News spread quickly around Konoha, and the morose gloom that once visited it during the Second War once again fell on them. An eerie silence permeated the streets; mothers called their kids indoors, windows were shuttered, and the wind blew vacant through the alleyways.
Beneath the blazing sun, Kannin took a moment to remember how Konoha was just a few months ago: vibrant and animated, with laughter and sunshine echoing through the alleys--not carefree, but nonetheless hopeful. He wanted to bring that joy back to his home. For now, though, his whole body was sore and still not fully healed up--he was leaning on Kiyo for much of the walk with his team, still shuffling and groaning as they ambled along, and it took a great deal of focus to simply focus on the conversation.
Shin noticed this, and told him to ride Kiyo if it would help, which Kannin obliged. Tetsu and Warai hadn't heard the full story behind Kannin's injuries yet, and while he was resting on Kiyo, Shin filled them in on what happened the day before. Hearing that their friend had been in so much danger and nearly died, their spirits lowered; that is, until they both had the same thought at the same time,
'He fought an army of Iwa-nin on his own for almost 20 minutes?!'
They both looked at the sleepy Uzumaki kid and wondered just how strong he was now, and just how strong they were in comparison. Both of them got a little excited to see each other in action against the Iwa shinobi.
Tetsu and Warai had both spent the last year, like Kannin, training. Warai was now one of the best fire release users in her clan, and her Sharingan had reached three tomoes in both eyes. She could cast basic genjutsu with them now, and was easily able to copy jutsus with one glance. Tetsu had increased his taijutsu proficiency to the breaking point, and his earth release was second only to Hokage in his clan. All in all, Team 4 was a group of little demons.
Shin hadn't been slacking either. She had sharpened all of her skills to near perfection since the chunin exams. Her kunai work was immaculate, her Lightning Chakra Mode could last nearly an hour, and her other jutsus were leagues above where they were just 8 months ago.
They met up with the larger Konoha force a few miles outside the village. It was a thousand shinobi strong, mostly chunin, with about 200 sensor ninjas, from a number of clans, but especially the Hyuga and Uchiha, and another 300 or so medical-nin. Shin gathered them all and informed them of their mission parameters.
An hour later, they set off, intending to meet the Iwa force in about 2 days. The journey there was racked with fear. Many of the Konoha-nin hadn't seen war before, and were terrified that an Iwa force could take them by surprise at any moment. Shin guaranteed them that with their sensory division, such a thing could never happen, but nonetheless a certain unease pervaded the Konoha forces, like a bout of collective sleep paralysis, each Konoha-nin's eyes were wide open when awake, and sealed shut whenever else possible, hoping that whatever they saw--or didn't see--was just a figment of their imagination, though they knew it was real.
Another day passed, and Kannin was back to a functioning state. Tetsu was talking with his clan mates, and Warai was assigned to scouting since her Sharingan were so good. He called Kiyo, who had been soliciting everyone she could find for snacks, and she trotted over and sat down with him.
"Kiyo, you know we're going to war, right? You know what that means?"
She nodded, and said, "Kannin, I've walked this earth more centuries than you can fathom, I've seen human wars before, even had a few waged on my behalf."
Kannin didn't want to open that can of worms, and just petted Kiyo for a while before they moved out again. And they did move out again. Shin's intel told her that the Iwa force was about a day out and heading their way. She had them reposition to take the enemy by surprise. They settled in a heavily forested area with a natural choke point between the trees created by a lengthy series of parallel ridges to force the bulk of their company into one spot.
However, Iwa was not to be underestimated, and Shin stayed up all night making sure everything was perfect. That night was a quiet one. No one wanted to talk, and no one wanted to hear anything--no one wanted to justify this bad dream with talk, as if not speaking, not hearing could make it less real, less immediate.
Kannin, observing this as he sharpened Koseki, muttered 'Speak no evil, hear no evil...' with a sad grin, contorted with a tinge of despair.
-
It was around 3 am when they began to hear the sounds of the approaching enemy. Thousands of footsteps overlapping with one another, bounding across the forest floor. Shin was expecting her reinforcements the next day, so Konoha was at a definite disadvantage in terms of numbers, but thankfully, it would be difficult for the Tsuchikage to get an accurate assessment on their numbers, so she hoped a confident showing would make it seem like they were stronger than they actually were.
Another 30 minutes, and the first of the Iwa-nin came through, including their vanguard force. Shin let them pass for their rearguard to take care of, and didn't act until a large section of the army came through.
She sighed, and motioned for the trap to be sprung on them. Suddenly, hundreds of explosive tags detonated beneath the feet of the Iwa-shinobi. Many of the ones with low body reinforcement simply vaporized when the explosive tags went off, spraying blood and viscera for hundreds of yards and covering the Iwa-force.
Kannin was disgusted at the sight, and nearly vomited due to his still relatively weak constitution. He gripped Koseki so hard his knuckles went white. Kiyo was also troubled by the destruction, but steeled herself beside Kannin.
Shin gave the order for the Konoha forces to attack the disoriented Iwa-nin, and a bloodbath broke out. Those Iwa-nin who weren't destroyed by the explosive tags were then taken by an onslaught of Konoha-nin.
Shin had long ago noticed that scared ninja were more dangerous than the composed ones; they made rash decisions and used jutsu that were more dangerous with wanton disregard. What she saw below was a clash between two forces of such shinobi. The Iwa-nin were scared and on the back foot after the trap, and the Konoha-nin were green and anxious about the battle. She had hoped casualties wouldn't be too high, especially with their medical nin, but it was terrible.