Two more days passed.
Konoha's Western Front main force finally reached the front lines.
The commander was Natsuki—but the first to arrive was Orochimaru. Natsuki came later. All of it, of course, was theater for the Hidden Sand's benefit.
Orochimaru arrived at the command post.
"Lord Hokage." A Jonin stepped forward with his report. "A mysterious assassin has killed nine Hidden Sand Jonin over the past four days."
"Any guesses as to who?" Orochimaru's face gave nothing away.
"We suspect Lord Natsuki," the Jonin said after a moment's hesitation.
"And why him?"
"The assassin kills with arrows. Within Konoha, no one but Lord Natsuki excels at archery."
"To be precise, there isn't a ninja in the entire world who excels at archery besides Natsuki." Orochimaru let out a soft breath.
Bows weren't mainstream weapons. For a ninja, shuriken did everything a bow could. The reason Natsuki favored one was that it let him showcase what he was actually capable of.
"Natsuki's business is Natsuki's business." Orochimaru changed tack abruptly. "What matters right now is the war."
"Yes, Lord Hokage." The Jonin came to it at once. "Because of the assassin, Konoha has held an enormous advantage these past few days."
"Their morale is on the floor. Never mind their Jonin—even their Chunin and Genin can't perform." Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"The Hidden Sand's command post is on the far side of the battlefield." The Jonin indicated the map. "Roughly thirty kilometers between the two."
"Close it by ten," Orochimaru instructed.
"Yes, Lord Hokage." The Jonin withdrew.
Orochimaru's gaze settled on the map, thoughtful.
Compared with Natsuki, who did as he pleased, a war between two hidden villages was only seesaw fighting on the surface. Underneath it was a contest of national strength and resources.
Konoha's expenditures were running extremely high. The Land of Fire's Daimyo could carry it for now, but let this drag on and there would be problems. He needed to close the war out as fast as possible.
Weighing the whole picture, Orochimaru settled on a more aggressive strategy. The essence of it was simple: break the Hidden Sand, then turn and deal with the Hidden Stone.
Even Orochimaru had no confidence in annihilating the Sand outright. What he wanted was to beat them badly enough to force a peace treaty. That would free the Western Front's ninja to shift north.
The Northern Front only needed to hold. Their opponent there was the Hidden Stone—acknowledged as the most combat-capable of the Five Great Villages. No terrain gave them trouble. Forest, desert, it made no difference; Earth Release adapts to anything. Put Konoha's main force on the Northern Front and there was every chance of grinding into a stalemate.
Three hours later, Natsuki arrived at the command post.
"Teacher." He went straight to Orochimaru. "I'm ready."
"Mm." Orochimaru gave a small nod. "Tomorrow I'll lead the charge personally. You'll command from the rear."
Natsuki had no objection. Commander he might be, but among the many frontline commanders he was relatively green. Orochimaru was another matter—a veteran of two Great Ninja Wars. Next to him, Natsuki was a newcomer who'd never seen the world.
Besides, Natsuki had more important work.
"Teacher, I intend to bring the Akatsuki in on this." Natsuki spoke up. "They'll strike the Hidden Sand's rear out of the Land of Rain."
"A good opportunity." Orochimaru nodded. "Do it."
The Land of Rain sat wedged between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. The Hidden Rain's position was critical—the Sand had wanted it for years, and for good reason. Control the Hidden Rain, and you could put a knife to Konoha's throat directly.
"Beyond that, the Land of Grass is ready as well," Natsuki added.
"You've placed your pieces well," Orochimaru said with a faint smile.
The Hidden Grass could threaten the Hidden Stone's flank. Their strength was nothing next to the Stone's, but the Stone would still have to spend attention guarding against them—which would take real weight off Konoha's Northern Front.
"Teacher, I've accomplished a few things over the years. But I can't compare to you," Natsuki said, smiling.
"Don't be modest." Orochimaru looked him over. "Among Konoha's young generation, you're the finest. What you'll achieve will surpass anything I have."
"I hope so." Natsuki didn't deflect it. "But that'll have to wait until the war's over."
"Indeed." Orochimaru nodded. "Go do what you need to. Tomorrow will take every side working in concert."
"Yes, Teacher." Natsuki turned and left the command post.
—
The leader's office, Hidden Rain Village.
"Natsuki-sensei!" Yahiko was startled to see him. "You've come in person—is something serious happening?"
"Tomorrow, the Akatsuki hits the Hidden Sand's rear," Natsuki said directly. "I'll lead the operation myself."
"Understood!"
"Summon every Akatsuki Jonin," Natsuki instructed.
Within the Akatsuki, the ones who could actually take the field were Yahiko, Nagato, Konan, Hyo-onna, and Kakuzu—all of them originally from the Land of Rain. Pakura and Mui couldn't participate; if their identities came out, it would be a mess.
"Yes, Natsuki-sensei." Yahiko turned and went.
Before long, every Akatsuki Jonin had gathered in the leader's office.
Natsuki laid out the next day's plan briefly. In short: slip into the Sand's rear and make chaos. Burn food. Cut supply lines. Kill logistics ninja.
That last was tailor-made for Hyo-onna's Eyeball Clones—nearly impossible to detect, and capable of an enormous blast on self-destruct.
"This is far too dangerous!" Konan couldn't hold it in once he'd finished. "We have too few people. How can we fight the whole of the Hidden Sand?"
The Akatsuki had a fair number of ninja, herself and Yahiko and Nagato included, but their combat power was nowhere near the Sand's.
"We're not fighting them head-on." Natsuki looked at her. "We make chaos in the rear. The moment it breaks out, we pull back."
Konan blinked—then understood. She'd been winding herself up. Guerrilla work like that really could gut the Hidden Sand. And with their numbers so small, the Sand would never catch them.
"Don't worry." Natsuki reached out and patted her head. "It'll go smoothly."
Konan nodded, still uneasy.
"To be safe—the Twelve Kizuki can regenerate through injury, so they'll operate freely. The rest of you come with me," Natsuki said after a moment's thought.
A demon's regeneration made them all but immortal on a battlefield. Short of being killed by specialized weapons, they'd recover from anything. Only the three Snake Princesses were true Jonin-level fighters. Which meant that besides the Twelve Kizuki, only Kakuzu needed protecting—and keeping Kakuzu at Natsuki's side was the safest arrangement.
—
A new day. Dawn had barely broken.
Orochimaru led the attack personally. The great battle between Konoha and the Hidden Sand had officially begun.
With Orochimaru at the front, Konoha's morale ran extraordinarily high.
On the other side, Rasa had no choice but to lead from the front himself.
For a time the two Kage fought, and the shockwaves off their exchange swallowed dozens of nearby ninja.
But Rasa knew perfectly well he was at a disadvantage. The mysterious assassin was still out there, watching from somewhere. Show one fatal opening and he'd die for it.
So Rasa fought and watched his surroundings at the same time.
The problem was that his opponent was Orochimaru—one of the Legendary Three Ninja, with a depth of combat experience and a read on the battlefield to match.
Rasa couldn't touch him. Divided attention or not, going all out wouldn't have closed the gap.
"Rasa. It seems you aren't the man I imagined." Orochimaru licked his lips and smiled, cruel.
It was a war between two villages, true. It was also an opportunity to collect subjects. Rasa was strong. He'd make an excellent one.
"Don't get cocky, Orochimaru!" Rasa roared. "This is only the beginning!"
Magnet Release: Gold Dust Imperial Funeral!
Rasa's hands blurred through seals. The gold dust swirling around him coalesced into a colossal golden fist.
Summoning Jutsu!
Orochimaru didn't flinch. He bit his thumb and slammed his palm to the ground.
A vast purple serpent erupted into being and met the golden fist head-on. The collision threw up a wall of dust.
Orochimaru vanished.
Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!
Snakes lunged from beneath. Rasa had been braced for it; he flashed through seals and sank into the gold dust—but the snakes came after him like maggots on bone, relentless. He was forced to spend the dust binding them.
Which handed Orochimaru his opening.
Orochimaru flickered into place behind him.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
A savage gale slammed in. Rasa hauled the gold dust up to block—
—but Orochimaru had only started. The Sword of Kusanagi shot from his mouth.
Rasa's pupils shrank. He wrenched his body aside by force, and still the blade opened a bloody line across his arm.
Then a piercing sound behind him.
A chill ran the length of Rasa's spine. He didn't think—gold dust surged at his back on pure instinct.
An arrow struck the dust and stopped.
Had he been a fraction slower, it would have taken him between the shoulder blades.
"Damn it!" Rasa's face went ashen, and he gave ground fast.
Orochimaru didn't pursue. He only smiled, mocking.
"Lord Kazekage!" Chiyo hurried in to steady him.
"Where did the arrow come from?" Rasa asked, grim.
"The southwest." Chiyo pointed.
"Search it!"
A Sand squad went at once—and found nothing.
"Lord Kazekage, are you all right?"
"I'm fine." Rasa drew a breath. "But that arrow came out of nowhere. If I hadn't been braced for it, I'd be wounded."
"What do we do now?"
"We keep fighting." Rasa's voice was low.
Disadvantage or not, retreat was impossible. Pull back now and the Sand's morale would shatter.
The battle went on.
—
Natsuki appeared at the Hidden Sand's rear with the Akatsuki.
"That's their supply camp." Natsuki pointed at the encampment below. "Our job is to burn it."
"Understood." Yahiko nodded. "How do we go in?"
"Nagato and I draw them off. You take the others and set the fires." Natsuki looked at Nagato. "The moment they catch, we pull out."
"Yes, Natsuki-sensei." Nagato answered at once, without objection—Natsuki had the Door-Door Fruit. Even surrounded, he could take them all out in a heartbeat.
"Move," Natsuki said, waving a hand.
Nagato went with him. Yahiko took the others the opposite way.
Natsuki and Nagato closed on the supply camp. Natsuki drew his bow, sighted a Sand ninja, and loosed. The man dropped.
"Enemy attack!" The ninja around him snapped to alert.
Nagato moved too.
Shinra Tensei!
A massive wave of repulsion swept out, and the Sand ninja went flying in every direction.
"Enemies!"
"Reinforcements—now!"
The supply camp dissolved into chaos.
Natsuki kept firing, reading the ground as he went. The whole of the Sand's fighting strength was up at the front. What guarded the supply camp were Genin and Chunin, mostly.
Which made sense. Nobody had expected Konoha to strike this deep behind the lines.
"Natsuki-sensei!" Yahiko's voice carried over. "The fires are lit!"
Natsuki looked. Flames were already climbing from a half-dozen points across the camp.
"Fall back!" Natsuki opened an Air Door.
Nagato went through first. The others followed. Natsuki brought up the rear.
By the time the Sand's reinforcements arrived, there was no one left to catch. Only the camp, burning.
"Damn it!" The Jonin leading them was livid. "Put it out! Now!"
—
The Hidden Sand's command post.
"What did you say?" Rasa stared.
"The supply camp is burned." The messenger's tone was heavy. "The stores are a total loss."
"How does that happen?" Rasa couldn't believe it. "Wasn't it guarded?"
"It was," the messenger said. "The enemy hit too fast. By the time reinforcements arrived, they'd already withdrawn."
"Who?"
"We don't know." The messenger shook his head. "They wore masks. We couldn't identify them."
"Konoha ninja?" Chiyo asked.
"It doesn't appear so." The messenger hesitated. "Their forehead protectors bore the mark of the Land of Rain."
"The Land of Rain?" Rasa went still. "The Akatsuki?"
"Very likely." Chiyo nodded. "Though the Akatsuki have always kept their heads down. Why move on us now?"
"It's Konoha. It's obviously Konoha." Rasa's face darkened. "Put guards on every supply line and every camp. This does not happen twice."
"Yes, Lord Kazekage." The messenger left.
"Damn Konoha!" Rasa ground his teeth. "That they'd stoop to this—"
"Lord Kazekage, what now?" Chiyo asked, worried.
"We fight on." Rasa breathed in. "But the strategy changes. No more frontal assault."
"Meaning?"
"We draw their main force out and destroy it." Rasa's voice went low. "Break their main force and Konoha will withdraw on its own."
—
The fighting ran three more days.
Under Orochimaru's command, Konoha held the upper hand. The Hidden Sand took heavy losses—more than three hundred dead or wounded. Konoha's own came to roughly a hundred.
The difference was mostly Natsuki.
Over those three days he killed seven more Sand Jonin. All seven, by arrow.
Because of it, the Sand's Jonin were in a state of open panic. None of them dared work the front line; they commanded from the rear instead, and the Sand's fighting capacity collapsed accordingly.
"Lord Kazekage, we can't go on like this." Worry filled Chiyo's face. "Our losses are too heavy."
"I know." Rasa's face was ash. "But what would you have me do? That assassin is beyond us."
"We have to retreat," Chiyo said, reluctant.
"Retreat?" Rasa stared at her. "Retreat and our morale is finished."
"And if we don't, the losses only climb." Chiyo pressed. "Lord Kazekage, please—look at the whole board."
Rasa fell silent.
He knew she was right. But the thought of retreating was unbearable. This was a war the Hidden Sand had started. Withdrawing now would be a slap across their own face.
"Let me think," Rasa said heavily.
—
The Western Front command post.
"Teacher, the Hidden Sand is showing signs of pulling back." Natsuki reported. "Per Anbu intelligence, they've begun moving supplies."
"Moving supplies?" Orochimaru's expression turned thoughtful. "So Rasa can't hold."
"Do we pursue?"
"Pursue—but not deep." Orochimaru shook his head. "It could be a trap."
"Understood."
"Have the Akatsuki keep working their rear," Orochimaru added. "Don't let them withdraw in peace."
"Yes, Teacher." Natsuki turned and left.
—
Meanwhile, on the front lines.
Pakura looked out over the battlefield, her expression complicated.
She was a Hidden Sand ninja. She was also Natsuki's. This war had put her in an impossible position, and she genuinely didn't know which side she was supposed to help.
"Pakura." A voice behind her.
She turned. Yashamaru.
"What is it?"
"Lord Kazekage wants you."
Pakura nodded and followed him to the command post.
"Pakura. You've worked hard these past days." Rasa looked her over. "I have a mission for you."
"Your orders, Lord Kazekage."
"Take a squad and investigate the Akatsuki." Rasa paused. "Find their base and report back to me."
"Understood." Pakura nodded and left.
Walking back, she couldn't help falling into thought.
Investigate the Akatsuki? Wasn't that investigating herself?
It sat badly. But she couldn't refuse either—refusal would draw suspicion instantly.
So what then?
She turned it over. Report it to Natsuki?
After a while, she decided she would. Only Natsuki could untangle this.
—
Night fell. Pakura reached her quarters.
She formed seals, and a small snake appeared—provided by the Ryuchi Cave, kept purely for reaching Natsuki.
"Contact Lord Natsuki for me."
The snake dipped its head and slipped into the ground.
A moment later, an Air Door opened in front of her, and Natsuki stepped out.
"What's happened?"
Pakura told him about Rasa's order.
"I see." Natsuki nodded once she'd finished. "Simple enough. Go and investigate."
"But if I investigate, I'll find the Akatsuki."
"That doesn't matter." Natsuki smiled. "Finding them is exactly what I want."
"...What?" Pakura blinked.
"I'd planned to keep the Akatsuki grinding on the Hidden Sand's rear," Natsuki explained. "But since Rasa's sent you to look, we can use it to break them properly."
"Break them how?"
"You'll see when it's time." Natsuki said it with a touch of mystery.
He had no intention of laying the plan out now. The fewer who knew, the better.
Even Pakura.
"Understood." She didn't press. She trusted him.
"Get some rest." Natsuki reached out and brushed her cheek. "You've been working hard."
Pakura's body tensed slightly, color rising in her face. She didn't pull away. She leaned into his chest instead.
"I'm fine," she said softly. "As long as you are."
Natsuki smiled and settled a hand at her waist, then bent and kissed her forehead.
"I'll always be fine."
Pakura closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of him. And in that moment she felt, suddenly, that all of it had been worth the cost.
—
Another day.
Under Natsuki's direction, the Akatsuki hit the Hidden Sand's rear again. This time the target was a supply convoy.
"Attack!" Natsuki gave the word.
Nagato moved.
Shinra Tensei!
The convoy scattered like chaff. The escorting Sand ninja were airborne before they'd registered anything at all.
"Burn it!"
Yahiko and the others went to work, and in the space of a breath the whole convoy was alight.
"Fall back!" Mission complete, Natsuki opened an Air Door, and the group withdrew.
The Sand's reinforcements found nothing but ash.
"Damn it!" The Jonin leading them shook with fury. "Akatsuki bastards!"
—
The Hidden Sand's command post.
"Another convoy?" Rasa's face was thunderous. "How much have we lost in total?"
"Roughly thirty percent," Chiyo said heavily.
"Thirty—" Rasa slammed the table. "At this rate our ninja won't have food!"
"Lord Kazekage, we have to find an answer to the Akatsuki," Chiyo said.
"I've already sent Pakura to investigate." Rasa's voice dropped. "The moment we have their base, we wipe them out."
"I hope she succeeds," Chiyo said.
She understood how badly the board had turned against the Sand. Fail to solve the Akatsuki problem, and this war became nearly unwinnable.
—
Three days later.
Pakura led her squad and found the Akatsuki's base.
She didn't report to Rasa. She went to Natsuki first.
"Lord Natsuki. I've found the base."
"Good." Natsuki nodded. "Now report to Rasa. Give him the location."
"And then?"
"And then nothing." Natsuki smiled. "Rasa will send force to wipe the Akatsuki out. And we'll be waiting for him."
It clicked all at once. Natsuki meant to use the Akatsuki's own base as bait and pull the Sand's troops into a killing ground.
"Understood." Pakura nodded.
She returned to the command post and gave Rasa the location.
"Excellent!" Rasa was delighted. "Pakura—well done."
"Thank you, Lord Kazekage." Her face gave nothing.
"I'll move on them immediately." Rasa's decision came fast. "And I'll lead this one myself."
Chiyo's expression shifted. "Lord Kazekage—isn't that too great a risk?"
"No." Rasa shook his head. "The Akatsuki have been bleeding our rear dry. Until they're dealt with, we can't put our full weight on Konoha."
"And if it's a trap?" Chiyo asked, worried.
"Then it's a trap. What of it?" Rasa's confidence didn't waver. "At my strength, I can walk out of any trap they lay."
Chiyo started to speak, and in the end said nothing. His mind was made up.
—
The next day.
Rasa marched five hundred Hidden Sand ninja toward the Akatsuki's base.
Natsuki, meanwhile, was already there.
"Everyone ready?"
"Ready." Yahiko paused. "But Natsuki-sensei—are you certain Rasa comes in person?"
"Certain." Natsuki nodded. "Rasa wants blood. He'll come himself."
"And what do we do?"
"We hold them." Natsuki said it simply. "When the moment's right, Konoha's main force arrives."
Yahiko understood. Use the Akatsuki to pin the Sand in place, then let Konoha's main force close the jaws.
"Understood."
"Everyone to your positions," Natsuki ordered.
The Akatsuki scattered, melting into cover around the base.
Half a day later, the Sand's forces arrived.
Rasa looked down at the base and sneered.
"A gaggle of Akatsuki, standing against the Hidden Sand?" His voice was cold. "Today I bury every last one of you."
He swept a hand.
The Sand ninja attacked.
And the instant they entered the base, every trap in it went off at once.
Explosions. Poison gas. Hidden blades filling the air.
The Hidden Sand took brutal casualties.
"What—" Rasa's expression broke. "It's a trap!"
Too late.
From every direction, the Akatsuki rose out of cover and struck back.
_________________________________________________
Read Advanced Chapters on : patreon.com/Kaizo247
~ Every 150 PS = Bonus Chapter
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]