Chapter 16
MINATO NAMIKAZE
Minato's team had penetrated deep into Iwa by now, and it would soon be time for him to leave them as he would separate and move towards the front lines drawing the attention of Iwa's forces in hope that his team would be able to infiltrate and take out the Kanabi bridge.
Already, they had dealt with a few Iwa-nin, and the team's performance was satisfactory enough. Kakashi's new jutsu, the one he had painstakingly developed, was still incomplete, even though from the report he had received earlier, someone had managed to outshine his student's achievement and had done the impossible.
Reports about Izuna and Lord Orochimaru's success in launching a counter-offensive against Kumo forces had reached him and had motivated him further to bring this all to an end. And if their attack on Kanabi bridge was as successful as they hoped, then they would have blunted Iwa just as Izuna and Lord Orochimaru had blunted Kumo.
But it all came down to him and his team.
As they reached the pre-decided point, he raised his hand as they all came to a halt and stepped down on the ground.
Minato turned to face his three students and felt proud of them. Of all of them as he spoke up.
"This is it. This is where we go our separate ways," he said as he looked Kakashi in the eye.
"The command of the mission from here on out lies with you, jounin Kakashi," and the masked boy perked up at his words as Obito rolled his eyes. And though it was natural and usual for Obito to goof around, this was different. For this time, he would not be there to cover their backs.
"Obito, is that understood?" he asked sharply, and the Uchiha kid nodded as he gave him a thumbs up.
"Yes. Yes, I do," he said as Kakashi huffed.
They were tense and nervous, as they should be. This was their first solo mission of such a scale and importance, and the responsibility that lay on their shoulders was heavy, heavier than most shinobi ever bore.
But he had much confidence that they could do it, that these three would prove equal to the task.
So, to ease their tension and to excite their competitive spirits, he decided to share with them the report he had received earlier.
"Earlier in the morning, I received a report from the village about the Northern Border," he began and saw them all perk up at that, for they also knew just was stationed there.
Now, all six eyes were focused on him as he smiled and told them the good news.
"Last night, Konoha launched a successful counter-offensive against Kumo's forces, one that Lord Orochimaru and Izuna Uchiha led. Kumo took heavy casualties, and their defensive encampments have now been decimated, and we hold a great advantage now against Kumo," and he saw Rin smile as Kakashi's eyes narrowed.
"That is very good news," Rin added, and he nodded.
Obito's expression was more subdued, and yet, in an instant, the boy's face lit up.
"Yeah, but we cannot let a kid outshine us now, can we? Don't worry, sensei. After we are done with this mission, we are going to show that brat is just who is the strongest," and he smiled at his enthusiasm as Kakashi's eyes lit up as well.
"So, I want you all to be vigilant and safe. Watch each other's backs, and you will all be just fine," he said. With that, he raised his fist, and the three of them followed suit and did a team fist bump.
"Kakashi, you still have that kunai on you," he asked, and the boy nodded as he took out his little gift to him for his jounin promotion, and he nodded.
"And what of your wound, the one you got earlier...." and the boy shrugged.
"It's healed. Rin's iryo-ninjutsu worked just fine," and that was good.
"Ok, then good luck," and with that, he turned away from them, for his own journey was much longer than theirs as he rushed towards the front line, leaving behind his team with prayer, conviction, and a fail-safe.
0000
DODAI-The Kumogakure Commander
One battle. Two shinobi. That was what had taken to shift the tides of the war. And though the war was neither yet nor won, the momentum had shifted to Konoha in a single swift battle.
This was what made Konoha the powerhouse that it was. The rest of the villages could produce a thousand or so average shinobi, all of middling strength and prowess. But they would all be made useless in the face of one of their geniuses.
And ruefully for them, Kumo was forced to face not one but three of them. Orochimaru of the Sanin, the man who had faced the indomitable Hanzo Hattori to a standstill with his teammates, earning the title of Sanin. Then there was the genius commander, the one who had held up a defensive line that should have fallen months ago without his plans and ploys, Shikaku Nara.
And the last one was a shinobi they had thought dead. Or at least hoped. A young rising star whose potential was thought to be equal to that of the Yellow Flash. A young Uchiha prodigy, who, alongside his friend, was hailed as the brightest star of Konoha's next generation—Izuna Uchiha.
Yet the boy had survived. And now Dodai and Kumogakure were shown firsthand why his village so highly praised the boy and why his survival was such a big disaster for them.
The boy had single-handedly slaughtered all their offensive units, all of them dead by the edge of his tanto as the Sanin lay waste to their encampments, ruining Kumo's morale and chances of a successful offensive.
Despite it being a week, they were still accounting for the dead, such was the level of the losses they had suffered.
"Eighty percent," he told the only shinobi of their village who could, in a way, replicate the deed of the three Konoha prodigies. He was their village's pride and leader, the very man he had failed—Ay, the Third Raikage.
"According to the latest estimates, that is the amount of damage we suffered. Our forces are decimated, our defensive line is barely holding on," he continued on as the man saw through the reports, with a steely expression.
And though it may not seem as such, the man was not the Kage because of his strength. No, there was intelligence behind that gaze as the man looked over the maps, and the reports.
"Is it true that they are building an offensive force as well?" the man finally questioned him, and Dodai nodded.
"Yes, we have observed large movements on one part of the border, just behind the defensive line. Konoha is preparing for an offensive," and that was the most troubling part.
They had just gone from being the hunters to the hunted, and given that their own secondary force had been forced to partially mobilise to fill up the gaps in their defences, it was neigh impossible for them to launch an offensive against Konoha.
"They will not wait for long. Konoha will wish to take advantage of this position and attack as soon as possible," the man added, and that would be the worst thing for Kumo.
"If they break through our defensive lines and get behind us, Konoha will be able to strike at our home, at Kumogakure," the man thundered as Dodai's gaze lowered in embarrassment and frustration.
This was all his fault.
"I apologize for my failure..."
"No this is not just your failure, Dodai," the man's voice rang out as Dodai looked up and saw the man's gaze lingering on him.
"This is my failure as well. But we cannot wallow in self-pity. We must act," and Dodai nodded inspired by the man's words and thinking.
"Yes, Raikage-sama," and the man nodded.
"We could try and shore up our defenses, or perhaps we could pull back and join forces with the secondary host to bulk up our numbers," and the man nodded as he rubbed his chin.
"If we do that Konoha will choke us, they will surround us and then pick off our forces one Kumo-nin at a time, ultimately forcing us to surrender. No, we must strike," and that was a surprising opinion.
"But Raikage-sama, who will lead such a strike..." he asked, and the man rose up from the chair.
"I will," the man answered, and Dodai was taken aback by those words.
"No, Raikage-sama. It would put your life in grave danger, with our numbers as they are..."
"The enemy has one of those Sanin, that Snake summoning brat, and the devil commander in their ranks. And then there is that up-Uchiha kid in there as well, the one who slaughtered our offensive units. Unless it is I who lead the attack, our men will find themselves dead within minutes when faces against those three," and cruel as it may be, it was true.
"But still, we could attack the other side...." the Raikage shook his head again.
"The one who mans Konoha's defense there is the Uchiha clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku. He is not an enemy that we can underestimate as well," and they were truly boxed in.
Fugaku Uchiha had a reputation nearly on par with Yellow Flash, which meant something.
"It has to be," the Raikage-sama announced, as Dodai but his lip, helpless and frustrated by it all.
Uchiha, Nara, Yamanaka, Sarutobi, Hyuuga, Aburame, and a dozen more. Clans, storied and filled with history, with many bearing Kekkei Genkai that made them unique and dangerous. While the rest of the villages boasted a few, Konoha was filled with clans as such, each of them unique and special in their own ways that made them the most dangerous of the Five Great Villages.
"But my lor..." but before he could finish, a shinobi blurred behind him. A hunter-nin, wearing a mask on its face.
"I bring grave news, Raikage-sama," the man hunter-nin announced as Dodai felt a chill run down his being, as a sense of hopelessness enveloped him as he continued.
"Konoha's forces have somehow gotten behind the defensive line up North and are approaching the village as we speak. The secondary host was caught unaware and is barely holding them back..."
0000
DANZO SHIMURA
Danzo Shimura stood in the network of caves below the village as he read the latest mission reports from the northern front, both the official and the unofficial ones.
In both reports, the focus was on one shinobi, Uchiha Izuna.
The boy had done the impossible and had single-handedly changed the tides of the war, and now his own father was set to add to that, hence enhancing the fame and influence of the Uchiha clan. A troubling sentiment for the village, especially since this could be Hiruzen's last war, with him retiring at its end. An end that was now closer than it had ever been in the last decade.
And he could scarcely let that happen, and though he could not target Fugaku directly given the man's prowess, his son was still a budding shinobi. And the loss of a son was truly troubling. It had broken his old friend Hiruzen.
He could only hope that it would do the same to Fugaku.
It was such a shame to lose an important pawn like that, but Izuna Uchiha could not be allowed to live. The boy had to be killed. If not for his fame and potential, then for the power that lingered in his eyes—a power that could unravel reality itself.
The power of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"It is such a shame that Orochimaru failed in his mission," and the boy could have died a martyr, hence acting as a beacon of courage and strength for the shinobi on the front lines, boosting morale.
But now he would have to die while lying injured on his bed. A shame.
As he burnt the reports, he struck his cane on the ground, and a masked foundation shinobi emerged behind him.
"Have the order sent to kill Izuna Uchiha before he wakes up and recover his eyes as ordered...." and the kneeling nin vanished after his command.
"As you wish, Danzo-sama...."
0000
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