Kouske was running towards the rendezvous point. As he got closer, he sensed the chakra of the people. He then erased his scent and moved silently but fast. He reached a tree and hid. He was 180 meters away. He used [Chakra Sense Scan Jutsu] to see the results of the battle. He can see the bodies of 3 of his allies with 4 missing. Those probably retreated. The enemies were 12 with 2 ninken. He killed 4 shinobis and 2 ninken, in front of him were 5 enemies. Meaning, his allies only took out 3 and had 3 casualties. He knows he only had good results because he used surprise attacks and a good plan. This is also the reason that he prefers not to engage head on as he knows his weaknesses well. In a head on fight, even he does not know how he will survive. It will depend on the circumstances and the condition he and his opponent is in. But he knows that the day is not far when he has to engage head on without his cunning. Just like other shinobi, he would have to fight with all his wit and strength just to survive. After confirming the situation of his allies, he decided to go back to his camp and started moving. Unbeknown to him, he was spotted by the Hyuga as he was moving away and 5 shinobis started chasing him but were outside his sensing range.
…
After 1 hour, he was quite near his camp. His camp was on a small hill that is a little higher to the ground and is clear of trees all around it. The diamyo's territory was only 15 mins from here. He reached the camp, identified himself at the entrance and was told to meet the commander. He entered the commander's tent. He does not know that due to him the location of the camp has been revealed as 5 shinobis are 800 meters away and a Hyuga just confirmed with them about the camp. He met the commander who is an Uchiha in his thirties. He reported everything except how he killed his opponents and even showed the bodies as proof that he killed enemy shinobis.
Uchiha commander: Quite impressive. You are right that some of the shinobi that went with you were able to retreat. What I am most interested about is how were you able to kill veteran shinobis and why the veterans that were with you got killed and some had to retreat?
The commander asked in a mocking tone.
Kouske: I do not know. I just planned well and executed my plan perfectly.
Uchiha commander: So you are saying that the people who went with you did not plan anything? Or is it that they do not know how to plan?
Kouske: I never said anything like that. I just gave you the reason why I think I was able to win.
Uchiha commander: Hmm....Fine, go to your assigned tent and rest for the rest of the day. You will be on watch tonight.
Kouske: Hai.
Kouske went outside the tent. He looked at the sun in the sky and pondered how difficult the coming battles are going to be. He then made a creepy smiling face. His body was moving with that face depicting that he was laughing but no sound was coming out.
[Kouske inner thought: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I FUCKING SURVIVED. FUCK YOU FATE. EVEN OUTNUMBERED, I FUCKED THEM. Oh no, I can not let this get to my head. Arrogance is one of the reasons why a shinobi dies....MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I FUCKING FUCKED ALL OF THEM. FATE HAS NO HOLD ON ME BABY! Oh no, calm down. You already triggered a death flag. No, let's not think about that. I need to take a quick nap and get ready. I will need to fucking prepare myself. I need more paper bombs. YES, MORE EXPLOSIONS, BIGGER EXPLOSIONS. OH DAMN, I JUST GOT AN AMAZING IDEA. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, IF MY PLAN WORKS, THE NEXT BATTLES ARE GONNA BE A SIGHT TO SEE. I WILL LET THEM KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MESS WITH A MENTALLY UNSTABLE GENIUS. GET READY FOR THE BIG BANGS. OK KOUSKE, LET'S GO BABY. YOU CAN DO IT. PRESENT PEOPLE WITH THE GIFTS OF YOUR INGENIOUS. OH DAMN, I GOT ANOTHER PLAN. MY MIND IS WORKING BRILLIANTLY TODAY IF I SAY SO MYSELF. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, BATTLES FULL OF EXPLOSIONS AWAIT.]
[Guard-1]: Oi, what do you think is wrong with the kid?
[Guard-2]: Shh...Some Fuma clan people I know told me that, Shiru clan has devised torturous training methods to create more child shinobis. The method was tested on that kid there and so although he is a good shinobi the training has left him mentally unstable. I was told that he is crazy and we should not get on his bad side. Just ignore him and assume he is not there.
Kouske was walking while expressing his joy through his body so he did not hear that but the rumours regarding him and his clan have been spreading recently due to two Fuma clan members that followed his orders in the ambush before.
…
Kouske took a 2 hours nap and then went to the camp square.
Kouske: SHINOBIS AND KUNOICHIS, MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION! COME FORWARD, COME FORWARD. IF YOU HAVE PAPERS AND SPECIAL SEALING INK THEN BRING IT WITH YOU. GIVE ME HALF OF THOSE AND ON THE OTHER HALF I WILL INSCRIBE EITHER MY CUSTOM EXPLOSION SEAL SO THAT YOU CAN HAVE A BETTER PAPER BOMB OR I CAN INSCRIBE SOME SEALING JUTSU AND TURN THEM INTO SEALING TAGS. COME FORWARD, COME FORWARD. YOUR LIFE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SUPPLIES. SHARE YOUR SUPPLIES WITH ME AND INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF SURVIVAL. COME, COME, COME, YOU THERE SIR YOU ARE ALREADY QUITE OLD, THERE IS NO TELLING WHEN YOU COULD DIE. INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF SURVIVAL. COME BRING ME YOUR SUPPLIES. YOU THERE MISS, YOU ARE IN YOUR FORTIES, YOU COULD DIE ANYTIME AS WELL. IF YOU WANT TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF SURVIVAL, KILL MORE OF THE ENEMY AND BASK IN THE GLORY THEN COME AND BRING YOUR SUPPLIES.
Due to the commotion caused by him, the Uchiha commander came.
Uchiha commander: WHAT ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU A SHINOBI OR A MERCHANT?
Kouske: I just wanted papers and sealing ink. I know how to create paper bombs which are better than the normal ones and sealing tags. I do not have the money to buy them so I am offering my services in exchange for some.
Uchiha commander: Why do you think that shinobi who do not know sealing techniques will be carrying paper and sealing ink?
Kouske: OH!.....Hmmmm, I thought they might? Well, it does not hurt to try.
Uchiha commander: I was told you were a genius but a little crazy, But from what I can see you are just crazy or an idiot. STOP THIS DRAMA AND REST BEFORE YOUR NIGHT WATCH. AM I UNDERSTOOD?
Kouske: Hai.
Unfortunately, Kouske has to go back to his tent.
[Kouske inner thought: SHIT, MY PLAN CAN NOT BE AS GRAND AS I THOUGHT. I HAVE ABOUT 300 PAPERS. HMM....I ALSO HAVE ENOUGH SPECIAL INK FOR THOSE BUT I WANTED MORE. LOOKS LIKE I HAVE TO DO WITH WHAT I HAVE AND COMPROMISE. Let's just sleep before my shift…..What am I thinking? This type of thinking will get me killed. No! I can't sleep. I should work on those papers.]
Kouske went to the forest nearby, he created 5 shadow clones and started working on those papers and his plan.
…
It was midnight and Kouske's shift just started. He did not sleep and worked on creating paper bombs. From the information he got, some of the shinobis were sent on a canal nearby which is also a strategic position as merchant ships travel through it. That place has also become a battlefield. The specifics were not told to him but he knows that the battle there is intense. He was grateful that he will have a peaceful night. Three more hours passed and it was 3 am in the morning.
Boom
An explosion happens outside his sensing range.
Kouske: OH COME ONE, CAN'T I HAVE ONE PEACEFUL NIGHT WITHOUT ANY FIGHTING.
Boom Boom
More explosions happened and it is proof that a battle is taking place. His shift supervisor, who is from the Hagormo clan came to him.
Hagoromo supervisor: What are you doing spacing out? Why did you not notice the enemies?
Kouske: I thought you knew my sensing range is only 200 meters.
Hagoromo supervisor: Damn, I can not believe this. Fine, come with me we are gonna investigate.
Kouske: Wha..What? No, I think we should stay here. There would be less shinobi in the camp.
[No way am I going to the battlefied. NO, NO, NO.]
Hagoromo supervisor: SHUT UP! Do you think we are idiots? I just talked with other shinobi supervisors. We could use your sensory abilities to detect enemies as fighting in that forest during night means we might not be able to locate all the enemies and they have Hyuga on their side so we need people who can counter them. All of your clansmen assigned in this camp have also been assigned squads and are being mobilised. Some that have more range than you will stay in the camp and most will be utilised to fish out the enemy. We are already outnumbered so we will have to use all of our resources.
Kouske: Okay Sir, let's go.
[SHIT, I FORGOT THAT TSUCHIMIKADO HAD ASKED 20 SHINOBIS WHEN WE LEFT AND HE ASKED 20 MORE WHEN THE WAR STARTED. JUST MY LUCK THAT DUE TO MY SHORT SENSING RANGE I HAVE TO GO TO BATTLE WITH A SQUAD. DAMN IT.]
Kouske joined a 4 man squad with a Hagoromo, a Fuma and an Uchiha. The squad leader was Hagoromo because he was 30 years old and had the most experience. The Uchiha was a child shinobi like him but she was 13 years old. The Fuma was in her early 20s and was pretty. Their squad left the camp and towards the clouds of smoke raised by the explosions.
[I need to keep my eyes open not only on the enemy but also on my squad. I will see whatever jutsu they use. I need to remember the hand signs. If the jutsus are of my chakra nature then after knowing the hand signs and practicing, I should be able to recreate the jutsus. LET'S USE THIS CHANCE TO STEAL SOME JUTSUS FROM OTHER CLANS. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Also, let's use what I have prepared. It might come in handy.]
[Animal Mind Control Jutsu]
Kouske created [Animal Mind Control Jutsu] after improving [Animal Telepathy Jutsu] quite a while back, meaning it is an advanced jutsu from [Animal Telepathy Jutsu]. With this jutsu, he can literally mind control animals. He has only tested it on simple ordinary animals. He has not tested it on summoning animals or big ferocious animals yet. With this jutsu, he can literally mind control the animals and have them do his bidding. Even if he were to order them to commit suicide, the animals will comply. Through this jutsu's link, he can also see what the animal is seeing. After using the Jutsu once, the animals will follow him by their own will. If he wants to order them constantly through his mind and control them like puppets or if wants to telepathically issue orders then he has to keep using the jutsu. When he wants to take control, he has to use chakra constantly and the more animals he wants to control personally like puppets, the more mental burden he has to bear. If he were to just order the animals verbally then there is no need for him to use chakra. As long as the animals are under the effect of the jutsu, they will follow his every order. The jutsu's effect lasts for 48 hours. He can refresh the duration if he were to use the jutsu again to bind the minds again. He basically implants his chakra into the animal's mind with his will. He makes the animal's psyche go to sleep for 48 hours and his chakra will act as a new psyche. He created this after researching genjutsu as genjutsus are some form of Yin-release.
He wanted to create powerful genjutsus for himself but he did not have much time. He did some tests though. The [Animal Telepathy Jutsu] and [Animal Mind Control Jutsu] are the results of those tests. His clan has some basic genjutsus that they collected through various means but those jutsus are weak. Due to this, his clan did try to create some jutsus and they were successful but the jutsus created were not powerful and special as well. So, the clan decided that they have no talent for genjutsu and stopped researching. All of their research does exist though, so Kouske read those scrolls and absorbed the knowledge in them. He came up with theories and tested them. Some of the theories bore fruit, others did not. He also created a few genjutsus that are not really powerful but he created them with combat in mind. So he knows if he uses them effectively then even the not so special genjutsus can create opportunities for him to exploit.
Right now, he is using [Animal Mind Control Jutsu] to send orders to the animals he put under his control. He put animals under his control when he was making preparations. The animals range from rats, squirrels, pigeons, crows and owls with rats being the most in number, because in the forest, rats and squirrels are large in numbers. He also found some wild dogs, wild cats and wild foxes but he decided against using those. He wanted animals that are fast and small or birds that can fly.
…
Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom
As they got closer the number of explosions increased. They saw a shinobi coming this way. Fortunately, that shinobi was an ally and from the Fuma clan.
Hagoromo squad leader: Where are you going?
Fuma retreating shinobi: It is a full on attack. I am going back to report to the commander. We need as many reinforcements as we can get. We are fortunate that one of the patrolling squad found some traces and got suspicious which resulted in our enemies coming out of hiding to try to silence them. This led to the skirmish that allowed the nearby squads to notice this attack.
The Fuma shinobi just stopped to explain and then started to move towards the camp. We also stopped to listen. Now we were looking at our squad leader.
Hagoromo squad leader: You heard him, it is a full on attack. We are already outnumbered, if we want to survive, we have to watch each other's backs. Support each other whenever we can. I know each of your abilities. But each of you do not know about the others. So briefly explain what you are proficient in and we will get moving.
Uchiha kunoichi: Fire style, earth style and swordsmanship. Also, I have 2 tomoe sharingan.
Fuma Kunoichi: Wind style as main, lightning style as secondary.
Kouske: Fire style, just good enough to go by in swordsmanship, some proficiency in taijutsu and I am a sensor. 200 meters max range. Also, some proficiency in sealing techniques and barrier jutsu.
Hagoromo squad leader: Water style and earth style for me. Also, I use staff as a weapon. Now let's go. We will take out any squad that is moving towards the camp.
Kouske: What if there are more of them than us? Do we retreat?
Hagoromo squad leader: No and Yes. We will retreat while delaying them. Emi Fuma you are their senior and have Wind style, coordinate with them and use the Fire-Wind combination jutsu. You will also coordinate with me, You will use lightning with my Water style to do Water-Lightning combination Jutsu as well. Also, when I shout defence, Aiko Uchiha you will use Earth style with me to create defence for us. Kouske you will be sensing and if there is any danger of us getting surrounded then I expect you to tell me beforehand. We are already outnumbered, getting surrounded will result in us getting killed. Now let's move.