Chapter 698: Totality
New
- Location
- USA
Decades ago, a man whose name had been struck from history had constructed elaborate stone tunnels beneath Leaf to serve his nefarious purposes. He had never fulfilled those purposes, but he had constructed those vast halls invariably with the utmost attention to detail, optimizing secrecy and compatibility with every privacy seal and ninjutsu of worth. The Collapse had destroyed most of the tunnels, but the halls remained, and Hokage after Hokage thus decided to keep the chambers as the safest place to disclose secrets of the highest importance.
Most of the room's current inhabitants had never known the place existed. Kei Haruka could tell, surveying the crowd of ninja around her. They had detected the evil intent with which the stone had been carved, and that put them on edge. Or maybe it was just their orders. She was a jōnin, which was why when the Hokage turned up at her door commanding her to report immediately for mission assignment – not at noon, not after ten minutes to check her gear and hand over the reins of the clan, but immediately – she'd quickly gathered herself and followed orders. The chūnin were perhaps a little more easily disturbed.
The Hokage walked in alongside KEI's Nagata Yūji, a ninjutsu-spec chūnin of no particular note, then quickly cast more shadow clones and activated the chamber's full set of privacy features. The room fell silent as he did so. This was everyone, then. What great secret did the Hokage intend to reveal to the thirty-odd ninja he'd summoned, ranging from clanless chūnin to Tsunade of the Sannin?
"I need you all for a special military operation, effective immediately. This mission is of critical importance to the village and the country. Failing it could mean the end of Hidden Leaf as we know it."
The Hokage's words shot through Haruka's body like sparks off a blacksmith's hammer. Was this the death of the fragile peace AMITY had brought? Would this be the end of her life, and her clan? Urgent, critical military operations were not known for minimizing casualties.
"This mission poses no personal risk to you, except the risks to Leaf as a whole as a result of the mission going poorly. The duration will be around two weeks. Tsunade is leading the mission. We are acting against Akatsuki and their interests, but additional mission details are need-to-know. Tsunade will contact you during travel if you need additional details to carry out your role."
"The main thing you will need to know is this: Orochimaru and the Gōketsu Clan are not actually missing-nin."
A sharp intake of breath rippled through the room, and Haruka found herself glancing at Tsunade, who remained stone-faced. Had she known?
"I assigned them a mission to attack Akatsuki's interests in other ways, and if they had been known as Leaf-aligned ninja, Akatsuki wouldn't hesitate to raze Leaf in response. Now, we need them back for a larger operation. That is why every detail of this operation is absolutely top secret, and must never be spoken of in Leaf, under any circumstances."
The Hokage seemed to read the astonishment in the room, because he continued.
"Orochimaru will help Leaf against Akatsuki as he did at Nagi Island, and once he returns, we'll make sure he answers for his crimes against the village. As for the Gōketsu, Hazō is the best sealmaster the world has seen since my father, and that's including Jiraiya. In the past months, he's devised seal arrays that make the skywalker look like a children's toy. Just like the skywalker, he intends to use this invention to bring down Akatsuki as well.
"What you're needed for, and why you're not going to be at risk in this mission, is Noburi's bloodline. We need your chakra on-site for a Zoo Rush. For most of you, that is all you need to do. Do not expect more, unless Tsunade contacts you."
A Zoo Rush? Haruka didn't see how that would work, with only the Monkey and Slug summoners present… Ah. The former Gōketsu Clan had four summoners, and Orochimaru would increase the total to seven. Once again, Haruka was astonished by the amount of combat power that had disappeared from Leaf in the span of a couple months. Whatever else her feelings about the missing-nin that weren't missing-nin (and feelings could always wait until after the mission), Haruka hoped that Leaf would be safer once the lost summoners returned to the village's fold.
How could they have not been missing-nin, though? Haruka had never heard of a village falsely declaring their ninja as missing-nin, falsely attempting to hunt them down and retrieve them. Had other villages done this and used their ninja to strike against Leaf in a way that Leaf couldn't retaliate against? And what would happen once everyone knew that Leaf had done this? Would they be held accountable for every action that every missing-nin of theirs ever took? What if enemy nations somehow thought Itachi was still a loyal Leaf ninja, and tried to level accusations against Leaf for his crimes? Or Orochimaru, if his crimes against Leaf could not be reconciled?
She shook her head minutely. Questions, like feelings, could wait.
o-o-o
Moving through the forest was something Hazō still hadn't mastered. There was a comfortable rhythm of landing, pulsing chakra adhesion to keep his grip, looking ahead to spot his next branch, and letting his momentum carry himself forward into a new leap to the next branch. All ninja practiced movement, and Leaf's ninja turned moving through the trees into an artform. Hazō had overheard Yūma explaining it to Sasha at one point – how one wanted to pick branches of around the same height, the same distance apart, and so on in order to run as smoothly as possible. Supposedly, a skilled jōnin even managed their chakra adhesion well enough that their leaps and landings didn't tear the trees' bark.
Skywalkers had killed that art for Hazō. Below the treetops, he still had to be mindful of foliage that threatened to smack him in the face, but he needed to give no more thought to running than that. Step, step, step.
Running alongside another ninja as you went to a mission had a connotation. It meant that you were allies, brothers in arms, equals momentarily as you fought for the same cause. If he'd only known Captain Minami at their mission sites, instead of all the quiet hours of running and camping they'd done, Hazō didn't know if he'd have grown half as close to her as he had. He'd never run with Jiraiya before he died. For all that happened, they hadn't been peers.
"Leaf's ninja are close," Orochimaru said, breaking the silence. "Make a clone before we proceed, in case someone attacks you."
"Shadow Clone Technique," Hazō said, pulling to a stop by a tree branch. Team Uplift, behind him, slowed on their skywalkers as well. The clone appeared on the branch, then quickly grabbed his own set of skywalkers from Prime. Kagome may have abandoned the team, but his seals were still serving them well.
Hazō Repatrioter and Orochimaru continued onwards. The thick forest around Keishi barely abated as it climbed up the hills to the west, and Hazō found the trees blending together in a meaningless blur as they continued. The rally point had been a location unmarked by any common landmark, instead solely known to Orochimaru and Tsunade.
Ahead, Hazō saw a crowd of ninja, wearing Leaf's fatigues as they moved between the trees in an otherwise unremarkable stretch of forest. As he got closer, he saw their faces. Yūhi, no, Sarutobi Kurenai, with the Monkey Scroll across her back. Umehisa, a clanless jōnin who had never even had a family name. Hagoromo Yūsuke, a chūnin vaguely from the 'reform' faction of the Hagoromo. And many more whose names Hazō couldn't remember, or who he didn't recognize at all, forming a crowd of forty-or-so ninja all staring at their incoming visitors.
And they stared with no small amount of hostility. Hazō saw hands going to weapon handles, or drawing together for ninjutsu. Brows furrowed, heads lowered, and eyes flicked left and right. Hazō felt a momentary gratitude that Orochimaru had suggested that Hazō come as a clone.
Leaf wasn't yet attacking, but the moment on the edge of hostility seemed to stretch out for seconds, until Hazō heard Tsunade's voice.
"Oro, you imbecile! What took you so long?"
She stormed forward, and as she passed the ninja facing down Hazō and Orochimaru relaxed. Not fully, Hazō could tell. Nobody's hands were hovering over their swords, but few looked away. Still, he could live with guarded expressions. He had always known that winning back Leaf's trust would take more than a few minutes.
"It was closer for you than it was for us," Orochimaru said, dropping to ground level as Tsunade stalked up to them. "Unless you've forgotten how to read maps? In which case, I would be glad to assist you, oh sunniest sister of mine. To start, shorter distances on a map mean shorter distances in-"
Tsunade interrupted him with an index-finger jab in the chest that left Orochimaru stumbling back. Hazō winced. That would have broken ribs for him.
"What the fuck was that stunt when you left Leaf?" Tsunade demanded, continuing past Hazō to get in Orochimaru's face again. "Explain. Now."
"He was a traitor and I needed a plausible cover," he said. Though Orochimaru was comfortably taller than Tsunade, she seemed to tower over him. "It was coordinated with the Hokage, of course. You may confirm the details with him at your leisure. Though, frankly, I do not see why it matters in the short term. Even if I had killed the boy in cold blood, we would still be collaborating against Akatsuki. Unless you wish to see Jiraiya's legacy tarnished?"
"And the monstrosities?" Tsunade asked. "People died after you released them, you know."
Orochimaru waved his hand. "You can blame Akatsuki for that."
"You created them!"
"And who so rudely destroyed my estate, causing them to be released?"
Tsunade glared at him for a moment longer, then turned to Hazō. "And what's your excuse?"
"Akatsuki was going to kill me if I stayed," Hazō said, keeping Tsunade's gaze. "I served Leaf better by leaving."
"And the rest of your clan?"
"They were going to be targets as well."
"I suppose Oro doesn't give a fuck about anyone else to bother taking them with him," Tsunade mused. "Fine. We'll work together for now and see what Naruto has to say afterwards. What's this about Moon?"
o-o-o
"That's horrible," Tsunade said.
"It's practical," Orochimaru said. "Tangentially, how hypocritical of you to complain. Do you not remember the clans we raided for their techniques? Just as clans have their ninjutsu, villages have their ninja. We've only moved to a higher level of abstraction."
"This is different," Tsunade said, frowning. "We didn't kill the clans to the last. We were making targeted strikes to get specific techniques. What you're proposing is condemning the entire village, eventually the entire island, to death."
"There's a few considerations here," Hazō said. "The island's civilians need their ninja alive, so we should try to spare the ninja if we can. I was thinking that we could try to attack Moon anonymously. If you all can wear masks, and fight without any signature techniques, couldn't we potentially avoid having to kill all the ninja?"
Tsunade glared at Hazō and opened her mouth, but Orochimaru cut her off.
"Perhaps you are about to say something rude to the boy about how he should know his place. You are absolutely correct that he is far too arrogant. Nonetheless, you need to realize that he also has every right to stand here with the two of us. I briefly observed him creating certain runes near my laboratory, and I can assure you that the specs he provided you are accurate. He may be barely a chūnin in other regards, but these S-rank capabilities are worthy of your respect."
Tsunade turned her ire to Orochimaru, grinded her jaw for a second, then turned back to Hazō. "Fine. Trying to stay anonymous would be a lot harder, since I haven't trained a dozen non-lethal ninjutsu to fall back on. They would also get plenty of other information. If shadow clones pop in the fighting, they'd eventually be able to put together that we were from Leaf. They'll learn about your runic arrays from running into the Force Dome, and that'll also give us away."
"Your politeness is appreciated," Orochimaru said dryly. "Was that really so hard? Frankly, the least worthy person here is the girl. If we want a genjutsu specialist, surely we should use the Monkey Summoner, no?"
"I already have knowledge of Hazō's runes, so you don't need to manage OPSEC for that with me," Mari said, slightly softer than normal. "Additionally, unlike Kurenai, I can trap multiple targets with mind-control ninjutsu, which will aid substantially in capturing Moon's ninja nonlethally."
Orochimaru arched an eyebrow, but didn't comment further.
"Anyway, it's fine if they realize it's us eventually," Hazō said. "What we don't want them to do is realize immediately. AMITY will learn at some point that we attacked Akatsuki, but we just need that to be after we return to Leaf and fortify."
"I expect moving the rift to Leaf will require a month, though that is a high variance estimate," Orochimaru said. "Project how long it would take for international retaliation to reach Leaf if we left Moon ninja alive."
"A week to lick their wounds and recuperate," Hazō said after a moment to think. "Leaf didn't do much of anything for a few days after the Collapse, and they will have weaker institutions. Then a few days just to reach the mainland, and an unknown amount of time to get the international response. We'd see it coming, so I'd have plenty of time to return to Leaf to fortify it with runes."
"The costs are disproportionate to the gains," Orochimaru said. "Remember that fighting nonlethally will be harder in this scenario, and we will cause a greater number of casualties. Additional chakra is highly valuable. I do not wish to weaken our attack against Akatsuki for the sake of petty mercy."
"How far does that go, Oro?" Tsunade asked. "Okay, you fight openly with your snake-venom jutsu to capture people, and even the inbred dumbfucks of Moon realize that it's you. Now it's easy for their ninja to run off and gather AMITY. Are we going to slaughter every damn civilian in the village that saw us fight?"
"I did not intend to leave any ninja behind to run messages," Orochimaru said.
"And what about the ninja that are outside the village on a mission?" Tsunade asked. "We can't track them down across the entire island."
"Very well," Orochimaru said. "Then we slaughter the civilians."
"Absolutely not," Tsunade said. "No, Hazō is right. We should fight as anonymously as we can. Mari will have to hold back on her mass-genjutsu, and you will abstain from using your well-known ninjutsu. Mari can even use her genjutsu to actively misinform the civilians we'll leave behind. With illusions muddying the story, they should only be able to infer that a skywalking strike force kidnapped all their ninja."
Orochimaru sighed. "I do not want to compromise our odds against Akatsuki in the slightest. You do see why this is more important than a couple hundred civilians in a meaningless backwater, yes?"
"It's not about what's important, Oro," Tsunade said. "It's about what's right."
Oro rolled his eyes. "Very well. Any effective plan would require your consent, and I would hate to accuse you of being willing to actually change your mind in response to changing evidence and circumstances. We will fight ineffectively, kill ninja who could instead give chakra to our final mission, and invite an eventual attack on Leaf."
"We'll be taking all the ninja with us," Tsunade said. "And it'll happen too fast for civilians to put things together. The ones out on mission can pick up the slack protecting the civilians. Almost everyone lives."
o-o-o
"Hang on, where's Kagome?" Tsunade asked, glancing over Team Uplift. By now, Hazō had realized that most of Leaf's ninja hadn't felt that hostile to him in particular. They were leery of him, but the actual hostility was clearly aimed at Orochimaru more than himself. It made Hazō think that he should make efforts to distance himself from the Snake Sannin, and that arriving by his side hadn't been a wise idea. When Team Uplift faced down Leaf's chakra battery-battalion, their reception wasn't remotely violent.
"I'd wondered the same," Orochimaru said, stepping up beside Hazō. "You did demonstrate his clone and his summons to me. His summons, at least, would be appreciated."
"He opted to go to ground," Hazō said. "He knew he wouldn't be useful in the upcoming fight."
"False," Orochimaru said. "Extra bodies, well positioned, deplete enemy resources. Even masses of chūnin-level summons are useful, given that Tsunade and I will not be running as many shadow clones as theoretically possible due to limitations posed by Itachi's potential presence."
"Well, he believes he wouldn't be useful," Hazō said.
"Has Kagome gone to forewarn Akatsuki?" Orochimaru asked, facing Hazō fully. For the first time in… quite a while, Hazō felt the weight of Orochimaru's presence.
"No," Hazō said firmly. "Kagome-sensei isn't going to do that. He's as opposed to them as you and I are."
"Are you certain?" Orochimaru asked. "I do not need to remind you of the price of an error."
"Yes. He will not betray us. He won't fight with us, but he's still our ally."
"That's not enough," Tsunade said, drawing the words out slightly. "Leaf's not going to just lose a summoner. Where is he?"
"I don't know," Hazō said, glancing down. "The Seventh Path, maybe. He ran off without telling any of us. Speaking frankly, he was scared by Orochimaru and didn't want to interact with him. No offense."
"You idiot…" Tsunade muttered. She glanced at Orochimaru. "Directed at you. Not Kagome."
Oro shrugged. "It is hardly my fault if the man is so fully lacking in willpower that he cannot fight for his family's lives."
Tsunade shook her head in faint disgust, then turned to Hazō. "You need to find a way to get him back once this is over."
Hazō nodded. He hoped he would too.
o-o-o
"I have spoken with the Lightning Runner pack about the importance of your mission," Cannai said, voice carrying despite the wind rushing by Hazō as he clung to Cannai's back. "Including that I myself am willing to be summoned to aid you. They appeared highly sympathetic. I have little doubt that you will convince them to fight against Kakashi's killers. Whether you want their service is a separate question."
"Got it," Hazō said. "I still have one question though: why don't they have the same names as the rest of Dog, starting with 'Can-'?"
"Those names were bestowed to them by their summoner," Cannai said. "Of course they were named members of the Dog Clan at birth, but though they respect their birth mothers and packs, as I said, their loyalty was to Kakashi first and foremost. It is hard to express the extent of their relationship, but it was incredibly deep."
They arrived at a small valley between a pair of hills, in a camp that clearly imitated human norms. A variety of dogs large and small lounged around a burnt-out fire pit. A few heads popped up towards Hazō and Cannai, but they mostly just watched as the pair approached.
One dog, a tiny brown pug, arose once Cannai's feet were padding through the soft grass near the fire pit. "Alpha," he said in a rumbling tone. "This is Hazō?"
"Yes, Pakkun," Cannai said as he shrugged Hazō off of his back. "He wants the aid of the Lightning Runner pack. I will leave you to discuss."
"Hello, Pakkun," Hazō said. The dog had a forehead protector marked with Leaf's symbol around his head, and glancing around, Hazō saw that many of the dogs in this pack were wearing Leaf's symbol in a variety of ways. On a whim, Hazō decided to bow. If these dogs had been so extensively socialized by a human, maybe treating them in human ways would be better.
Pakkun bowed back, bending back into his hind legs like he was stretching. Around, the remaining dogs of the Lightning Runners rose. Hazō recognized them from Cannai's descriptions. Guruko, Akino, Bisuke, Urushi, and Bull. Two were missing, then? Ūhei and Shiba.
"Hello, Hazō," Pakkun said. "Cannai has explained your situation. You are fighting against the ones that killed Kakashi, the Akatsuki. Is that right?"
"That's right," Hazō said. "I don't want to pretend like I'm someone I'm not, so I should say that I'm nothing like Captain Hatake – that is, Kakashi. Akatsuki is about to open a gateway into the afterlife, which will let them bring back their leader – the leader that Captain Hatake gave his own life to take down. I am going to stop them.
"This isn't without risks. You know well that if you're dispelled while summoned, you'll be in pain for a few days or weeks. The scarier thing is a weapon that one of our enemies possesses. The Kinslayer, Uchiha Itachi, supposedly has a weapon that consumes souls. That means that if you accept, you could actually die while summoned. You know that Cannai has agreed to be summoned, so he has deemed the risk worthwhile, but you also know that neither he nor I would ever demand your service in this way.
"So, will you fight alongside me and the Alpha to avenge Captain Hatake?"
"You ask a lot for one I have never met," one of the dogs, Akino, said. He was a large tan-and-white dog with a sharp, lupine nose. A pair of cracked Aburame-style dark glasses hung from a chain around his neck. "When Alpha spoke, he could not say whether this 'gateway' was real or just delusion, though hearing you speak, I agree with the Alpha that you aren't trying to deceive."
"The 'gateway' doesn't matter one way or another," Pakkun said. "You'll summon me to hunt down the bastards that killed Kakashi? That's all I needed to hear. If you're fighting Akatsuki, I'm in."
"Apart from the risks, the summoning is easy," Hazō said. "I can warn you all about when it'll happen, it'll only last a few hours, and that's it. And the gateway does matter. It's part of why this fight is so important – if we win it, we'll control it ourselves. That could let us bring the dead back to life, potentially including Captain Hatake."
"You mean that if we win, we can get Kakashi back as our summoner!?" Guruko asked excitedly.
Ah… Actually, Hazō had no intention of surrendering the Dog Scroll. As he was debating how to delicately explain this, Akino whipped his tail back and forth, then a sudden whump of force shoved Urushi's head into the ground.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Akino said. "Remember that the Alpha couldn't even say whether the 'gateway' was even possible."
"He also said that you won his trust," Bisuke, a light-brown mutt, said. "The Alpha trusts him, and is willing to be summoned for the fight. I'm in as well."
"It seems prudent to ease the Alpha's work," Akino said. "I will accept a contract to be summoned to fight Akatsuki."
"Count me in," Urushi said. "Dibs on Sasori!"
"Me too," Guruko said. "Anything to get Kakashi back."
Akino seemed ready for another whumping when the last dog, Bull, spoke in a booming voice that somehow failed to reach the same rumble as Pakkun. "I too would like to be summoned, Hazō. However, I don't think you should waste the chakra on me. Kakashi rarely summoned me, as he usually found that he could perform my role better than I could."
"You probably wouldn't be good for much anyway, Bull," Urushi said. "Kakashi didn't summon you half as much as he did me."
"And he didn't summon you half as much as he did me," Pakkun said. "That doesn't mean you're shit at your job, Urushi. The fact that you're shit at your job means that you're shit at your job. Don't bully Bull."
"What is your role, Bull?" Hazou asked. "I'm not Captain Hatake, and I'm good at different things than he was."
"'Nova-combat', is what Kakashi called it," Bull said. "I cannot fight for long or against many enemies effectively, but I can crush a single enemy into the dirt. Unfortunately, Kakashi was similarly capable, and apparently I was 'too fat' for him to want to summon me often."
"That sounds like exactly what I'm looking for," Hazou said. "A high chakra cost isn't an issue for me – I'll explain why later. Relatedly, what are the rest of your specialties?"
"Well, Shiba's the stealth guy, and he can almost track worth a damn," Pakkun said, "and Ūhei does distance running and endurance-combat. Outlast the enemy, then take them down once they've blown all their chakra, that kind of thing. They're in Leopard right now, trying to help the Golden Elk pack evade Hyōkagyaku, one of Leopard's strongest warriors that has been stalking them. If you can wait for ten-ish days, they'll be back, and I'm sure they'd be happy to be summoned as well."
"I probably don't have that long," Hazō said. "We can work with what we have."
"Well, in that case," Pakkun said, "I'm a tracker."
"Lookout," Akino said. "For both static and dynamic formations."
"Support ninjutsu," Bisuke said. "I'm not bad in a fight, but Kakashi mainly summoned me for non-combat stuff. I can do a little bit of anything."
"Rescue ninjutsu," Guruko said. "If you need to protect weaker allies, I have you covered!"
"And I'm an all-rounder," Urushi said. "I can track better than Akino and keep a lookout better than Pakkun. My ninjutsu are more for handling loads of chūnin, which is part of why Kakashi summoned me so often, since you have so many more chūnin than jōnin. I guess against jōnin, he'd rather have Ūhei or Bull. Or just fight them himself. Not like he couldn't."
"Got it," Hazō said. "Thank you all. Let's make Kakashi proud."
o-o-o
The day marked one year since Hazō had infused his first rune, an explosive stronger than any that a seal could produce, yet still the weakest of the runes he had created. He'd thought at the time that the hum of the rune sounded like the world weeping at a new wound carved into its flesh. Perhaps it shouldn't have been the world that wept.
Orochimaru closed his eyes for a second and nodded. "Clone dispelled. All teams are in position. Commence Operation Lunar Eclipse."
Hazō pressed his hand to the first rune, feeling it thrumming with power underneath his palm. After long seconds of focus, he stepped back. The ground underneath his feet felt ever-so-slightly less forgiving than it had a moment ago. Without pause, he moved to the second rune, activating it.
Invisibly, chakra jetted up and out, expanding outwards to trap the village of Hidden Moon. The village was a fraction of Leaf in size – barely three hundred meters across, mostly made of cottages and squat, sturdy-looking wooden houses. Unlike Leaf, Hidden Moon was actually hidden by the thick jungle surrounding it, but the Force Dome cared little for such things. It would slice and snap through any branches in the way, and any ninja that went to investigate would already be trapped.
The Iron Earth rune would prevent tunneling from below, and the Force Dome would prevent escape on ground or by the air. The ninja of Moon didn't know it yet, but their fate had just been sealed in this perfect cage of Hazō's creation.
Around the dome in the four cardinal directions, Hazōs on skytowers would be activating their Ninja-Radar runes, to reveal the locations of any ninja that happened to be outside the barrier or somehow managed to escape. Orochimaru's clones would chase down any runners, and if necessary, Prime would deploy Canvass to track down any escapers that slipped through the detection field.
As a final countermeasure, Hazō activated an Air-Leadener rune. Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Mari all had Wind ninjutsu, so their clones would be able to move unimpeded through the now-thick air that surrounded them, while most of the Moon ninja would be slowed.
Hazō raised his hand, and the attack force moved out to commence the fight.
o-o-o
Mari glanced around. Tsunade had done a good job corralling the enemy ninja around her, and she saw only one target in range – a chūnin-looking ninja that would probably take more than a moment to take out with taijutsu.
"White Night," she whispered, as she flicked her fingers together. The enemy ninja froze, and fell an instant later as another Mari jabbed him in the throat. Both Maris kept moving. They'd retrieve him after the battle finished.
She heard a jutsu callout and moved in that direction. The Moon ninja weren't intentionally engaging in friendly fire, but she'd already seen genin fail to dodge their jōnin's attacks and end up dead for it. If she could disable a couple prime targets and give the Sannin more room to knock everyone out, all the better.
A half-dozen ninja maneuvered in a tiny square, pelting a Tsunade clone with ninjutsu and weapons, but the Sannin dodged and deflected every attack. Tsunade dropped one of the ninja with a Earth Country-style taijutsu strike.
Perfect. Mari focused on the oldest-looking ninja and brought her hands together. No genin would notice her vulnerability with Tsunade bearing down on them.
"White Night."
The senior ninja froze, and Tsunade shot a fractional glance at her before continuing to carve through the group of Moon ninja.
Suddenly, a middle-aged woman dashed into the square, bleeding heavily from a wound at her side. She glanced around, hair wild and eyes manic, before turning back to face the pursuing Orochimaru.
"Ōshimo Final Technique: Hoarfrost's Embrace!"
What a waste of a final technique, Mari thought as the rapidly expanding ice crystals dispelled her. We're all clones. You gave your life, and you're only going to kill your own people with it.
o-o-o
Scattered clouds overhead revealed glimpses of the uncaring stars above, and the moon had waned into a silver crescent whose light was barely enough for Hazō to watch as Hidden Moon similarly grew closer to its end. He adjusted his telescope to track a flash of light. A Fire ninjutsu of some sort, expanding until it met an invisible barrier – not a wall, but the curvature of a massive sphere. A moment later, in the same spot, a spear of lightning lanced outwards, impacted the wall of Hazō's Runic Force Dome, and splashed outwards instead of penetrating through.
A jōnin? Or a group of ninja, trying to work in concert to penetrate the Force Dome? With the dark overhead, he couldn't tell.
The village was burning. He'd known that when ninja fought in cities made of wood and straw, it made fires. Jiraiya occasionally used the smoke as a plot device in his stories to let his protagonist make his escape. Hazō wasn't even sure if the shapes he saw were ninja, civilians, or just the flickering of hundreds of flames.
Many Moon ninja would die tonight. Once the battle at O'Uzu was over, he didn't know what would happen to the Moon ninja they took as chakra batteries. They would have seen too much to let go immediately, and he didn't know if he could arrange for them to be kept alive for the month or so needed to get the rift to Leaf and hole up for the indefinite future.
Hazō didn't regret that. The ninja of Moon were as innocent as the ninja of Neck had been, but they were still ninja. They lived off the backs of civilian exploitation. At least, he told himself that. What would it mean if Moon's ninja had happened to treat civilians better than Leaf's? He didn't want to know.
He felt worse for the civilians of the village. They would be running or hiding as a battle they could not understand unfolded around them. Some would die in fires or collapsing buildings, or for just standing in the wrong place at the wrong time when an ally or an enemy unloaded a ninjutsu. Still, battles were violent. He couldn't do anything about that. At least Tsunade had managed to spare the majority from Orochimaru's casual condemnation.
In the end, the attack was only possible because of Hazō. He repositioned his telescope again to watch as a sword glowing pale blue struck the Force Dome again and again to no avail. If Hidan had attacked the village, some ninja might have fought and died, but those that split into the wilderness in every direction would likely have survived. Hidan didn't seem like the type to track down and personally murder every last Moon ninja when he could instead scythe his way through crowds of civilians.
Hazō could exterminate them far more effectively than Hidan if he wanted to. Against Hazō, they couldn't even run.
As he watched his creation get tested and rise to the challenge again and again, Hazō wondered: would these be the last innocents he needed to trample in his quest for victory?
o-o-o
A trio of clones, a Mari and two Orochimarus, rose to the skytower complex with the last of the captured Moon ninja. Their charges were set down, and the Orochimarus immediately set to work severing the Moon ninja's Achilles tendons, while Mari's clone headed back down. Nominally, she intended to work illusions on the civilians to further obfuscate their identities, but she'd discreetly informed Hazō that she'd be helping Moon's civilians fight fires and get out of danger where she could. Tsunade would probably have been on the ground treating them if that wouldn't have given her identity away.
Elsewhere on the skytower complex, Tsunade was doing something to the captured ninja's elbows that would keep them from casting ninjutsu, while Noburi was steadily draining them dry. Leaf's ninja had given their chakra so the attack could happen, and they needed refueling immediately. Everyone's help would be needed if they wanted to transport Moon's ninja to the island just south of O'Uzu before nightfall. With luck, they would be attacking in two days' time.
As the sky slowly lightened, heralding the distant sun, Hazō surveyed the fruits of their labors. Forty-seven captured ninja. Nineteen more, killed in the fighting – apparently mostly by friendly fire and "general battle chaos". Tsunade expected that it wouldn't even double their overall available chakra, since Moon had more junior ninja, while Leaf's deployment was almost entirely senior ninja.
It was going to be close. Naruto had worked up fake missions for the task force, and staggered their departures as much as possible given the tight schedule, but that didn't mean the deception would work. They didn't even know if Akatsuki had realized yet that so many ninja had left the village at the same time. There had been no word from Leaf either way; for all they knew, they would be walking into a trap at O'Uzu.
Still, the sun would rise soon. Hazō needed to help figure out how to move four dozen incapacitated ninja nearly two hundred miles. He needed to buckle down and get to work.
Getting jōnin-level dogs to fight for Hazō on short notice is challenging. There are many such dogs, but many of them are going to be actively fighting in the Leopard war, and if they're not, it'll be for good reason, such as being needed by their pack or being injured. Hazō isn't spending much time on this (only whatever time he has left on one evening after recruiting the Lightning Runners). Furthermore, Hazō's ask appears easy at first glance (pre-scheduled, one-off summoning to help the Alpha, on an Alpha-approved enemy), but actually carries a big risk – not only could a dog get dispelled in a way that takes them out of the war for weeks (longer than average, as these are particularly strong summons), but they could potentially outright die to Itachi.
Overall, I'm inclined to abstract this as a TN 40 (Great) Rapport check, where Hazō manages to get a jōnin-ish summon per shift of success to a maximum of three (he's only spending half an evening on this, and only has time to talk to so many dogs). Hazō won't spend FP on this since this is a secondary priority relative to his rune work.
Hazō (Rapport): 20 + 12 (Forged in Fire) + 4 (tag "Cannai Himself Is Fighting") + 3 = 39
Overall, I'm inclined to abstract this as a TN 40 (Great) Rapport check, where Hazō manages to get a jōnin-ish summon per shift of success to a maximum of three (he's only spending half an evening on this, and only has time to talk to so many dogs). Hazō won't spend FP on this since this is a secondary priority relative to his rune work.
Hazō (Rapport): 20 + 12 (Forged in Fire) + 4 (tag "Cannai Himself Is Fighting") + 3 = 39
Outside of the Lightning Runners, the few jōnin-level dogs that Hazō talked to had immediate objectives in the Leopard war they were angling for, and didn't want to risk injury or death for someone they had just met. Unfortunately, Hazō earned no additional summons outside those recruited in-chapter.
Hazō has four days to practice runes. Unlike the last veterancy-grinding update, where Team Uplift sat on a skytower and played chakra battery, here, Leaf's ninja need an unspecified amount of chakra for running, and want to maintain decent chakra reserves even at the end of the day in the event of an ambush. In the absence of a better way to adjudicate this, I'm going to use the same formula I used to calculate the chakra budget for Team Uplift in the desert, but instead of just Team Uplift, Hazō is going to benefit from almost all the ninja that Leaf sent. That is going to be over 4000 CP. This is enough for Hazō to cast 9 shadow clones and craft 10 (!!) runes per day, saturating his available clone-hours.
Hazō has 0 FP right now, and the plan doesn't specify to buy any, but this was likely due to Hazō's sheet not getting updated in a timely manner, so I'll have Hazōpilot buy up to 3 FP. This won't prevent him from getting refresh (except in the unlikely event that he goes +1 FP in this chapter).
Current veterancy (the more negative the better):
Tsunade does a supercharged healing roll and clears off Hazō's Moderate Consequence. For all rolls, Hazō is going to make the following checks:
Hazō (Earthshaping): 50 - 6 (timeladder up) + ? (dice) = 44 + ?
Hazō (Primordial Sealing): 66 + ? (dice) = 66 + ?
To save time, I'm only going to report rolls in the form (ES Fate Dice, [optional: PS Fate Dice if the rune is infused in this update]). The plan doesn't specify what quantity of runes to make of each category, so I'm going to say 9 Ninja-Radar, as they need to be used the most, and 3 of each of Force Dome, Iron Earth, and Air Leadener. 1 RER 2.0 will be crafted and infused every day for veterancy. 8 runes will be made to test Force Domes' earth penetration – these are activated and don't leave Hazō with spare blanks. Hazō will additionally prepare 1 Superchiller blank.
Day 1
Ninja-Radar 1: (3)
Ninja-Radar 2: (0)
Ninja-Radar 3: (3)
Air Leadener: (3)
Iron Earth: (-3)
Force Dome 1: (0)
Force Dome 2 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (-6, 3)
Force Dome 3 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (-3, -3)
Force Dome 4 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (3, -6) -> FP to reroll the PS check! -> (3, 3)
RER 2.0: (-12, -6) -> FP to reroll the ES check! -> (3, -6)
Day 2
Ninja-Radar 1: (0)
Ninja-Radar 2: (0)
Ninja-Radar 3: (3)
Air Leadener: (-3)
Iron Earth: (-12) [NB: accepting a -12 is uncomfortable for Hazō, but Iron Earth was Easy, and his Earthshaping is so high…]
Force Dome 1: (0)
Force Dome 2 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (-3, 9)
Force Dome 3 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (3, -3)
Force Dome 4 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (0, 0)
RER 2.0: (-6, 6) -> FP to reroll the ES check! -> (-6, 6)
Day 3
Ninja-Radar 1: (0)
Ninja-Radar 2: (3)
Ninja-Radar 3: (0)
Air Leadener: (-3)
Iron Earth: (6)
Force Dome 1: (-6)
Force Dome 2 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (6, 0)
Force Dome 3 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (-6, -6)
Superchiller: (6)
RER 2.0: (-6, 3) [NB: Since the previous roll didn't fail, Hazō knows this one won't either.]
New veterancy status at this point:
On Day 4, Hazō will infuse 1x Remote Explosive Rune 2.0s to feel comfortable not rerolling even -12s on Earthshaping. He will then prepare and infuse 6x Ninja-Radar to improve his veterancy to the point where he can timeladder up infusion. That leaves 3 rune slots, which he will allocate to RER 2.0, to start working on his veterancy there, getting closer to being able to timeladder up infusion. All runes here are infused and buried, so there are no blanks created.
Day 4
Ninja-Radar 1: (0, -6)
Ninja-Radar 2: (-3, 6)
Ninja-Radar 3: (-6, 0)
Ninja-Radar 4: (-3, 6)
Ninja-Radar 5: (0, -9)
Ninja-Radar 6: (-12, -6) [NB: Hazō gets the impression that he barely dodged a runic failure here…]
RER 2.0 1: (-6, -6)
RER 2.0 2: (0, 0)
RER 2.0 3: (6, -3)
RER 2.0 4: (3, -6)
New veterancy status:
At the Moon assault, Hazō infuses 1 each of his Iron Earth, Air Leadening, Force Dome blanks, and 4 Ninja-Radar blanks, lowering his veterancy again in each category:
He has the following quantities of blanks available:
For the readers at home, you might be wondering: isn't this a truly monstrous amount of runecrafting? The answer, of course, is yes. This four-day stretch represents what would have taken Hazō several weeks before having access to the chakra of Leaf's miscellaneous ninja. Such are the perks of being aligned with a village.
Hazō has 0 FP right now, and the plan doesn't specify to buy any, but this was likely due to Hazō's sheet not getting updated in a timely manner, so I'll have Hazōpilot buy up to 3 FP. This won't prevent him from getting refresh (except in the unlikely event that he goes +1 FP in this chapter).
Current veterancy (the more negative the better):
- Force Dome: -2
- Iron Earth: 0
- Air Leadener: 0
- Ninja-Radar: -4
- Remote Explosive Rune 2.0: -10
Tsunade does a supercharged healing roll and clears off Hazō's Moderate Consequence. For all rolls, Hazō is going to make the following checks:
Hazō (Earthshaping): 50 - 6 (timeladder up) + ? (dice) = 44 + ?
Hazō (Primordial Sealing): 66 + ? (dice) = 66 + ?
To save time, I'm only going to report rolls in the form (ES Fate Dice, [optional: PS Fate Dice if the rune is infused in this update]). The plan doesn't specify what quantity of runes to make of each category, so I'm going to say 9 Ninja-Radar, as they need to be used the most, and 3 of each of Force Dome, Iron Earth, and Air Leadener. 1 RER 2.0 will be crafted and infused every day for veterancy. 8 runes will be made to test Force Domes' earth penetration – these are activated and don't leave Hazō with spare blanks. Hazō will additionally prepare 1 Superchiller blank.
Day 1
Ninja-Radar 1: (3)
Ninja-Radar 2: (0)
Ninja-Radar 3: (3)
Air Leadener: (3)
Iron Earth: (-3)
Force Dome 1: (0)
Force Dome 2 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (-6, 3)
Force Dome 3 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (-3, -3)
Force Dome 4 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (3, -6) -> FP to reroll the PS check! -> (3, 3)
RER 2.0: (-12, -6) -> FP to reroll the ES check! -> (3, -6)
Day 2
Ninja-Radar 1: (0)
Ninja-Radar 2: (0)
Ninja-Radar 3: (3)
Air Leadener: (-3)
Iron Earth: (-12) [NB: accepting a -12 is uncomfortable for Hazō, but Iron Earth was Easy, and his Earthshaping is so high…]
Force Dome 1: (0)
Force Dome 2 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (-3, 9)
Force Dome 3 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (3, -3)
Force Dome 4 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (0, 0)
RER 2.0: (-6, 6) -> FP to reroll the ES check! -> (-6, 6)
Day 3
Ninja-Radar 1: (0)
Ninja-Radar 2: (3)
Ninja-Radar 3: (0)
Air Leadener: (-3)
Iron Earth: (6)
Force Dome 1: (-6)
Force Dome 2 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (6, 0)
Force Dome 3 (for testing; doesn't yield a spare blank): (-6, -6)
Superchiller: (6)
RER 2.0: (-6, 3) [NB: Since the previous roll didn't fail, Hazō knows this one won't either.]
New veterancy status at this point:
- Force Dome: -18
- Hazō is comfortable moving up the time-ladder 1x for infusion (provided he has FP available to reroll on -9 or worse).
- Iron Earth: 0
- Air Leadener: 0
- Ninja-Radar: -4
- Remote Explosive Rune 2.0: -16
- Hazō now no longer thinks he needs rerolls on the Earthshaping roll except on -12.
On Day 4, Hazō will infuse 1x Remote Explosive Rune 2.0s to feel comfortable not rerolling even -12s on Earthshaping. He will then prepare and infuse 6x Ninja-Radar to improve his veterancy to the point where he can timeladder up infusion. That leaves 3 rune slots, which he will allocate to RER 2.0, to start working on his veterancy there, getting closer to being able to timeladder up infusion. All runes here are infused and buried, so there are no blanks created.
Day 4
Ninja-Radar 1: (0, -6)
Ninja-Radar 2: (-3, 6)
Ninja-Radar 3: (-6, 0)
Ninja-Radar 4: (-3, 6)
Ninja-Radar 5: (0, -9)
Ninja-Radar 6: (-12, -6) [NB: Hazō gets the impression that he barely dodged a runic failure here…]
RER 2.0 1: (-6, -6)
RER 2.0 2: (0, 0)
RER 2.0 3: (6, -3)
RER 2.0 4: (3, -6)
New veterancy status:
- Force Dome: -18
- Iron Earth: 0
- Air Leadener: 0
- Ninja-Radar: -16
- Hazō is comfortable moving up the time-ladder 1x for infusion (provided he has FP available to reroll on -9 or worse).
- Remote Explosive Rune 2.0: -24
- Hazō now no longer thinks he needs rerolls on the Earthshaping roll at all.
- Surprisingly, Hazō thinks he could move up the time-ladder 1x for infusion (provided he has FP available to reroll on -6 or worse).
At the Moon assault, Hazō infuses 1 each of his Iron Earth, Air Leadening, Force Dome blanks, and 4 Ninja-Radar blanks, lowering his veterancy again in each category:
- Force Dome: -20
- Iron Earth: -2
- Air Leadener: -2
- Ninja-Radar: -24
- If Hazō got a little bit more (maybe 3 runes?) practice in, he thinks he could even move up the timeladder 2x here.
- Remote Explosive Rune 2.0: -24
He has the following quantities of blanks available:
- Force Dome: 2
- Air Leadening: 2
- Iron Earth: 2
- Ninja-Radar: 5
For the readers at home, you might be wondering: isn't this a truly monstrous amount of runecrafting? The answer, of course, is yes. This four-day stretch represents what would have taken Hazō several weeks before having access to the chakra of Leaf's miscellaneous ninja. Such are the perks of being aligned with a village.
Hazō has bought and spent 3 FP on runic infusion, and gained 1 FP from refresh.
The amount of earth a Runic Force Dome's chakra pillar can pierce is inconsistent. It seems to depend on the soil quality, as it mostly penetrates through the loose earth that could ordinarily be traversed by Hiding Like a Mole. A couple meters seems to be a relatively safe distance, though if the soil were unusually loose (e.g. in a desert), it could be higher.
While traveling, Kei has bargained with Pantsā for contracts with additional elite combat summons, offering herself for an additional deployment in Pangolin's wars once the Riftwar has concluded. This has cleared her Leadership stagnancy, but may put her into a deployment in Leopard, fighting against Dogs. She is not happy about this, but accepts that if Hazō is getting biosealed, she too must make sacrifices to take down Akatsuki.
Noburi has similarly secured contracts with two of Jiraiya's old combat summons: Gamahiro and Gamaken (Gamazō declined, unfortunately). Like the Lightning Runners (and the Toad Sages, and Gamabunta), they're mainly willing to be summoned in order to fight Akatsuki.
Timeline for this update and last:
- March 12: Travel to rally point with Leaf in the hills northwest of Keishi. After travel: discussions with Tsunade. (XP awarded last update)
- March 13: Start travel to Moon. After travel: recruiting dogs. (XP awarded last update)
- March 14-17: Traveling to Moon. After travel: grinding rune veterancy.
- March 18th: Arriving at Moon. After travel: setting up runes.
- Night of the 18th: Executing the attack.
Unless you have a better idea than "carry all the ninja in nets", you can assume that in two days (i.e. on the 20th of March), you can be somewhere in the forests of southern O'Uzu Island, preparing for the attack.
Leaf's deployment is composed of Tsunade, Kurenai, eight other jōnin, and thirty chūnin. The Porcupine and Condor summoners were both out on a mission when Orochimaru got in contact.
For the sake of your planning, between Leaf's chakra battalion and the captured Moon ninja, you will have 22000 CP available to allocate for your attack. Leaf's ninja currently intend to be at low-but-nonzero reserves in order to facilitate running away if things go south. Moon's ninja will all be drained to zero. This number includes chakra from your team, but does not count Orochimaru Prime, Tsunade Prime, or Kurenai Prime's reserves. All three intend to remain at full chakra going into the battle.
XP Award: 25 + 0 (brevity) XP
GM-fun XP: 1 XP
Also, because I had fun writing this update and it feels appropriate, I'm awarding an extra 1 FP.
Vote time! What to do now?
Voting ends on .
