The war continues and rages on. It was at its peak
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"This is another S-rank mission, Our forces on Kiri borders asked for the reinforcement, I am sending my best ANBU Blackops, you will be the team leader...as for the mission, finish the war on Kiri borders"
"Yes, Lord Hokage"
And so, Six powerful ANBU Blackops under the guidance of 'The One' made their way towards Kiri borders
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The skies continued to weep furiously and threatened to drench the land in its anger. The winds were becoming more dangerous and random lightning strikes were proving to be life-threatening. Amidst nature's chaos, one human carefully kept himself hidden in the tall trees of the forest.
His eyes scanning each and every direction with extreme precision.
Ryo nodded in satisfaction when he saw a squad of Kiri ninjas passing through the area. Judging from their armament, this was a border patrol.
He needed intel before he could take his squad deeper behind enemy lines towards the Konoha camp and the only source of getting it was through someone within the enemy ranks. Carefully, he started trailing the patrol squad by using the trees as his cover and keeping his chakra suppressed. The easier option would be to kill this patrol and extract intel but that would blow their cover. He needed the enemy to assume they were safe until the very last moment, so he followed the enemy squad while taking note of the fact that all the men were looking towards the woman in the western direction for guidance.
He had found his target.
Carefully, he grabbed one of the seal Kunai. Looking at the skies, he waited for a few moments until the next thunder rumbling sounded across the area and that was when he threw the kunai straight in the direction of the female enemy squad leader.
She had no chance as a dark flash happened before her the very next second and a pair of eyes gazed into her very soul. She was trapped in a genjutsu the moment she got hurt
Ryo grabbed the kunai covered into the seals embedded in the tree and vanished before his time was up. He retreated back to his vantage point and saw the female patrol leader shake her head in confusion. He clenched the kunai in his hand waiting for the possibility of his enemy sounding an alarm.
Fortunately for her, she didn't remember what had happened just as Ryo wanted and instructed the patrol to move forward.
He learned about the situation of both Kiri and Konoha, about the important figures he and his team of black ops has to kill, and the fact that they were currently in pursuit of Team choza (Guy team)
Dismissing those morbid thoughts, he started to think about his next course of action. To reach those mountains, they would have to cross this treacherous forest first which was full of booby traps and three Anbu platoons supported by four dozen border patrol units. He had a feeling that they would be facing heavy action very soon.
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To their credit, his team didn't flinch or show fear when he relayed back the intel that he had obtained. He couldn't help but respect their resolve as he waited for anybody to speak up.
"You are looking at something we can't even see. We'll follow your lead, Commander"
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Ryo explained the plan of action to the team. Essentially, he wanted them to split into two halves, one led by him and the other led by monkey. Each squad would have three members and would target their respective enemies swiftly.
"W-What about me commander" bird was slightly intimated because their commander left her
"You will do the assassination of these important figures once these figures are assassinated the Kiri forces will be heavily neutralized, whether we are successful in our raid or not it's all up to you"
Team A: Consist of Dog, viper and himself
Team B: Consist of Tiger rabbit and rat
While I and my team would encounter and neutralize the Anbu black ops guarding the forest, Tiger and his team would neutralize the border patrols made of Kiri regular military.
A few in their group had suggested if confrontation could be avoided but when they saw the pattern in which the enemy was spread across the area, it was almost impossible to avoid contact or if by some miracle they escaped that still left their back wide open should the enemy realize their presence.
It would be a disaster should the enemy counter-attack when their squad was attempting to climb the dangerous Kazama mountains. They would be cornered completely and wiped out.
Viper shuddered on imagining such a scenario and couldn't help but agree more with their commander's desire to deal with the enemy first before they dealt with them on their own terms.
It was possible that the enemy command would notice their border units dropping out of contact and would send reinforcements to investigate, however that small window was an opportunity their squad would use to scale the mountain and storm the front. Once they are on Konoha campus it would be alright
She looked at the veterans around her and couldn't help but feel whether or not she would be able to do what needed to be done. But one look at their strengthened her resolve, after all, it's the God of Shinobi himself who is leading them through
"Everybody clear about the strike?" asked Ryo seriously,
"We'll neutralize our targets and mark the bodies with these sealing tags" repeated Tiger seriously, as he showed one of the tracking seals supplied by Ryo to everyone.
"That's correct. These seals should allow me to sense the bodies and with my fuinjutsu, I will make them disappear forever without any trace for the enemy to investigate" promised Ryo,
"You'll turn the bodies to ashes?" asked viper hesitantly, she would never hesitate to eliminate the enemies of her village but to mutilate bodies? Even enemies should have some respect for each other.
Granted, in the shinobi world no such tradition existed, unlike the Samurai who showed honor to their enemies even in death.
"Are you new in ANBU Black ops"
"That's discrimination sir, I have proven my worth to be here, with the best of them
"You didn't answer my Question, are you new"
"Yes sir"
"That's the way of the Blackops, deal with it, everyone here did" answered Ryo without any remorse, making her gulp but she offered no further protest.
"That will help keep the enemy focused and make them divert critical resources to investigate further. We will use that time to scale the mountain, find out the target's exact location and strike. Bird you will be roaming alone without a team, while we gather the attention, use the time to eliminate their key members"
Bird nodded as Ryo looked at his men one last time.
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Bird watched as the commander, and everyone leaps from to tree to tree, she takes a deep breath and sunshine away, to eliminate the key figures when the rest of the six draw the attention of the enemy
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"Execute" ordered their Commander, as he threw a kunai
The first female Anbu on sentry duty barely saw the kunai pass by her and gasped when a second later a pair of stone cold eyes appeared before her.
Viper flinched when she saw Ryo slice through the female Anbu's neck and sever her head in one strike. He didn't stop there as in mid-air he grabbed the flying head and stuck something inside of it, before throwing it right in the midst of the enemy Anbu camp.
Dog heard the enemy camp come to life as purple colored smoke exploded from the severed head of the female Anbu. The two entrance guards gasped but a second later fell to the ground courtesy of two senbon needles hitting their necks from the trees where Viper was hiding. They were dead before they even hit the ground as the poison in the needles ended their life.
Meanwhile, several Anbu rushed outside of their tents only to get caught in the poison-laced smoke that was spreading everywhere
Team A, on the other hand, charged through the poison undeterred as they had already administered the antidote in their systems. Dog who was their backup; jumped straight towards one of the tallest Anbu who was in the process of performing a wind style attack to disperse the poison.
The enemy growled on seeing him and hacked at him with his sword but Dog ducked and slapped a seal on the man's leg, above him, Viper stabbed the enemy straight through the neck with her sword and ruthlessly kicked him deeper into the camp.
They both grimaced when the corpse of their fallen enemy exploded into a rain of shrapnel that instantly showered every nearby Anbu making them cry out in agony.
"Those seals are nasty," said Viper disgustedly,
"As expected from an ANBU officer. Remember it Viper, you are one now, Let's go" replied Dog seriously, as he saw their commander place his sword on his back, everyone near him was dead before they could see or react, this is the feared 'God of shinobi' whose speed and swords arts leave nothing but death behind
The enemy might have been in a better position to counter but too many factors were against them.
First, the moon was completely covered by clouds making visibility extremely difficult.
Second, the entire camp was now covered in the poison-laced smoke unleashed by Ryo at the very start. It had a nasty reaction of instantly paralyzing its victims motor functions followed by a gruesome death as it melted their insides. Viper indeed was one of the best, she was quick to act and neutralized quite a score of Anbu trying to shake off the preliminary dizziness from the poison.
Third, Dog provided great backup as he stopped anyone from dispersing the poison cloud. If it weren't for him the fight would be more and more difficult
Fourth, the shrapnel bomb had injured most of the enemy force. While not enough to end their lives, it had created panic and fear among the enemy ranks as they heard their comrades screaming in horror and agony.
This one attack left the enemy blind, injured and terrified.
-------
They completed the mission Bird assassinated the targets, Tiger and his team successfully infiltrated their given bases
There was a new form of Respect for their commander, in the eyes of everyone
He does not care, they will betray him for the sake of saving their sorry and pathetic hides, they are not Hatake Sakumo, they will not come back for him and after what happened to Sakumo no one will be the second
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"Gaaaaaah!"
The Konohagakure shinobi fell before Kishimaru Kuriarare, impaled in the heart by the long sword, Nuibari. The masked Swordsman of the Mist laughed:
"Ha, ha! I love how they always do before they die. Gaaaaah."
A huge man with orange hair wielding the great sword, Samehada, approached him and said:
"Enough with the disrespect, Kishimaru. Did you take the scroll?"
"Damn you, Suikazan. Take your damned scroll. Am I not allowed to have my fun?"
His comrade's defiance enraged Suikazan, who said, his voice sounding even gruffer than normal:
"We are in the middle of the war. This scroll contains the identity of every shinobi with a Kekkei Genkai within our village. Imagine the damage it would do to Kirigakure if this would fall into the Leaf's hands."
"Well… now it's in our hands."
"Yes. Now, we have to recover the armaments scroll."
Suikazan and Kishimaru walked towards five other shinobi, each of them sitting near a group of dead people. One of the shinobi, a short man wielding the Kabutowari said:
"Did you recover the damned scroll?"
"Yes, we did."
Kishimaru scoffed:
"You mean to tell I recovered it."
"Enough, Kishimaru."
Suikazan approached the river flowing through the forest and after touching its water, he said:
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A large shark appeared and the wielder of Samehada put the scroll in its mouth.
"Take it to the Mist Central Headquarters."
The shark then started to swim so fast that it was out of sight in a few seconds. Jinin Akebino said to Suikazan:
"Now then… on to the next scroll. Did we know where it is?"
"Apparently, it is in the possession of a Konoha genin team."
Kishimaru laughed:
"Genin? They gave the fucking scroll to genin?"
Raiga Kurosuki, the wielder of Kiba, the sharpest sword in existence, said:
"It makes sense. If a group of jonin or ANBU would move through the forest, we would intercept them because we would expect them to have the scroll. We wouldn't expect weak genin to carry such an important item. Tell me, Suikazan-san, how do you know it's with a genin team?"
"I found this letter in one of the pouches of one of the Leaf Jonin I killed. It's a list of routes. Several genin teams were dispatched with scrolls. They are to be taken to several checkpoints around the region. Our scroll is in a team led by Choza Akimichi. Its members are Genma Shiranui, Ebisu and Might Guy."
"Now they don't sound too tough, do they?"
"I don't care if they are tough or not. Our purpose is to recover the scroll at all costs. Intel should be protected and the fools who lost the scrolls to Konoha shinobi will be severely punished when we return home. According to the letter, the team who has our scroll will arrive at this position in about an hour. We should get ready for an ambush."
The wielder of Shibuki, a masked man wearing a dark brown shirt and bandages around his head said:
"I will bury explosive tags on the road. Before they enter the range, I will blow them. It will create enough smoke to disorient them, maybe make them faint. While they are down, Kishimaru and Juzo will kill them."
Juzo said:
"It works for me. You be careful not to blow them up because we will lose the scroll."
Kishimaru replied:
"Why the hell? Let Kasho blow the fucking scroll. That way, the intel is lost to Konoha."
Suikazan sighed:
"And that way, the intel is lost to us too. Prepare the ambush."
The wielder of the twin sword, Hiramekarei, a young man with a pointy brown hair said to Suikazan:
"Suikazan-san, I will transform into a rock. They will not expect an attack from behind."
"Good idea, Raishin."
After a while, the team of genin approached. One of the children wore black glasses and suspenders, another had a senbon in his mouth and the third wore a green jumpsuit and had a bowl haircut. Before they could walk near the Swordsmen's exploding tags, another man appeared before them and said:
"Don't walk over here! It's an ambush!"
"Dad! What the hell are you talking about?"
The man resembled one of the children, but he was much taller and had a bushy mustache. The Swordsmen of the Mist revealed themselves, appearing before the four Konoha shinobi.
"It seems our ruse has been discovered. There is no point in using stealth anymore."
Kasho weaved a sign, defusing the exploding tags buried below ground. The child with a senbon in his mouth said:
"It's no good… We are surrounded. There is no way we can escape!"
The one with the glasses said:
"No way… There are the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist! We can't fight them!"
The man with the mustache said:
"It's good I made it just in time. I will fight them."
"Father! You are just a genin. You can't fight them!"
Juzo said:
"It's an honor for our group's name to be known even to whelps like you."
Kishimaru said:
"But that doesn't change the outcome of this battle. Tell us, you with the weird hair, how the hell will you fight us?"
The man smiled and said to his son:
"They underestimate me. They don't know my power. Do not forget that I have the Eight Gates Released Formation."
"But… that will kill you…"
"You know what a true victory and power is? It's not beating someone strong. It's being able to protect something important to you! I will die protecting you. Go on, children! Take another route. I will hold them back."
The man's skin became red as a green aura enveloped him. The children then ran in the opposite direction. Suikazan said:
"You will go nowhere! Ninja Art: Needle Senbon!"
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Ryo defeated Kiri seven remaining 3 swordsmen left by Duy as he carries him on his back to Konoha camp
"Please..protect...my son", he died saying these words
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"He gave up his life to protect you, live and see through his sacrifice", said Ryo as he gave the bloody body of finds to his son, who was crying heavily
"I will protect you, even at the cost of my life", thought Ryo as he watched crying Guy
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Everyone watch Ryo in horror, as he goes against 10,000 Kiri nins all alone, he made sure his comrades retreated successfully he fought for 7 days and 6 nights non-stop he was cut in several places, he was chakra depleted, he was tired, yet he keeps fighting
He can not see anymore, the blood covers his eyes, yet he still kept standing that too alone on his willpower, he made sure Guy was safe
He defeated all 10,000 Kiri nins, a feat unknown to mankind before this, he fell right there, his life and death was unknown
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He woke up in the hospital, his eyes were half dead
The council hears of his successes and jutsus
The time was tight, every single second countless people were dying
The council send him to the front line to join the battle
He is not even recovered from his deathly battle
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"Arashi no Sakkaku."
His body duplicates itself and charges at the enemy team who charges blindly towards them.
Fools, he thinks.
he appears behind them and with a single wind jutsu, slices them into pieces.
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There was an ambush, the team of jonins he was with die, he doesn't care
He disappears and reappears behind enemies stabbing them with his sword
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Namikaze Minato joins him in the front lines soon and they demolish the enemy lines. He uses his famed Hiraishin and Ryo uses his speed and genjutsu and cut them with his kenjutsu. They hit the enemy before they even realize it.
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The enemies whisper his name in fear and Minato's in awe.
They are called back to Konoha at the same time.
The elders demand that he challenge Minato for the right to become Hokage and produce children with his terrifying bloodline
he does neither.
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Minato finds him in front of the Memorial Stone, leaning against a tree, he was not moving and his eyes were dead as he kept staring at the memorial stone
He was shocked to see this, but-
"You withdrew your application."
He didn't answer
"You could have become Hokage, you have the skills."
"Do you love someone, Minato?"
After some time of staring, Minato answer, "Yes, her name is Kushina, Kushina Uzumaki i...we are getting as soon as the war is going to end"
Ryo lifts his finger and point at the memorial stone...
"Every single person, I ever loved is on that list, the love of my life betrayed me yet I still cling on to her not being able to move forward, I am miserable and broken beyond repair Minato, all I ever dream is nightmare...tell me minato, how am I suppose to give hope to people, how am i suppose to show them dreams, when i myself only dream of nightmares"
"You are the light Minato, I am the miserable darkness, you can give people the hope, I can give them nothing for I have nothing to give"
Minato stared at memorial stone for a while before he turns back to leave
"Minato, that boy Guy, he is going to take chunnin exams soon, let him take Obito's place, Kakashi and Guy are already rivals, Rin deserve some happiness
"I will also...i am sorry for your loss thank you for not turning your back on the village even when you go through so much", said Minato before leaving
"How can I betray the village after all Hotari loved this village", he muttered, he is sure Minato didn't hear it, he went back to staring
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He is 23.. when Shouji's mother visits him. She carries a brown box in her worn hands. Her eyes cold and tired and her smiles are full of bitter regret and sorrow.
"He wanted to give this to his best friend, he thinks so highly of."
His hands clutched the small, brightly wrapped box tightly, memorizing the words written on the card.
Happy Birthday,
If you are getting this, it means I am no longer around, hehe even mother doesn't know I have this hidden away, so it might take some time for it to reach you though, Inside it is every man secret dream, just don't girls find out
Curiously, he opened the box, inside it....3 icha icha paradise erotic books
"HeheHaha", the tears came out of his eyes
Curiously Shouji mother peeked through the box, she smiles, as the tears came out of her as well
Ryo caresses the 3 books...before closing it down
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It's been years since, Yukimura sensei, Hotari and shouji died, yet he still caresses their name over and over
It's like all of them are with him still alive, talking and laughing with him
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Itachi found him, he told Ryo where his father took him, he could see that the boy needed a hug, someone, to soothe him that's why he is telling all of this
He hugs Itachi and soothes him, Itachi broke down crying and slept on his legs, he took the boy to his home.
Mikoto was crying and searching desperately for Itachi
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He started to drink, he find drinking helps, he finally is able to sleep without nightmares, he started drinking again and again
he meets Tsunade the night he decides to drink at her old team's training field. he can almost imagine that Yukimura-sensei, Hotaru and Shouji are beside him.
Then he hears leaves rustling and turns to see the Slug Princess of Konoha drunk and delirious.
Tsunade laughs and helps herself to the sake bottles and lets her tears fall.
"You shouldn't spend so much time staring at Memorial stone, it's unhealthy you know"
"It hurts, it hurt too damn much", replied Ryo
"I know, I know"
[The Last chapter was too heavy, so i made a lighter chapter] [Please leave a review if you like my work, at least enough review to give me a rating]