Pre-Chapter A/N: Here we go with another chapter. Next four chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio. Explanation for why I've been MIA for two weeks at the end.
The five of them dropped to their knees upon entry and I looked over them before answering. Toshiro's silver hair clashed with the black of the other three other than Takeshi who had the deep red hair of the Uzumaki clan. Beyond that, they had even more differences in terms of their bodies. Fumikage was lithe in a way the others were not, much like Akimichi was burly in the way the others were not. Toshiro, Fugaku, and Takeshi had more similar frames, but even those had differences.
Where Takeshi was wiry, both Fugaku and Toshiro were more solidly built and then there was the fact that Toshiro would stand about a head taller than Fugaku when both rose. Something I ordered them to do seconds later.
"Yagura Karatachi is the jinchuriki of the Three Tailed Turtle. After capturing the beast, Kiri was able to find a jinchuriki that possesses unique chakra that allows him to subdue the will of the tailed beast. Of course, I do not need to explain to any of you what sort of danger a fully realised tailed beast in the hands of our enemies would represent. That danger shall be your duty to avert. Your mission is twofold. One, the death or capture of the Jinchuriki, Yagura. Two, the retrieval of the three tails. If you are presented with the opportunity, then you may also take steps to eliminate his sensei, Suiren Hozuki, heir to Kiri's Hozuki clan and cousin to their Mizukage. However, it is not to take priority over the first two objectives. Of the two objectives, only the first is mission critical. Be sure to pull out if the circumstances for achieving the second after achieving the first become untenable." I said to the waiting group, receiving nods from all five.
"Understood, Hokage-sama"
"For this mission, you will be given temporary access to the Konoha Special Armoury. Take whatever you need to succeed" I said next, receiving shocked looks from most of them. I knew there were rumours about the Special Armoury spreading through the general Jounin population but we were yet to confirm them. We just didn't have enough supply to deal with the demand from our general forces. Arming a small group for a highly important mission, though? That was well within capabilities.
This group did not offer much in the way of conversation. That was the nature of the relationship between a Kage and his shinobi unfortunately. I dismissed them with a word and signed the approvals for them to make requisitions from the Special Armoury, before turning to the other things I had to do today. Paperwork these days consisted mostly of approvals for various projects. New training kunai and shuriken for the Academy? Approved. A request for a merchant backed by some noble for an exemption from some tax or the other? Denied. If I'd known just how much of the job required this annoying admin, perhaps I'd have left it to Hiruzen. Okay, perhaps not. It was still annoying.
The next request was from the Uzumaki clan, asking to shut down the streets in the merchant district for a parade celebrating a wedding. My wedding. That one I approved with a chuckle. Writing a request to yourself would never stop being funny to me. We needed them for paper trails and admin reasons but it was still somewhat comical.
The one after that was much less comical. From Orochimaru, a request for six months' leave from active duty. Interesting. Very interesting. Just what was he up to here? He was asking for permission to leave the village as well. Shinobi of his level rarely requested for official leave, and even rarer was it granted. Even if he took missions only once in a while, just having him on the roster made sense for the village. If an emergency arose, it was always better to have people like him on hand. However, I was curious enough about just what he wanted to do that I was tempted to allow it just to see what happened. The stated reason for the leave was listed as 'personal' with no details included. Yeah, that wasn't going to fly.
XXXXX- TOSHIRO TAKEHADA
They were like academy students in their first weapons shop. These powerful jounin who had all shown themselves to be some of Konoha's best were practically scurrying from shelf to shelf, and giggling to themselves. Fugaku Uchiha was the only one with any sense of propriety, standing by Toshiro's side with a disaffected air to him.
"Hurry up and grab what you need. We need to touch base before we get going," he said. On most teams he had been on, the leaders preferred to do their first meetings while already outside of the village. There was nothing Toshiro would detest more than that. The less time spent in the great outdoors, the better.
"Touch base?" Fugaku asked by his side.
"Pre-brief on the mission objective and get to know what each of us can do. It should make it somewhat easier to work together and plan around our individual abilities." The stoic Uchiha nodded.
"You should go have a look around," Toshiro prompted.
"I have no need for additional aids. These eyes are all I need," he responded, pointing at the orbs in his skull with a backward pointed thumb.
Toshiro resisted the urge to scoff out loud but it was a close thing. Not even Uzume had ever been this... Okay, that was a lie. Uzume had been even more arrogant than this when she had been in her younger years. Probably still was. But her arrogance was earned at least. He had watched this man lose to Shori's weakest student.
"There are goggles in there that should allow you to avoid a lot of the countermeasures people use against doujutsu users," he said. The man looked tempted but still did not budge. For a second Toshiro considered leaving him to die on his high horse, but the mission they were going on was a very dangerous one. Even their full team of five was woefully under-equipped to deal with a lot of the things that could go wrong on this mission. All of Kiri falling down on their heads was a worst case scenario, but it was one they had to be prepared for regardless.
And navigating that would be made all the harder with one of them intentionally putting one hand behind his back.
"Uzume has a pair, I know," he said, and the man was instantly sold. Uchiha, Toshiro sighed to himself. So prideful yet so predictable.
"While you're there, grab yourself a thermal-regulated stealth suit as well. They should be separate from the regular stealth suits," he said. If Shori was giving them full access then they would be fools not to take full advantage of it.
With the Uchiha now fully invested in searching through the shelves, Toshiro began to look around as well. He had read the reports. His seat on the council meant he had full access to the contents of the special armoury either way. He knew what was here, and while he had never needed it before now, he began to replace much of his standard equipment.
He kept his main katana, but replaced the wakizashi he wore at each side with ones made from chakra steel. He replaced his arm and leg braces with chakra steel equivalents already thinking up ways he could employ this increased capability in combat. Next he took one of those specially inscribed goggles, as well as a face mask with the ability to filter out all toxins in the air as well as a function to make it remove all the other elements in the air and give him pure 100% oxygen during combat. A meaningful advantage.
He picked up one of the stealth suits as his final addition and met the rest of the team at the entrance. They were already sealing their choices into scrolls so he did the same.
"We'll meet in 30 at Yakiniku Q. It's getting late so we should set out tomorrow at dawn," he said.
"Should we not leave now to get to Kiri earlier?" Fumikage spoke, her voice grating and gravelly. Guess that explained why she spoke so rarely. If he had a voice like that as a woman he wouldn't be the most loquacious of fellows either.
"I have no interest in being out there for longer than I have to. We'd have to do this meeting either way so might as well start it now and get it over with. Sleeping in our own beds for one more night can't hurt," he said, and when she looked like she was about to tell him just how it could hurt, he continued.
"Besides, the mission isn't strictly time bound. If the Hokage needed us to get going immediately he would have said the mission was urgent. I'd rather have whatever little comfort I can get in the time being," he said, and before she could respond, he body-flickered away. Oh, he could see why Sensei loved doing that so much. He had given his orders though, so they would meet him when the time came for sure. For now, he could get some time to himself.
----
He arrived three minutes later than he had specified for the meeting and found all four of his assigned teammates waiting for him in a booth. He slid in next to the Uzumaki. He looked to be the least intense of the lot. Perhaps a kindred spirit.
"You can go ahead and order. It's on me," he said. He had more money than he knew what to do with so it cost nothing to be generous and get some team rapport going on nice and early. Isagi Akimichi took the offer with both hands, doing his clan proud and calling for a waiter almost instantly.
Even Fumikage and Fugaku both ordered when the waiter turned to them. Toshiro asked for his usual and when the waiter left, he began speaking again.
"I know some of what three of you can do from the exhibition. So we start with the dark horse. Uzumaki, tell me what you can do?" he asked. It was an open secret that Shori kept his precious Uzumaki close to his chest. He would not have assigned this one on such a dangerous mission if he didn't see it as absolutely necessary.
"Why don't you start so I can get some feel for how to go about it?" the lithe redhead replied with. Toshiro shrugged.
"Name's Toshiro Takehada. I've mastered every kenjutsu style known to the leaf village, and a few that aren't. I primarily make use of light based genjutsu and can use a few wide area ones if the need arises. My chakra nature is lightning, but I am capable of using some jutsu from all five of the elements. My marksmanship is excellent, and I can use some basic medical ninjutsu," he said. Fumikage whistled, Akimichi offering a nod of appreciation as well.
"Shouldn't have expected anything less from the Shorirama-sama's genin teammate," Uzumaki said with wide eyes. The gaze was so earnestly impressed. Toshiro looked away.
"Shori can do things us mere mortals can't even dream of. I was there when he made the Scar," he said, referring to the long trench cut through what had once been Iwa. Quite a few shinobi had made visits to the site since then. It was something of a rite of passage among the jounin. Gave them a goal to aim towards and reminded them just why their Kage was top dog.
"Still impressive that you trained alongside him when you were both children. He must have been so different then."
"Enough of that. Focus on the topic of today please. It's your turn to let us know what you can do," he said.
"My name is Takeshi Uzumaki. My taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu are average. I would probably be at the level of a chunin in all of them," he began bashfully. Fumikage scoffed. Fugaku looked scornful. Toshiro could see where they were coming from. He withheld judgement.
"The reason I've probably been put on this mission is my fuinjutsu. I can use it in combat and I have even been able to manifest the adamantine sealing chains. I am not as good with them as Kushina-sama, but I should be able to help in subduing the Sanbi if it fully emerges," he said, and he said that last sentence like he was just stating a fun fact. Like he did not realise that even having a weapon useful against a fully manifested tailed beast just made him the most useful person here. The other two instantly seemed to reassess their opinions of him.
"Me next, hmm?" Akimichi asked as their food began arriving.
"My name is Isagi Akimichi. I can use my clan's expansion jutsu. I have good boujutsu that I can pair with my expansion technique. My taijutsu is my best skill. Of course, I'm not as good as a Hyuga, but who is? I have good earth release as well, and passable fire release," he said.
Next was Fumikage who abandoned her meal in favour of speaking.
"Kageru Fumikage. I have wind and earth release. Can combine them into magnet release used in conjunction with ranged and melee weapons. Good enough taijutsu, fair genjutsu, but I can break out of some pretty advanced ones," she said.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. My genjutsu is really bad. I can break out if I know I'm in one though," Akimichi added in between a mouthful of food. Toshiro nodded, taking note of that as well. None of their targets were genjutsu specialists but a weakness like that could come bite them in their arse.
"I am Fugaku of the Uchiha Clan. My taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu are excellent. I specialise in fire and earth release. My shurikenjutsu is also excellent. I can use sharingan genjutsu at a high level if the situation calls for it," the final one of their group said.
"So we have between us. Two close combat specialists, two mid-rangers, and one fuinjutsu master. Well, I think we can kill a Jinchuriki with that," he said. Only Uzumaki returned his bright smile. He could already tell that this wouldn't be fun.
XXXXXX- MINATO NAMIKAZE
When had his apartment turned to the team meeting and hangout spot? he wondered. He could trace it straight back to when Mikoto had knocked on his door with her aunt by her side all those months ago. Uzume Uchiha might only have come here once since then, but Mikoto had come multiple dozen times, and then when Kushina found out where Mikoto was going, she'd started tagging along as well, and now they were in here more often than not. At least it meant food that tasted better than instant ramen or nutrition rations.
"Here you go," Mikoto said, handing him a plate. He accepted with thanks as she walked the other over to Kushina who was hunched over one of the seals he was working on. She'd already crossed out a third of it, so he was much less worried about the risk of it staining from food being consumed so close to it. He'd probably have to start all over again either way.
"So, Ame?" Mikoto asked, raising the reason they had all come here in the first place.
"We just have to go in, crack some skulls and get out. Should be easy peasy," Kushina said, smashing her fist into her palm and getting ramen water all over his notes. He swallowed his internal sigh. It was Kushina. You just couldn't be mad at Kushina.
"Not so easy. The reports say the Yaga aligned army has been pinned down and unable to make any progress into the village itself. While they were being held back by the combined forces, the combined enemy force took the village and purged what forces he had contesting it. They've moved their armies and supplies there and turned it into a fortress. If we want to end this in the timeline Sensei is envisioning, we would have to both convince Yaga to sacrifice a good portion of his army in a charge and also to win the inevitable bloodbath that follows. We should have been sent in when the enemy were just waiting around in a castle. Now the job is much harder, and I suspect it might be impossible," he admitted. Sensei could do it. He could do it for sure. He could have done it when he was Minato's age. But the match against Orochimaru had shown Minato that while he was many things, he still was not his Sensei.
"Could my aunt manage?" Mikoto asked.
"With that Susano'o thing? Probably. She'd just take the point of the spear and charge in. The loss of life would still be immense but she'd be sure to still be standing after it, and I doubt any of the enemy commanders will be able to say the same," he said after thinking it over. The Susano'o would be a great help in something like that. A big sturdy target that could deal large damage and that the enemy could not afford not to pay attention to. It would not do most of the fighting. It would actually accomplish very little because of its size. Taking a village was a lot of alley-fighting. Not simple open battles.
Sensei always said it was their luck that Kumo decided to take the burden of fighting Iwa in their own walls on by themselves because the Konoha army would have been torn to shreds around him. But these men in this war were not Konoha shinobi. Minato didn't need to have reservations about spending their lives. He still did, damn him, he did. But this could work, and if he had to choose between Ame lives and Konoha's dream, then he knew the choice he would make.
It was the choice that Sensei had shown him how to make time after time.
"I have a plan," he said.
"Good. I was beginning to think you couldn't see it," Mikoto said, her eyes swivelling to look at Kushina as well. They'd thought about the same thing then?
A/N: Here we go with new chappy. Two of the missions this arc will be focused on get their planning starts. We see the third next chappy.
Hey guys. I'm so sorry. It's been two weeks since the last update and I wish I could tell you it was for a really good reason. I did fall sick for like a week and couldn't write during that but even after that was over and done with, I still found myself unable to do much writing. Why? Well, the Masters program I wanted to use to delay having to get a real job told me to fuck off and now I have to either figure out actual employment (ugh) or convince my family (who've spent a shit ton on my education) that it makes sense for me to do this full time. It's placed a lot of pressure around writing for me and I haven't been able to just chill and do the thing I love for a while now. Of course, you can see this because I've managed to get over it to some degree. I am still working on a book that should hopefully do well enough that I can use it as proof of concept, but that's still in progress so fingers crossed. The bit that concerns you is that I'm back now and I'll do my best to make sure I never get gone for that long again. Enjoy the chapter. Discount on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) as a sort of apology for those interested. Next chapter comes on here on Sunday night.
Next four chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early.