"Which jutsu was that? They didn't even know that they were being attacked until it was too late." Chojuro said as he looked at Yami and the fallen stone shinobis back and forth.
Yami didn't have any intention of disclosing his ability to control the wind so he didn't say anything. Just before the silence could get awkward, Mei interrupted and said "Chojuro, Yami has already told us so much about his genjutsu. Let's not overextend it now. A shinobi must always have his secrets."
Yami understood that Mei also wanted to know the answer which is why she waited for a few seconds.
"Is that your dog?"Zabuza asked as he pointed behind the group. Yami and the others looked behind and saw Pakkun running toward him.
"He also has the leaf headband." Chojuro said.
"He is Kakashi's summoning animal." Yami said as he stepped forward toward the dog. Yami already had his Sharingan activated so seeing Yami look at him like this scared Pakkun a little.
'I hope this brat doesn't know that I was the one that told Kakashi about him and Zabuza. I wonder what this kid will do to me if he ever finds out.' Pakkun thought. Unknowingly, he became a little nervous which didn't escape Yami's sharp eyes.
"What happened Pakkun? You seemed worried and scared." Yami asked to which Pakkun widened his eyes and said "Scared? Me? N-No why would I be scared?" Pakkun said with a little hesitation which now was seen by not just Yami but everyone.
"He does look scared. Maybe the war is too much for a small dog like him."Chojuro said while pitying Pakkun which make Pakkun more embarrassed.
Pakkun decided to do the job he was summoned for and said "Yami, Kakashi wants you and the others to come join the main force."
Yami and the others were confused when they heard that."What? How can we join the main force when we were tasked with fighting the cultists?"
"Has Kakashi's decision been approved by the clan leaders?" Mei asked. She knew that even though Kakashi held some power, it wasn't nearly enough to change the strategies that are already in place.
"Actually, it was the clan leaders that made the decision. I don't know much but Kakashi said that the cultists are within the main force. Enough chit-chatting now. Let's leave." Pakkun said as he indicated Yami and the others to follow him immediately.
"Wow, how did they find out that there are cultists mixed in with the main fighting force." Zabuza asked Which CHojuro said "Our shinobis must have suffered a loss when they were suddenly faced with those cultists."
Mei looked at the shinobis who were with her and said "You all take care of the injured and prepare a temporary base here. I will go with them to the front lines."
Yami and the others left the place shortly after. They didn't know if the main force of the bloodline clans have suffered any kind of damage due to the sudden appearance of the cultists so they were going as fast as they could.
'I expected them to make some underhanded moves but I should have known that there would be cultists blended in their main force now that everything is happening under the supervision of the Priest Ji. I still don't think we know everything that we need to about this ritual of his.' Yami thought as they reached the main headquarters. It was set a few kilometers away from the back side of the Hidden Stone base and was adjacent to the sea. This gave the mist shinobis on both sides a big advantage as they could use water-style jutsus to their full potential.
The bloodline clan's main headquarters was just a series of tents surrounding a massive tent. As they reached one of the tents which acted as a gateway to enter the HQ, the guards immediately saluted as they saw Mei and the 2 swordsmen. Mei nodded without saying anything and continued to follow Pakkun who was heading toward the main tent.
As they reached the main tent the guard was about to stop Pakkun but then he saw Mei and the others running behind the dog so he just opened the curtain and stood aside.
This was the first time Yami had seen such a big tent. Even though it looked like it was made of cloth, it seemed pretty sturdy and it had seals slapped on different places. Yami had learned the basics of fuinjutsu seals in the academy so he knew that these seals gave the tent protection and also made them soundproof.
The inside of the tent was no joke either. It was extremely spacious and had a big table in the middle. All the clan leaders and the leaf jonins were standing around it. Pakkun dispersed into smoke as he stood beside Kakashi.
"It's good that you all came here. We were waiting for you. Mei, what are you doing here? I thought you were leading the charge to break the outer walls of the base from the front." Yoshiro asked as he glanced at Yami and the others and his gaze stopped at his daughter Mei.
Mei nodded and said "Actually I was and we were successful in that. While doing it though, I and my men came across a few cultists who had the ability to increase their strength and even take a semi-wolf form. My men suffered a few casualties so I sent Chojuro and the others a request for help."
"So have the cultists been dealt with and how did you all do it so fast?" Asami asked. She herself had faced a few cultists a few minutes ago so she knew how hard it was to deal with them.
Mei just glanced at Yami once and said "I found out why Yami is called what he is called. He was able to deal with the cultists and the stone shinobis in under a minute without even taking a step."
"Under a minute? Single-handily?" Riko asked in a surprised tone. Everyone else was surprised as well but they knew that this wasn't the right place to discuss all this. Riko kept looking at Yami as if expecting an answer.
Yami ignored the gaze and looked at Kakashi and asked "So Pakkun told me that the cultists had blended in the main force."
Asami chuckled as Yami blatantly ignored Riko to which Riko didn't react much, just folded his hands and stood there. Kakashi nodded and said "Yes, the main force on our side faced them on multiple occasions. Thankfully, Clan leaders Asami and Riko were able to deal with them and save the main forces from suffering many casualties. We were now thinking about what approach to take to deal with them since we have to focus on all fronts equally. So huddle up and we can start planning."
Yami nodded and walked close to Kakashi. He stood between Kakashi and Kurenai. He looked at Asuma and asked "Where is Ms. Kurenai?" to which Asuma replied "She is with Santo and Kana supervising the medical tents. She will be here soon." Zabuza and Chojuro also stood beside Mei and looked at the table in front of them.
The table was a small representation of the entire battlefield and all its fronts with different wooden blocks depicting the bases of both sides and their squads stationed.
"This is the current situation in front of us that I have gathered so far. We thought that they were holed up in the base but turns out they only kept a few of their men to run the base and built a temporary base at the foot of the mountain beside the sea. This gives them natural protection from 2 directions. One side is the mountain as it is full of traps and the seaside which has plenty of hidden stone ships docked." Asami said explaining the whole layout.
Riko pointed at the ships and asked "Why don't we use our strongest water jutsu users and sink their ships?" he then proceeded to place a wooden block shaped like a shinobi near the ships.
The old man shook his head and said "Sinking their ships doesn't give us any kind of advantage unless we are sure that the ships are storing something valuable to them. Even if we destroy their ships, they too are adept in using water-style users so we will suffer casualties on our end." the old man touched the shinobi-shaped block and knocked it signifying its death.
Riko picked up the block from the layout and placed it outside where it was. He then looked at the others around the table and asked "Then the only option I can think of is a frontal assault or else we might have to wait for whatever they are planning."
"Maybe an attack that originates from the inside can do the trick." Kakashi said as he placed 2 shinobi-shaped blocks on the blocks that represented the temporary base made by the hidden mist and the Mizukage faction.
"WHAT??" multiple people asked at the same time looking at Kakashi.
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