cut and the bleeding will stop. We need to ensure that the enemy will not cut us again. We must launch a counterattack."
Quiet murmurs broke out at that. Sarutobi was one that had seen a lifetime of war and usually favoured diplomacy and negotiation over battle. However, there were some things that could not be forgiven and an attack on the very heart of Fire Country and Konoha was not something that could be allowed to slide.
"We cannot attack an enemy we can't find," Hyuuga Hiashi pointed out logically. The white-robed man was expressionless. "We lack information."
"Then lets analyse what we already know," Shikaku said. He stood and gestured at one of the ANBU guarding from the shadows. The masked shinobi unravelled a large map of Fire Country and its immediate surrounding borders on the table. "We have three issues at hand," Shikaku continued. He counted on his fingers. "The first being the location of the enemy, the second being our means to arrive at that location and the third mustering an army to attack."
The ANBU Commander shifted forward, silver mask gleaming. "I can provide a solution for the second and third of those problems," he offered. "ANBU Combat Platoon "Delta" was conducting training exercises nearby. They have received their orders and will arrive back in Konoha in approximately an hour. We have enough of our Reserves to muster together another platoon and still leave three here for Konoha's defence."
"How will they travel there?" One of the Jonin Squad leaders asked. "Sky Country could very well send another wave before a counterattack can be made."
"We will use the enemy's strengths to our advantage," the ANBU Commander replied. "There is a possibility that they have constructed a forward base only reachable by flight. We will use Konoha's Hawk Summoning Contract as our means of transportation."
"Hawk Summoning Contract?" Chouza asked curiously. "I wasn't aware that we possessed such a thing."
"We breed thousands of birds to act as our messengers," the Commander explained. "There is an ongoing project to develop or grow new Class-5 summoning creatures. At the present moment, we have six class-3 summoning hawks. Each could hold about seven or eight Shinobi."
"Why wasn't this used during the invasion?" One of the other Jonin frowned.
The ANBU Commander cocked his head. "It is my job to look at the big picture. Half-a-dozen class 3 aerial summons would not have contributed much- if anything- against a superior-sized and better trained force. Now, though, they may be of use."
"Two ANBU platoons against an entire division," Inoichi murmured. "Perhaps even more than one- we have no information on the disposition of their forces. We were unable to take any prisoners alive and we're having trouble extracting information from the dead."
"Fail safe, perhaps," Homura said thoughtfully. "They have had decades to study our doctrine."
"Are two platoons enough to defeat Sky Country?" Yakushi Ryouta asked.
"You misunderstand," the ANBU Commander said. "The overarching issue here is to prevent Sky Country from launching another aerial raid. We do not have to defeat them all- merely halt their advance."
"There are a number of factors at play here," Shikaku said suddenly. "We have many questions and very few answers. Was this the entirety of Sky Ninja's army? Is there another battalion on its way already? How long will it take the Sky-Nin to recover their chakra? What are their current levels of equipment and supplies? By what means do they launch their mechanical winged devices into the air? Most importantly, just where have they constructed their base of operations?"
"We cannot act without the answer to at least some of those questions," Hiashi agreed.
"Shikaku," Sarutobi spoke up quietly. The Nara turned to him. "Can we track the Sky Nin back to their base of operations?"
Shikaku frowned. "I have several similar accounts given to me by the Hyuuga. They each report that the Sky Shinobi arrived at the battle with just approximately two thirds of their chakra. They continued the battle until they have roughly one third remaining." He paused. "It's only logical to assume that the remaining third was to see them return back to base safely."
Hiashi stepped in. "My clansmen and I observed the rate at which the flying apparatus was consuming chakra and reported this to Military Intelligence."
Shikaku grabbed a pencil and drew a large circle throughout Fire Country. "With the rate of chakra depletion, they must have come from somewhere in this area. However, we also know that Gamma Team was intercepted and attacked around here," he made a cross on the map, south-east of Konoha and close to the coat. "This leaves only this remaining area as a possibility." He cross-hatched the map and stood back.
"That's close to Wave Country," Koharu pointed out. "Hasn't there been a disturbance there recently- something about a public execution?"
"Hatake Kakashi's Genin Team is in Wave Country escorting a client home," Sarutobi pondered this fact carefully.
"The timing is convenient," Homura remarked.
"I'll redo my calculations but it is my opinion that Wave Country is too far out to be the point of origin of the Sky-Nin," Shikaku said. "We have already formed several possibilities for where they may have come from. Taking into account the need for privacy, the Sky-Nin needed to have avoided major roads and towns and, until today, kept out of the way of ANBU patrols."
"We would still need to second a recon team out to find them before we could launch an attack," Hiashi pointed out.
"No," Sarutobi murmured thoughtfully. "Perhaps we don't."
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At the deep crater where the south-eastern ANBU Rest House used to reside the remains of Gamma Team's fourth squad and Iota team remained hidden in a partially hollowed out trunk. The huge tree soared high into the sky, far higher than what should be possible, and its canopy melded with those of the trees around it to create and almost impenetrable barrier that blocked out the view of the sky.
If they could not see up then the enemy could not see down.
A little while ago the enemy's air force had flown overhead, away from the direction of Konoha and back towards wherever they had come from. Naruto had felt a stab of vicious glee as he noticed that as far he could tell there were far less of the enemy flying back from the village then there had been flying to it. Still, the fact that there were still enemies left indicated that the Leaf's defence had not been perfect.
Undoubtedly, there would be casualties. Shinobi he had worked with, joked with, begged for help against the tyrannical Third Hokage and his totally unfair habits- who knew how many of them had died? Naruto felt his brows furrow as he suddenly found that he couldn't really put a lot of names to the faces that flashed through his head. Certainly, he would be distraught at the thought of his fellow comrades falling in battle against the enemy, but apart from the Third Hokage (and Konohamaru, as much it pained him to admit) there were very few Shinobi that were his friends.
Naruto abruptly let out a loud sigh and shook his head, clearing them of the strangely troubling thoughts. He looked up from where he was sitting and watched the rest of the ANBU as they all went about their various tasks. Towa and Yuuka were dozing quietly, their backs pressed up against the trunk of the trees. As useful as the ANBU masks were, they did not make for a very comfortable nap and the two members had taken them off and were pressed up against each other, using their cloaks as makeshift pillow. Some shinobi might have wolf-whistled at the sight of the two exhausted shinobi huddling in against each other. Naruto was young but he was ANBU- he recognised that there were no stronger bonds than between fellow comrade-in-arms.
The Squad Leaders, Komachi and Kage, were talking to each other quietly as they poured over a field map. Daichi was nearby, the rather enthusiastic Hyuuga consulting with the two senior officers. From what Naruto understood, they were trying to determine the point of origin of the enemy's attack by using the chakra levels of the shinobi and the rate of chakra consumption of the flying machines. Naruto had tried to keep up, determined to be of some use, but the maths involved was far beyond his level and his head had only hurt the more he tried to understand.
In the end, he had decided that it was probably more beneficial to rest and build up his strength. His chakra was still in top condition- it was rare where the young blond could burn through chakra faster than the rate his body would naturally create it- but he had been mentally exhausted. It had been a long day. Briefly, he wondered if this was what Hatake Kakashi or Uchiha Itachi had felt when they had first joined ANBU at a young age.
Actually, they probably had it worse. Naruto had his natural awesomeness to compensate where Kakashi had only had his perverted little books and Itachi his sociopathic tendencies and desire to brutally execute his entire family.
"Ferret," Komachi called. "Come here."
Naruto jumped to his feet and jogged past Towa and Yuuka. He joined his commanding officer at and knelt beside her as she poured over the map.
"We've determined that the enemy must have come from around 'here'." Komachi pointed to Fire Countries eastern coast. She tracked her finger up to Port City, one of Fire Country's coastal cities just north of Wave Country on the other side of the bay. She brought the finger down and traced over the coast. "That's the entire coastline of the Sea of Whirlpools- a large area."
"It might have come from Wave Country," Naruto muttered. He made an odd noise from behind his mask. "Actually, there's a Genin Team operation over the coast in Wave- Hatake Kakashi. He might have seen something."
"I don't think they would have had quite enough chakra to make it to Wave," Daichi spoke up with an easy smile. He threw his hands up helplessly. "I'm not an expert or anything but I think they're probably somewhere at the southern end of the coast. It's less populated and our patrols are much less frequent there."
"They could have built a base of operations in the wilderness and slowly moved in equipment to prepare for their invasion," Komachi mused.
"Regardless," Kage spoke up quietly. "We need to inform the Hokage of our calculations. It's likely that they too have come to the same conclusion but more data never hurts."
"I'll summon a messenger," Naruto said and stood up. He took off one of his gloves and reached up to his mouth, an abnormally-sharp canine biting into his thumb. Blood was drawn and he smeared it over the palm of his hand, flipping through some seals.
"Summoning Techni-" He began.
A puff of smoke and a loud pop filled the hollowed-out trunk and Naruto took an immediate step back. From the smoke came Enma, the Monkey King, and he did not look too pleased. His yellow eyes glanced over Komachi, who looked just as startled as Naruto, and Kage, who probably was as startled but hid it much better, and came to rest on Naruto.
"You!" he snapped grumpily.
He reached into his pouch and Naruto swallowed nervously. He had a lot of painful memories of Enma reaching into his equipment and pulling out random spiky and sharp instruments. Instead of pulling out a weapon, however, Enma brought out a gleaming white orb. It was about the size of a large grapefruit.
"What's that?" Daichi asked in puzzlement.
"The Hokage's Crystal Ball!" Naruto breathed in horror. "What are you doing with that? Are you trying to get me beat up, you stupid monkey? The old man's gonna kill me when he finds out I have that!"
"Shut up, you miserable little brat!" Enma roared. He reared up. "Here I am doing Sarutobi a favour and acting far below my status and you start spouting off nonsense! Think before you speak!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" Naruto growled heatedly.
The Monkey King and the Nine-Tailed Host bumped head, narrowing their eyes at each other. There was practically electricity flying between them as Kage and Komachi shared a bemused look. Daichi just chuckled while Yuuka and Towa emerged from where they had been sleeping. Nobody could sleep through an argument between Naruto and the Monkey King. The white-furred bipedal summon was just like the Third Hokage- except worse, if such a thing was possible, and Naruto had a streak of stubbornness that neither Enma or Sarutobi could break.
The Third Hokage had tried once and only once to ignore an argument between the two. It had degenerated from heated words to a screaming match and then to blows. It had only been when Enma had gotten cranky and had thrown a house at Naruto that Sarutobi had intervened.
Naruto claimed it had been less of a house and more of a garden shed. Regardless, the concussion he had received had not endeared him to the Monkey King at all.
Enma huffed. "Stupid boy," he growled. "Your Hokage gave this to me to give to you. There is an urgent matter that he has to speak to you about."
Naruto's clenching fist lowered and his mood abruptly swung around. He nodded at Enma seriously and ignored the slightly-incredulous ANBU around him as he stepped forward. Enma took a deep breath and concentrated, one hand raised to form a seal and the other holding onto the Crystal Ball.
"What is that, Ferret?" Kage asked softly.
"It's the focus for the Third Hokage's Telescope Technique," Naruto answered. "It lets the Hokage lock onto a person's chakra pattern and observe them. It doesn't really work out of the Village that well, so Enma must be doing something to-"
"Can you hear me?"
Naruto paused. His eyes focussed on the crystal ball in Enma's hand.
"Message Repeats: Ferret, designated as Captain of Sigma Squad, can you hear me?"
"Sir!" Naruto called out. He paused, scratching the back of his head. "I can hear you, sir," he replied in an affirmative.
"You are being assigned a priority mission," Sarutobi spoke through the glowing crystal ball. Enma was sweating as he held it in the palm of his hand, channelling chakra through it. 'Do you have a field map ready?'
There was a rustle of paper from behind him.
"Affirmative," Naruto confirmed.
"Mission focus: reconnaissance. You are to link up with any available ANBU personnel and patrol through sections G-4-5 to G-5-9. The enemy has been identified as Sky Country. Locate signs of Sky Country's presence in those areas and report back."
"Understood," Naruto calledout. There was scribbling on the map from behind them.
There was a pause. "As of this moment, Sigma Team has full operational control of this mission," the Hokage finally spoke. "All available local ANBU assets are transferred to Sigma's jurisdiction. All pending missions have been placed on hold. This mission takes full priority."
Naruto's eyes were wide. "Yes, sir," he said numbly.
"If located, Sigma Team is to report back to ANBU Command," Sarutobi concluded. "Enma has volunteered to transmit vital information. He will be designated as Sigma Team's Communications Office. Summon him when needed." There was a pause. "Good luck, Naruto. The Will of Fire shall illuminate your path."
The ball abruptly dimmed and Enma let out an audible sigh. He carefully placed the valuable crystal ball back in his pouch and stared down at Naruto with his fierce yellow eyes. Naruto, for his part, still felt numb. Full operational command? Sure, he had ran many operations before but they had been simple D and C-ranked missions- organising squads of Chunin on local and in non-combat scenarios.
"Naruto," Enma broke into his thoughts and Naruto realised he must had been standing there for a while. The Monkey King was eying him with an expression that he had never seen on him before. "The Third Hokage has placed his faith in you. Do not let him down."
And with that, Naruto's resolve returned.
"Yes," he said quietly.
Enma nodded gravely and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto turned back to his fellow ANBU members and found them knelt before him. Komachi, his former commanding office, rose up.
"Captain," she murmured. "What are your orders?"
"Gather our equipment," Naruto said and he issued his very first order. He took a deep breath. "We move out in five."
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Tenzo stalked through the darkened corridors of the ANBU Headquarters. His white mask gleamed in the torchlight as he silently made his way to the door at the end of the hallway. Two ANBU stared at him but made no move to stop him as he opened the door and stepped through it. The Third Hokage sat in the centre of the small room, conferring quietly with the ANBU Commander. Both men looked up as Tenzo bowed his head respectfully.
"Hokage-sama, Commander-sama," he greeted. His voice was monotone. "Reporting for duty as ordered."
"Ah, excellent," the Hokage murmured. He rubbed his hands together. "You may sit."
Tenzo took the offered chair and sat down stiffly. His well-trained eyes spotted the signs of battle underneath the Hokage's robes and his nose picked up on blood and fire and smoke and ash. As somebody who had been in ANBU from the age of six, he remained quiet and waited for his superiors to address him.
"I trust that you are aware of current events," the Hokage asked him quietly.
"I am." Tenzo nodded.
"Good," Sarutobi said briskly. "I have a priority mission for you- S-rank, of course. Do you accept?"
The word was a mere formality and all three men in the room knew it. Tenzo had graduated the Academy at the age of six and had made Chunin only mere months later. Due to the unique circumstances surrounding him, he had been inducted into ANBU and had undergone specialised training in order to bring out his talents. His power over Mokuton was only a fraction of what the First Hokage had been capable of but it had been enough to raise him to the very top of the elite. After learning much from Hatake Kakashi, Tenzo had been assigned leadership of ANBU's Delta Team.
In the three years since, Tenzo had achieved the second-best performance record of any ANBU serving under the Third Hokage- only falling short of Uzumaki Naruto, where his position as ANBU's Sigma Team and the personal assistant of the Third Hokage had seen the young boy perform an unprecedented amount of D and C-ranked missions.
To date, Tenzo had never refused or failed a mission- nor had he lost a single man or woman in combat. It was a record that he was immensely proud of and one that no ANBU before him, not even the legendary Sannin or the White Fang could claim.
"Yes," Tenzo answered firmly.
The ANBU Commander slid a mission brief across the table and Tenzo picked it up. "You will take command of two ANBU Combat Platoons: Team Delta and a mixture of battle-ready squads from Team Bravo and Epsilon. Boar will be your second in command. The Hawk Summoning Contract has been allocated for the success of this mission."
"You will fly to Konoha's ANBU Safe House 'Splinter' and hold," Sarutobi continued from where the Commander had left off. "Team Sigma is currently on a reconnaissance mission to locate the Sky Country's stronghold. Once located, a summon creature will be dispatched to your position and coordinates and further information will be provided."
"Our information is lacking," the Commander spoke. His silver mask revealed nothing. "We know nothing of their numbers, defences or the layout of their base. We know some of their techniques and strategies- it's in your brief- but you'll be essentially going in blind."
"Your mission stands as follows: you are to delay and disrupt Sky Country's ability to launch further attacks on Fire Country soil," the Third Hokage declared. "Use any means necessary. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Tenzo said crisply. "The mission parameters are clear to me. We shall defend the village from further attack."
"Excellent," the Hokage said and smiled grimly. "Your platoon leaves in fifteen minutes. Dismissed."
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At heart, the Shadow Clone Technique had been designed for reconnaissance and information-gathering purposes. A shadow clone had physical form and could open doors and move around obstacles in ways that many other scouting techniques could not. A shadow clone also had a certain level of independence and could perform tasks without direct oversight. Most importantly, the Shadow Clone Technique could- and had been- integrated with Yamanaka Mind Techniques. When moulded properly, a shadow clone was able to transmit a copy of the electrical activity occurring in the brain back in a stream of chakra to its point of origin- its creator. For the most part, the creator received whatever the shadow clone had experienced.
There were some limitations. The Shadow Clone Technique required massive amounts of chakra to use, more chakra than the average shinobi possessed. The further away the clone was the longer it took for the chakra stream to return to its creator. The shadow clone also had to be moulded in a very specific way depending on what type of sense stimuli the creator wanted to receive. Sight and sound were generally the most common type but there were specific shadow clones that had been designed to sniff out chemical weapons and test food for poison. The sense of touch was almost never included: no creator wanted to experience the death of the clone, especially in a combat area.
The rarest type of shadow clone was one that transmitted everything. They were the rarest and the most dangerous. The human brain worked perfectly fine transmitting and decoding a single set of stimuli- that of the original body. A second set caused an extremely large amount of mental strain and a third set could cause irreparable mental damage, rupture the brain and scramble the neural pathways. Despite the obvious advantages that this type of clone offered its creator, especially when training a new skill, it was practically never used.
Naruto was the anomaly. Not only had he been gifted with the old blood of the Uzumaki Clan, a bloodline that stemmed all the way back to the time of the Sage of the Six Paths, but he was the host of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, which gave him absurdly amounts of chakra and a boost to his natural stamina and resilience. Even he wouldn't make more than ten of those types of clones. He used a variety of shadow clones to continue his five-year progress into elemental and shape manipulation but only rarely did he require a full-set of stimuli from those clones.
On his mission to locate Sky Country's stronghold Naruto used his almost-inhuman chakra reserves to create dozens of shadow clones. They scattered all over the country side, criss-crossing each other as they bounded from tree to tree. Each clone had been designed to transmit visual stimuli back in the event that they found something- but they also had the independence to choose not to send back information if it wasn't necessary. Naruto had no desire to see every single tree in the Fire Country.
With the remnants of an ANBU Recon Team, the Byakugan and a somewhat-adept Sensor-type Nin by his side, it did not take the young ANBU long to find what he was looking for.
With a blur of movement, six black streaks launched from the last tree and landed gracefully on the ground. They sped across the withering grass, travelling tens of meters in a flash, and bounded past the last of the plants and shrubs and onto a large plain of sand. Their feet seemed to touch the sand but left no imprints as the small group bounded up a large sand dune and paused as they reached the top.
"There!" Naruto hissed, jabbing his fingers out to sea from the top of dune. "There they are!"
Team Sigma continued their fast-pace trek across the rippling sand. Their speed had increased and they were practically sprinting for the small rocky outcropping at the top of the coastal cliffs. They jumped up- Komachi spun around and withdrew a large sheet-like piece of cloth and they landed on the ledge. A second later, the cloth came settling down over them and they each stilled. The cloth settled around them, creating a slightly-transparent layer to peer out of, while the outside layer settled on a mixture of brown and grey that blended in with the landscape around them.
Moments later, a pair of Sky Nin zoomed overhead and passed them.
Naruto watched them with bated breath. His heart was racing in his chest as he tracked the patrolling Sky shinobi. Relief begin to flood his mind as the Fliers soared past them without altering course. They had not been seen. Naruto turned and silently tapped Daichi on the shoulder. The Hyuuga tilted his head and watched as Naruto drew a little circle in the air with his finger. Daichi gave a short shake and pressed his hand to his head in apparent pain.
"We're clear," Naruto murmured.
As Yuuka and Towa watched their backs, Naruto joined Komachi and Kage at the end of the blanket as the two experienced ANBU members stared down at the enemy. Waves crashed against the cliffs with a loud roar below them.
Their mission was complete. They had found the enemy.
Contrary to what Naruto had been expecting, Sky Country had not built a forward base on the mainland. Instead, Naruto saw, they had arrived here via a fleet of ships. There were eight of them, three large and five small. The smaller ships were slender, a single tower rising from a curved deck. They were clearly patrol boats for the gargantuan carriers that followed. They were huge, a large tower of metal and stone rising from two thick cylinders that bobbed up and down on the water. Each resulting 'building' must had been as tall as the Hokage's Tower and large stone faces had been carved into the sides. At the top of the tower was the deck of the ship, where tiny little black specks crawled all over it. As Naruto watched, there was a small flash of light and a pair of golden streaks zoomed from one side of the deck to the other. They wobbled in the air as they flew off the deck but almost-immediately gained height and began their patrol.
"A fleet," Kage murmured from beside Naruto. "It's a mobile fleet with the capability to launch airborne raids right in the middle of Fire Country. What a powerful concept." For once there was emotion in the blank-faced ANBU's voice. Naruto couldn't tell if it was respect or fear.
"Kage, Komachi, take notes," he ordered determinedly. "Yuuka, work out our exact coordinates. We need to report this location right away."
Kage fumbled through his pack and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Komachi pulled out her marker and together they started talking quietly to each other, describing key aspects of Sky Country's Fleet and jotting down notes and sketches. Yuuka opened her field map and began to pinpoint exactly where they were while Naruto flashed through some signs and summoned a small monkey. He took Yuuka's hurried scribbling and gave it to the chittering little thing.
"Take this to our earlier location," he told the monkey. "Run as quick as you can."
The monkey disappeared in a blur of movement. Naruto glanced at Daichi, who nodded wordlessly, and made the same signs again. He pressed his hand down on the warm sand and another puff of smoke appeared. When it dissipated, Enma lay on the ground next to him. He wordlessly held up the Crystal Ball and Naruto waited.
The ball began to glow and the Hokage's voice emerged from it.
"Team Sigma, report."
"The enemy has been located, Hokage-sama," Naruto said quietly. He gave the Hokage the coordinates. "Sir, the enemy possesses a fleet of eight ships. There are three large ships which seem to launch the Sky Shinobi into the air. The remainder are smaller patrol vessels."
"A sea-fleet and an air-force," the Hokage sounded grim. "Our enemies are indeed powerful. Well done, Team Sigma. You have performed well. Captains Tenzo and Boar are en-route to "Splinter" Rest House and will take control of this situation from here."
"The coordinates have been sent," Naruto said.
"Excellent. I knew I could trust you with this task, Naruto," the Third Hokage said. "During a time of great need you have served your Village well. Congratulations."
Naruto felt a smile bloom across his face and was glad that the mask hid his features as his cheeks reddened with pleased embarrassment. He scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. He couldn't help but feel proud of himself.
"Ferret!" Daichi suddenly called out. "We have movement!"
Naruto swung his head back to the ships. He did not have the superior eyes of a Hyuuga but even he could tell that more and more black specks were gathering on the deck of the ships. Kage and Komachi exchanged looks with each other and turned to Naruto expectedly, while Sarutobi remained silent on his end of the Crystal Ball.
"What can you see?" Naruto asked Daichi. "Have we been spotted?"
"I don't think so," Daichi murmured. "It looks like a mission briefing. I can see some moving platforms bringing up those flying devices." He paused. "There are hundreds of them."
"They are preparing to launch another attack," Komachi said quietly. She absently brushed her brown bangs away from her mask. "They must have recovered their chakra."
"Team Sigma!" the Hokage barked and Naruto almost flinched. "I am assigning you another mission! You are to do all you can to delay the enemy's departure. ANBU reinforcements are en-route but will not arrive until later. Stop them from launching their second attack!"
"Yes, sir," Naruto responded grimly.
"There are two secondary objectives," the Hokage continued after a beat. "Firstly, if possible, cripple the enemy's vessels so that they cannot leave the area. Secondly, attempt to capture a senior officer for interrogation.
"Understood," Naruto said with a nod. "We'll report back once we have achieved our mission."
The crystal ball dimmed and Enma disappeared with a puff of smoke. Feeling all eyes on him, Naruto swallowed and turned to face his squad- his subordinates. His mind was racing, Naruto almost panicked but he forced himself to calm down and considered all of his options.
"What equipment do we have left?" He asked after a few moments.
They pooled in their remaining equipment. There were only a few shuriken left but they had at least two-dozen kunai all-together, as well as several spools of wire and rolls of bandages. Komachi had dozens- hundreds, even- of senbon and Kage had small little book that Naruto first thought was Icha Icha. It turned out to be full of explosive notes. Kage shrugged underneath all the looks he got.
"Okay," Naruto said abruptly. "We have lots of things to do and not a lot of time so we're going to split up. Yuuka, you and Daichi will identify and capture an enemy officer. I'm sure that you can extract some information from a Sky Nin on one of the patrol boats and work yourself up if you have to."
"Gotcha!" Daichi said and gave him thumbs up.
"Isn't he so cute when he's bossy?" Yuuka asked with a saucy wink.
"I have considerable infiltration experience. I should be able to tag the bottom of each of the ships without being seen," Kage offered.
Naruto nodded. "Good. That leaves Komachi, Towa and me to attack the enemy ships." He recalled watching the Flier launch into the air. "I think that they need the deck to launch their craft. If we can damage or destroy it then we should slow them down."
"Sounds good," Towa said. He slapped a first in his palm and Naruto could picture the vicious grin behind his bird-mask. "I'm dying to give these arseholes some payback…"
The sheer hatred behind the other ANBU's words made Naruto feel uncomfortable. He ignored them and turned back to watching the sea. The enemy fleet bobbed up and down on the surface of the ocean, which glittered majestically as the sun shown down brightly. It was very peaceful and tranquil- a great place for some leave, Naruto decided wistfully.
"Let's go," was all he said.
Naruto breathed deeply, his stomach rising and falling, as he slowly propelled himself through the dark depths of the floor of the sea. His breath rang loudly in his ears, a sharp contrast to the void of silence from all around him. His ANBU mask formed a seamless and airtight cavity around his mouth and certain parts of it could act in a similar fashion as a rebreather. Compared to the technology of the Water Country and the Village Hidden in the Mist the rebreather was inefficient and sorely lacking. For the purpose of this mission, it would do the job.
The sun show brightly above and Naruto could see the dark bottoms of the ships rocking gently on the surface of the ocean. He kicked his legs in the water, swimming further in until he was directly underneath the surface of his designated target carrier. He was too wary to use chakra so he just pushed up off the seabed and kicked his way up.
The water became warmer and warmer the closer he swam to the surface and Naruto tried his best to remain out of the sun. Eventually the faint noises of machinery teased him from the edge of his senses and the silence was broken. He swam up to the bottom of the ship and reached out to touch it. He channelled chakra into his hands and legs and somersaulted lazily, placing his feet and hands on the bottom of the boat. Then, slowly, he began to crawl his way over the hull, hanging on upside down with adhesive chakra.
His head broke out of the water first and he carefully checked around him, craning his head upwards to see if there were Sky Nin who could see him. All he could hear was the sound of the waves crashing against the hull of the ship and the seagulls crying out mournfully. He checked the position of the sun and his eyes widened behind his mask. He quickly ducked and watched as two Sky Shinobi flew past as streaks of gold. After they were gone, one limb at a time, Naruto began to silently scale the side of the ship.
This was perhaps the most difficult part of the mission. Suspended from the side of the ship, Naruto was extremely exposed. The patrolling Sky Nin seemed to swoop past the ships every three or four minutes or so and it wouldn't only take one of them to spot him and raise an alarm. The ANBU were skilled and strong- but not strong enough to take on an entire army- especially if there was a Kage-level or multiple Jonin-level shinobi on-board.
Naruto's ears twitched and he suddenly darted up the side of the hull and broke into a sprint. Water slid effortlessly off his black cloak and his heart pounded in his chest as he climbed up one of the two large cylinders that seemed to act like engines. He dove for the nearest cover as soon as he could, coming to rest on a metallic grey platform and ducking behind it.
A moment later two shinobi strolled past above him. A metallic catwalk spiralled around much of the huge tower that rose up into the sky and Naruto could hear the two men talking quietly to each other. Naruto held his breath and froze as the two men walked over him without stopping and disappeared.
Naruto exhaled and swallowed. He crouched and with a quick burst of chakra he leapt up to the skywalk, grabbing the rail and flipping over it to land silently on the metal. He crouched again and jumped- flying high up into the sky and grabbing hold of the next rail. He used it as a hold as he twisted his body, planted his feet on the side of the ship and disappeared in a flicker of movement.
It only took him a few minutes to reach to top of the ship and he peeked over the edge. The deck was mostly empty. It was a straight stretch of concrete and iron with a series of towers and balconies on one side. There were two grooves that ran from one end to the other, where a pair of metal seat-like objects sat. Behind them was a lift and Naruto could imagine Sky Shinobi rising from the lower decks and being propelled into the air.
It was time for sabotage.
The young blond ANBU scanned the area and silently leapt onto the deck. He dashed for the towers and hid himself in the shadows, crossing the expanse of the runway in a matter of moments. He reached into his clock and pulled out a bundle of explosive notes. For the next few minutes, he planted them on anything that looked mechanical. He had no idea how exactly the Sky Country technology worked but if the enemy had gone to all the effort to build a series of cogwheels and thick rubber bands on the deck then they surely must be important.
After he was done he checked the sun. He was grinning behind his mask, the sheer excitement and danger of the mission sending a thrilling rush through his body that combat drills and simulated battles could never bring. There was a few minutes left and he hoped that his team had managed to complete their parts of the mission. He formed a hand-seal and hid in the shadows, waiting. He would soon see.
High above the Sea of Whirlpools a flock of seagulls circled around the very top spires of the three enormous vessels. They cried out mournfully and their brethren responded. As the lead bird opened its beak to let out another cry light flared and, before it could make a sound, disappeared in a rush of searing heat.
Simultaneous explosions rocked the deck of all three ships. Iron and concrete was smashed apart underneath the powerful Class-1 explosive notes. Billows of black smoke rose into the air, dirtying what had been a beautiful sunny afternoon. The boats trembled and sirens immediately began to sound. Naruto flinched underneath the wave of expanding heat and lowered his hands. Adrenaline and chakra surged through his body and pushed off the concrete and leapt towards the runway.
Henge! Naruto formed a seal andtransformed.
He was surrounded by a puff of smoke and when it dispersed an ANBU stood there- one twice as tall as and much broader than Naruto was. The first of the Sky Nin appeared on deck and Naruto dove at a pair of them. The first held a kunai launcher and sent half-a-dozen bolts of deadly steel straight through the transformations head head. The disguise was dispelled with a pop of smoke and Naruto used the pair's obvious surprise to his advantage as he slipped underneath their guard. He lashed out with his leg and a kneecap cracked, the second Sky Nin falling to the side. A roundhouse kicked and the application of chakra saw the shinobi catapult away.
Naruto twisted his body as he spun around to face the first shinobi, who had recovered from that split-second hesitation and lunged at him with the two-handed implement in his hand. He brought it down from over his head but Naruto dodged it, the butt of the kunai repeated slamming into the concrete with a heavy thud. A spring twanged and a kunai slipped through the sleeve of his cloak. Naruto reverse-gripped it and spun his arm around in a horizontal arc. The black blade popped through the Sky Nin's elbow in a spray of blood. Naruto twisted it out, changed his grip and slashed at the shinobi's face. The blade dug into flesh and the Sky Nin collapsed, bellowing in pain. Naruto left him there as he twisted arm and sent the wired-kunai back into its spring loader.
Hands blurred as Naruto channelled his chakra. He manipulated its nature, twisting it throughout his body and increasing the high-frequency vibrations of it, and lightning burst from around his fingers. Naruto bought his hands down and he drove into the technique. Chakra fled his tenketsu, wasted and unused as flickering blue dome of chakra howled around him, but Naruto didn't care as he released his technique into the very deck of the ship.
Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!
Powerful streams of lightning erupted from the ends of his hands and into the concrete surface of the deck. The lightning tore through it with ease, giant arcs ripping large slabs of concrete apart with its powerful piercing qualities. Arcs of brightly glowing whitish-blue lightning sprung up all over the deck, lashing out at everything around it. The fire from the explosions continued to rage and clouds of black smoke drifted up, mingling with the occasional spark of lightning chakra. When Naruto raised his hands, the deck looked like it been through an earthquake.
More and more Sky Nin were pouring onto the deck now. As Naruto heard the boom of a distant eruption and saw the tower of one of the other boats go up in flames, he smiled grimly. It was time to leave.
The shinobi around him were yelling and metal tore through the air. Naruto's feet blurred as he sprinted down the deck of the ship, jumping over piles of cracked and shattered concrete. Kunai whistled past his ears- some were too close and a blade appeared in his hand, parrying them away- as the Ferret-masked ANBU raced to the end of the deck and dove.
For a moment he felt weightless, suspended above the rippling ocean underneath, and then he plummeted. He twisted in the air and made a single sign. A shadow clone appeared and Naruto used its back to soften his fall. It exploded as Naruto pushed up on it, somersaulted and landed neatly on the surface of the ocean. As smoke rose, sirens blared and the Sky Nin patrols began to converge, Naruto dipped beneath the surface of the water and disappeared.
It was a wearied and wet group of ANBU operatives that met up at the rendezvous point several kilometres north of the coast. They hid within an inlet, sharp wet stones hiding them from view as swarms of Sky Nin occasionally soared over them. Beneath his cloak, Naruto was shivering as he and Towa waited for the rest of the squad to join them. For every minute Naruto waited the burden on his shoulders grew heavier and heavier.
Maybe they wouldn't return.
Maybe he had gotten his comrades killed.
His ANBU tattoo burned and Naruto stiffened. From out of the murky water came Komachi, the woman limping as water dripped off of her. Towa was by her side in an instant, hoisting her up and laying her down on the rocky ledge. He began delving into the medical kit as he treated the bloodied gash on her leg while Naruto watched on. He was transfixed by the oozing wound and didn't notice Komachi turn her head to regard him.
"Ferret," she called out quietly and Naruto met her mask. Komachi had been decidedly cool but still professional about the sudden change in command. "You did extremely well."
"Shut up, idiot," Towa snapped as Naruto managed a tentative smile. "Laying there, talking like you're dying, it's just a stupid cut." He pulled out a needle and thread. "We'll sew it up for now and the medic-nin can look at it when we go back home."
Home.
Naruto remembered what he risked the lives of his comrades for and suddenly found himself feeling conflicted. He loved his Konoha, there was no doubt about it at all. He loved the Third Hokage, the man who had taken hold of him and pulled him out of the pit of loneliness and despair. But he didn't want his teammates to die either.
His tattoo burned again and Naruto watched as Daichi emerged from the water carrying Yuuka. A Sky Shinobi followed him, fingers flicking in ANBU code, and Naruto nodded at the possessed enemy. Daichi quickly bound and gagged the Yamanaka-possessed shinobi and Yuuka released her hold on him. He instantly stiffened but Daichi was there, pressing down on his arm with quick light jabs and sealing off tenketsu. Yuuka groaned as she pushed herself up, looking the most tired and fatigued out of them all, but she managed to give Naruto a coy smile and nodded her head respectfully.
The last one to arrive was Kage. He was almost twenty minutes late and arrived as Naruto was beginning to get truly worried. He slunk out of the water, almost invisible even to Naruto's eyes, as tired as the rest. With the whole team here, Naruto stood over the unconscious Sky Nin, keeping guard, and let them huddle together and rested. There would be no sleep but ANBU were particularly adept at going longs hours between short bursts of rest.
Naruto's chakra was as fine as ever but he was mentally exhausted. Still, there was protocol to follow and after a few moments he beckoned Towa to come and guard the Sky Nin while he summoned Enma. The Monkey King looked around, taking note of the exhausted shinobi, and nodded at Naruto in an almost-friendly manner. The crystal ball shone and Naruto made his report.
"Hokage-sama," Naruto began quietly. "We have completed all three objectives. We destroyed the decks of Sky Country's ships, so they shouldn't be able to launch their fighters. Kage infiltrated and wrecked the rudders of the three carriers, so they won't be able to turn around until they get that fixed, and we have an enemy officer here ready for interrogation."
"Excellent work, Naruto," The Hokage sounded extremely pleased. That almost made the whole thing worth the effort. "This will make Tenzo's job significantly easier. You have possible saved a great many lives today."
Naruto exchanged a quick look with his comrade. Kage nodded at him and the boy felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. "Thank you, sir," he said. He eyed the prisoner. "We haven't interrogated the prisoner yet. I was wondering if you wanted to be on hand while we do so."
"Yes, I am very interested in what the enemy has to say," the Old Man's voice was as hard as stone and Naruto reflexively winced.
It only took a moment for Yuuka to stir. She popped a solider pill in her mouth and walked over to the prisoner. She knelt down, placing two hands at the side of his head, and concentrated. Naruto watched carefully as the Yamanaka probed the enemy's mind. Of all the intelligence gathering techniques in the world, the Yamanaka were the best at what they did.
Yuuka's eyes fluttered. "I can see flashes…the island where they lived… he grew up with his mother and two sisters…one works as a chef…" she trailed off. "I see the attack on Konoha."
She grew silent.
"Ferret, we have a problem," she called out. Her hands were beginning to glow with a shimmering chakra as she dove deeper and deeper into the enemy's mind. "There's something else… a weapon or a castle or…" she frowned. "It's hard to tell… it's blurry but I think I can- yes! I recognise those two mountain peaks!"
"What does this weapon do?" Naruto questioned. The crystal ball glowed as the Hokage remained quiet.
"Dark Release…" Yuuka trailed off.
"Dark Release?" Kage echoed. "I have never heard of such an elemental affinity. Is it a bloodline?"
"It's a myth," the Third Hokage's voice interjected. It's a theoretical concept that explored the idea of the use of human suffering and anguish as a way to generate chakra. There was some significant promise behind it- chakra is made up of physical and mental energies and human emotion can play a very big part in producing chakra- but nothing ever came of it."
"The weapon is powered by it…" Yuuka murmured quietly. There was a noticeable glare coming from her hands now. "It…this man believes… or has been told… that the weapon could destroy an entire village in a single use."
Naruto felt his blood chill. "No such technique exists," he said quietly.
"Ah, Naruto." The Third Hokage sounded wistful. "You would be surprised at what exists in this world of ours."
Yuuka continued to concentrate and Team Sigma watched. Suddenly, the man's eyes shot open and rolled into the back of his skull. He opened his mouth and let out a gut-wrenching scream. Towa uncharacteristically swore and Naruto took a quick step back. Daichi activated his Byakugan.
"Scatter!" he yelled.
Team Sigma disappeared in a blur of movement as the man continued to scream. Yuuka made to leave but let out a cry and collapsed. Naruto, just about to enter his Body Flicker, darted forward and grabbed her. His eyes flew down at the Sky Nin. Black ink was crawling over his face, expanding in a wave of spirals. He jumped back and propelled himself out of the inlet just as a huge surge of chakra flared from within it.
The inlet disappeared underneath a ball of fire and lifted Naruto and Yuuka up into the air. They soared, coming down over some rocks- but then Enma was there and he grabbed the two of them. As streaks of gold began to zoom towards them from the sky, Team Sigma scattered and fled the area.
"What happened?" Kage asked quietly as they came to rest in a clearing deep within Fire Country's forest.
"There was a Time-Release Seal," Daichi answered. He bowed his head, the body-stance of the normally enthusiastic man looking apologetic. "Because I blocked his tenketsu, it didn't activate in time. He started screaming because the seal malfunctioned." He paused. "It's what saved our lives. I bet that the explosion would have normally occurred the moment Yuuka entered his mind."
Yuuka panted as she lay on the ground. She looked pale. Naruto couched down beside her and gently placed his hand on her forehead. It was covered in sweat and the white masked turned to face him. Behind it, Naruto could imagine the cheeky blonde smiling at him.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.
Yuuka nodded. "I left his mind really quickly," she said weakly. "It makes me sick when we do that. Give me some time and I'll be good to go."
"Good," Naruto murmured. "Now, did you see anything else?"
"Two things," she panted. "Names. Shinno. Ancor Vantian. That's all."
Naruto turned to Enma and found the Monkey King eying the Crystal Ball carefully. Naruto was horrified as he saw the giant crack that ran through the centre of it. No light shone from it at all and Enma did not look pleased.
"This was an artefact dating back to days of the roaming Senju clan," the large monkey rumbled. "With this crystal you could buy a whole city- and the lives of everybody in it."
"Can you fix it?" Naruto asked.
"Not here," Enma answered. His yellow eyes came to rest on Naruto. "Perhaps Sarutobi could- in time."
Naruto gritted his teeth.
"Ferret," Komachi said quietly. "What are our orders?"
Naruto wanted to say 'I don't know!'. He wanted to send a messenger monkey to Sarutobi and ask for instructions. However, the more he thought about it the more his frustration at the situation faded. He had worked with the Third Hokage for years and he knew exactly what the Old Man would tell him to do.
"Sorry guys," he said tiredly. "But it looks like we have to move again."
Nobody made a sound.
"If the prisoner was right then there's a dangerous weapon that might destroy Konoha," Naruto said. He raked his hand through his spike blond locks. "Yuuka, you said you recognised where it was?"
Yuuka nodded and pointed it out on Towa's map.
"That's only an hour or so from here," Naruto said grimly. "We'll rest for five minutes then move out. Enma!" he turned to the Monkey King. "Tell the boss where we're going, just in case…"
Enma nodded gravely. "I normally wouldn't allow it but summon me if you need to," he said. He folded his arm and his Leaf Headband glinted. "I will not allow our Village to be destroyed."
"I won't either," Naruto promised firmly.
Enma eyed him. "Huh," he commented. "You just might turn out okay."
He disappeared and Naruto turned back to his tired, wet and cold team. "C'mon, guys," he said with forced enthusiasm. "Let's go save Konoha." He paused. "Again."
"No pressure," Daichi said brightly.
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