AN: Surprise Second Chapter for the day! Haha! You amazing people managed to give me over 100 power stones last week, so as a reward here's a bonus chapter for y'all. Thanks!
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Souei walked into his shared tent with Rasa as they heard the news. The Kazekage and Aunt Chiyo, along with other high-ranking ninja of the war council had just decided their next course of action.
"What will you be doing?"
Souei asked Rasa as they started prepping all their gear and equipment. Souei sealed his spider legs in a scroll before he rolled it up and stuck it to his back.
"I will be joining the Kazekage in an excursion north, close to the lands of Amegakure. The Kazekage plans to shore up our defenses that are bordering Hanzo's forces." The auburn haired chunnin answered as he stuck two medium sized gourds to his waist.
Souei nodded at his answer as he stocked up on shuriken and kunai and started filling up his pouches. Souei himself will be with Chiyo and most of the puppet brigade to act as reinforcements to one of their border outposts that are being sieged by Konoha Forces.
"Looks like we won't be together this time, make sure you don't die." Souei said with a smile on his face as he finished packing.
Rasa let out an uncharacteristic snort at the comment. "Oh please, last time you went to battle without me, you and Ishito sensei ended up in a coma. I should be saying that to you."
A rueful laugh came out of Souei's mouth as he couldn't help but acknowledge that point. "True. But then again, we were fighting a jinchuuriki last time. So things going to shit was pretty much par for the course."
"Perhaps, but remember the battlefield we're on now, Souei. Most of the ninja the Kazekage and Chiyo-sama brought here are the elite of the village, and my guess is that the other villages are doing the same. This won't be like what we experienced back in the Land of Stone."
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry I didn't forget." Souei said with a shake of his head. "You're also acting kinda weird. Since when did you turn to such a worry wart? Is everything okay, Rasa?"
The other boy just sighed. "Let's just say that having a moment where I thought I might have lost my entire team is not one I would like to experience again. When you, Rukia, and Ishito Sensei were all found unconscious and in various states of injury…." Rasa's eyes narrowed as his mind flashed back to right after the Kamino Battle. "I was scared I'd lose the people I'd come to care for is all."
Seeing a new side to his friend he never expected to see, Souei was quiet for a moment. He never knew Rasa kept all that from everyone, especially since they spent a considerable amount of time on the road to get here.
It didn't take long however for him to smile and pat Rasa in the shoulder. He didn't say any words back since he felt like he didn't need to. The other man understanding his intention as well as the both of them nodded.
'We'll get back to Rukia and Ishito Sensei. No matter what happens.'
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Souei ran forward, a few other sand ninja alongside him, as they rushed towards the sounds of battle. Per the plan, Aunt Chiyo had led most of the puppet brigade and another platoon of sand ninja to reinforce their border outpost, numbering around a hundred fifty in their number.
They had left camp a day and a half ago, and would arrive at the outpost soon. It was when they were but a few miles from the outpost that screams of combat and the sound of clashing steel were heard by them all.
Chiyo immediately ordered for them to double time it, and here he was now.
The Land of Rain was not as lush as other countries, nor did they have fertile lands for them to farm. It was sort of like the Land of Wind in that way. The landscapes of the Land of Rain were merely small mountain ranges and stone plains dotted with clusters of rocks for miles. There are a few forests here and there, but definitely not as much as the Land of Fire.
The border outpost was set up in a mild rock outcropping, with a few tall stone spires and a cliff that gave it some natural defenses. According to Aunt Chiyo, the base served as a border defense to not allow the Konoha and Iwa forces passage as this pathway served as an entry point to the Land of Wind.
As Souei and the rest of his contingent ran forward, they reached the peak of the hill to the sight of this outpost burning.
Invaders wearing the Konoha headband were charging through the gate that Souei idly noted was built using some Earth Jutsu. There were a few fights outside the walls, but judging from the sounds of combat, most of the fighting were happening inside. Doing a mental count in his head, it looked like their forces numbered around two to three hundred.
Souei immediately unsealed his spider legs as the 4 golden tendrils now appeared on his back. Wordlessly, he immediately sent them forward, each spearing through the backs of surprised leaf ninja before moving to another.
[AN: Think Yondu with his arrow, only on a smaller scale. He'll eventually pull a Yondu and annihilate an army with his spider legs, but Souei ain't there yet.]
Souei heard the leaders of the squads in his platoon spit out orders, some were told to aid the fights on the outside of the walls, others to do whatever they can to stop the flow of ninja charging through the gates.
Souei himself was tasked to do the latter, and he had just the move to do so.
Long white threads were extended from each of his fingers, reaching nearly thirty meters in length for each before he pumped fire chakra into them. This resulted in all ten strings to ignite in a fiery red color. He then jumped up, eyes trained on the cluster of ninja rushing outside the gates of the outpost.
Some of the leaf ninja had already shaken away the surprise from seeing the reinforcements and seen Souei's attack. A leaf Jonin in particular had noticed the amount of chakra currently emanating from Souei's technique and attempted to stop him.
Unfortunately for him, he found himself intercepted by a wooden puppet in the shape of a large scorpion.
"NO!" the Jonin cried.
"Fire Thread Release: Hell Spider!"
Souei crossed his arms, and the red hot strings fell into the group of Konoha shinobi. Most of the ninja there immediately found themselves cut into several pieces as the strings bisected into their bodies.
A few more experienced shinobi managed to defend themselves, while others fell out of range from Souei's technique. But the damage had been done.
A ring of cheers came out of the sand ninja within the outpost as they renewed their defense, now knowing that with the arrival of their reinforcements, victory is within their grasp.
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Chiyo saw all this from a distance as she subtly manipulated her puppets across the battlefield. Her experience and mastery of the technique allowing her to easily manipulate all ten of her puppets even this far away. She was currently on a small hill, a place that overlooked the entire field and allowed her to gain a vantage point to everything that's happening.
With each of her puppets being able to match the prowess of a Jonin, her title as an S rank shinobi was truly well deserved, as the few ninja who stood by her as guards could attest.
'So this is Chiyo-sama's true strength..! Incredible..' thought a girl wearing the standard sand ninja uniform, along with the turban on her head. She appeared a few years older than Souei and was also a member of the Matsuri Clan.
'That Souei sure has grown strong.' Chiyo thought with a proud smile on her face as she saw the devastation he created out of the corner of her eye. With a flick of her index finger, she moved the scorpion puppet that she used to protect Souei and moved it to another fight that required her help.
'Still though, he's as reckless as ever. He should've known that doing a flashy move like that would garner attention.' She chastised quietly in her mind. In war, chaos ran rampant. There's a reason why most ninjas stick to simple weapons like kunai or shuriken and close quarters combat during wars like this. Because most people simply won't have the time to create big powerful moves. With sensors of all kinds on the battlefield, ten of your enemies would notice the spike in chakra and subsequently kill you off before one could finish their techniques.
That limitation ran moot for Kage level ninja like her of course. Most of her peers, especially ones that specialize in ninjutsu, could call on powerful moves and unleash them in less than a second. But contrary to popular belief, the true strength of a hidden village comes from the standard ninja that fill their ranks. Not the kages.
Which is why she believed Souei made a mistake in doing so when he didn't yet confirm his own safety, but again she contributed that to his lack of experience. This is only his first war after all.
Not that she wants him to experience another war. If the gods were good, this would be the last one he would see in his lifetime. But the point still stands.
He did manage to take out a good chunk of their forces though so points to her nephew. There were still plenty of them however, and it looks like things won't end yet.
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Hiashi Hyuga stood back to back with his twin Hizashi, as they both unleashed a deadly barrage of palm strikes towards their opponents. Their Byakugan not only allowing them to see miles away in a 360 degree vision. The tips of their fingers alight with blue chakra as they jabbed towards the tenketsu of the sand ninja surrounding them, visible to them due to the Byakugan.
Their movements were graceful and having grown up together, raised together, and trained together, Hiashi and Hizashi knew each other like the backs of their hands. The strikes were precise and complimentary to one another. Hiashi covered his twin's blind spots and he did the same for him.
The older Hyuga parried a fist that would hit his brother in the back by jabbing the offending hand in the wrist, before he followed up with a mighty palm that broke the man's rib cage.
He then immediately ducked, a kunai sailing through where his head had been, before he turned around and extended a palm, a gust of wind enhanced chakra being sent from his outstretched hand that slammed into the ninja and swept him off his feet.
"Air Palm!"
Hizashi then moved in and engaged the rest to a taijutsu fight, his mastery of the Gentle Fist allowing him to handle the pace of the fight.
With his twin brother covering for him, Hiashi took the chance to survey the field with his Byakugan, as it stands, things were not looking good for the Konoha Forces. The reinforcements sent by Suna had them reeling and now they were suffering too many losses.
His enhanced vision could pick out major battles happening all throughout the field, it wasn't that bad, but the way things are going, even if Konoha emerges victorious, they would barely have the numbers to hold the outpost for themselves.
After all, the plan was to use the outpost as a staging ground for their army to get inside the Land of Wind, but it seems that plan has failed.
His brother had just finished the last of the Suna Shinobi surrounding them when Hiashi sidestepped, a white lance made entirely out of string passing through harmlessly through his original location that slammed to a nearby boulder and destroyed it.
Then, Hiashi saw a blue haired ninja wearing a sand headband land a few feet away from them, splintering the earth and creating cracks all over the ground beneath him. He was a few years younger than Hiashi himself, and had on a blue combat shirt and pants with a high collar, one not unlike he's seen on a few Uchiha. He adorned a white scarf that covered his neck and on his back were 4 golden puppet legs that were designed akin to a spider.
Hiashi recognizes him of course, he was the one that had done the large attack when the Suna reinforcements first arrived, not to mention he's also a point of interest in the war briefings when the Hokage told the council of the re-emergence of the one thought long lost Kekkei Genkai. The Thread Release. It was information not for the regular rank-in-file ninja to know, with Hiashi himself being in the loop due to his clan status.
His brother stood beside him as they both eyed their new adversary. With the man himself looking at them with narrowed eyes.
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AN: The war is finally kicking up again! Pretty proud of this chapter, and I hope the sudden Hiashi POV surprised you. I was looking for potential POV's from other villages to have just a shift in pace and see the war through the eyes of another village.
I came up with Hiashi since the man is actually pretty strong in his own right, said to just fall short from the likes of Minato and Fugaku in his generation.
Coming next: Souei vs Hyuga Twins!
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Advanced chapters on my pat_reon page! Make sure to check it out! You could get up to chapter 35 by the time this was published! Chapter 36 and 37 are finished and is currently undergoing editing. Chapter 38 is a quarter of a way done.
Leave a review and some power stones! I'll drop a bonus chapter if we reach 100 power stones by the end of the week.
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Cheers!