I returned to the camp and noticed my clones trying to tend to the injuries they could, which, admittedly, wasn't much. Thankfully, Haku was there too, and she was actually skilled at using Medical Ninjutsu. While she may not have been a certified medic, she was certainly more competent than I was.
We had won the battle, but there was no sense of celebration in the camp. Instead, a weight of survival seemed to descend upon us. We would live to fight another day, but that didn't bring me much comfort as I watched the few largely uninjured rebels gather the bodies of their friends—or what was left of them. Sometimes, jutsu reduces bodies to only vague shreds of flesh and bone.
I wondered how the loyalists must feel seeing the red mist and puddles of blood I had left behind. But to be fair, they ran away and would likely not return to collect their dead. At least I could convince myself it was a good deterrent. I saved people, right? Or maybe I had just pissed off the Water Daimyo enough to send even more forces to Yagura.
I quickly scribbled a note for Hiruzen, explaining what had happened, just in case Yagura started asking some uncomfortable questions. With some luck, Hiruzen would have time to fabricate an excuse about a mission I was supposedly completing on the other side of the continent.
Or maybe, just maybe, he might finally get off his ass and send real help to the rebels. I wasn't holding out much hope, though.
"You good there, kid?" Zabuza's voice pulled me from my thoughts, and I quickly summoned a cat and gave it the note.
"I'll be fine. That swordsman was pretty tough," I replied as the cat vanished in a puff of smoke, reverse-summoning itself back to Konoha.
Zabuza raised his almost nonexistent eyebrow at my response, clearly not satisfied. It probably wasn't what he meant. That man was likely just as emotionally stunted as I was, if not more, so thankfully, he didn't push.
"Right… Men!" Zabuza shouted. "Let's clean up a little. I have a feeling this island will be in our hands after all." He called out to the survivors, those who could still move, at least.
The evacuation ships would be here relatively soon, so sending a report about the battle would be easy. With the enemy headquarters on this island magically transformed into a crater, I was optimistic about taking full control within a few short days.
The camp worked diligently to clean up. The dead bodies were sorted into piles of allies and enemies; those enemies still alive were either captured or executed on the spot. It was mostly done on recognition; those whose arsenals were known would be taken in, and the unknowns would be killed just to be safe.
Haku and I did everything we could to keep our wounded alive and stable, but there was little we could do for those whose bodies were mutilated beyond recognition. I distinctly remember sitting next to a man whose right lung was torn to shreds, said shreds splayed out beside him. A proper medic might have been able to save him, but we didn't have any of those on hand. Witnessing such a thing was far worse than simply liquefying people; at least with that, they didn't suffer and died quickly.
Even with the severely injured accounted for, the number of survivors didn't exceed fifty. It may have been a Pyrrhic victory, but the losses could have been much worse if the camp hadn't already been nearly evacuated. If the defenders had numbers similar to those attackers who got past me, the battle might have had a much different outcome.
I shook my head; this wasn't the time to dwell on hypotheticals. I could only hope these losses would draw Yagura out of his hidey-hole so we could end this war.
I may have been gone only a relatively short time, but I already missed home and longed to see my cute little sister suffering through D-ranks. That would certainly be better than trying to comfort a dying man whom I could do nothing for beyond empty words.
To my great relief, the ships arrived rather quickly, and we sent out our report, leaving Zabuza and me to organize the provisional securing of the island. This island was one of the larger ones, with multiple fishing villages and even a few larger towns. The locals didn't care much about who was winning; they were just glad that more fighting wouldn't be happening near their homes, which was understandable, especially since they saw my Kirin earlier today.
By evening, most of the island was under our direct control, and a new, much larger camp was under construction. Reinforcements arrived, including most of the ninjas who evacuated just yesterday, along with many more coming from other smaller camps, boosting our numbers to over three thousand. That was a significant force, one that Yagura's loyalists couldn't afford to attack carelessly.
The rebels held a funeral for their fallen comrades, and I joined them, although I was mostly spaced out throughout the ceremony. It was a simple speech and a toast, nothing extravagant, but my thoughts were elsewhere.
It's no wonder every other ninja was either turbodepressed or completely emotionally stunted. If every war looked like this one, I would be surprised if they remained mentally stable, even with psychological help. And considering that psychology was a niche field at best, often seen as unimportant, I could only fear for my allies' mental health… and mine, too. But hten again, was there really any help for me at this point?
—
I didn't really feel like celebrating, even as the other survivors began a massive party after the funeral. It was apparently a custom in Kirigakure to drink in honor of the dead. I did toast to the fallen, but then I took the offered sake bottle and slipped away to one of the quieter spots in the newly built camp, the watchtower.
I watched the loud party below with what I hoped was a small smile. Celebrating victory is expected, and combined with drinking to honor the dead, this definitely wouldn't just be a "one drink and go to sleep" kind of party.
Thankfully, I wouldn't be alone; I noticed someone else climbing the watchtower shortly after me.
"Didn't feel like celebrating either?" I asked, already guessing who else would seek out a quiet place.
After a brief pause, Haku's voice came through, more subdued than usual.
"No... I don't think I could drink much without it coming right back up after what I've seen today."
"Yeah, I can understand that. I saw some chakra injuries; it looks like you're getting good with Hiramekarei." I scooted over so she could have a good view of the party below.
"I've killed more today than I ever thought I would," she pondered as she sat down next to me.
"I can share that sentiment..." I muttered and offered her a small drink.
"Aren't you a little young to—" she paused, then burst into a small laugh. "Ah, never mind. You're not much younger than me. And if you're old enough to survive Yagura and save our skins..." She tried to backpedal and explain herself at the same time, making me laugh too.
What is up with that? Am I old enough to fight in a war but not old enough to have a drink? These standards are strange in Ameri— the ninja world.
"I guess... it's not like I'm getting drunk; the sake is too low shite to drink a lot of it," I said, pouring us both a cup.
"And here I was supposed to travel with Zabuza-sama and gather funds from missions... this was supposed to be a small formality before we leave," she sighed, and I couldn't really blame her.
"I blame my luck. Everything was going well until I got here." I chuckled and downed the sake. "For some reason, my missions always go completely tits up," I explained, as she giggled into her own cup. In that moment, she reminded me a lot of Hinata.
"But at least you saved some people; all I can do is mend bones and close cuts," I sighed, pouring myself another drink.
"Hmm? Didn't you help fix someone's eye?" She tilted her head to the side.
"Props from having Uchiha friends... those eyes are a health hazard just as much as they are disgustingly powerful." I shrugged, not really seeing what all the hype was about.
Trying to learn how to diminish the drawbacks of the Mangekyō Sharingan had made me somewhat competent at healing eyes, but I still couldn't counter the sight loss, as expected. If it were easy to heal, the Uchiha would have figured out how to do it centuries ago.
"I didn't know their eyes get worse with use. And they sound like a handful, those friends," she said, and I could only agree with that sentiment, especially when it came to Izumi. Well, she grew out of most of it.
"You have no idea..." I grinned. "I wish he could at least send a message once in a while. I haven't heard from my best friend in over a year now." I sighed, but considering what Itachi was up to at that moment, I doubted he would risk his cover just to exchange pleasantries.
"So you fight for your friends?" Haku asked, and I could already tell what kind of speech she was about to deliver. "That's good. I believe that people become strong when they fight for someone else," she said, nodding.
It seemed her speech was the same as I remembered. At least that part stayed consistent.
"I try to fight for what's right... I usually make friends along the way," I said, although the friends part wasn't entirely true. I had made a few friends, but most of those were the Biju, and I wasn't sure if they would count. Not to mention, I wasn't even sure half the time if I was fighting for the right thing half the time.
"Just don't overdo it with that devotion of yours. Zabuza needs you much more than he would ever admit," I told her. "Good luck when you go out... and try not to traumatize any Konoha ninjas if you run into them," I chuckled as I got up, ready to go to sleep after being awake for over twenty hours.
"I'll try to keep Zabuza-sama acting nice. But you know how he gets when he sees a challenge." She sighed heavily and finally finished her cup of sake.
"I'm willing to step back a bit and just ask him not to kill them. But I'd prefer my colleagues to be... mostly unaffected by the meeting." I shook my head. She would probably have to freeze Zabuza if she wanted to avoid a fight.
"Goodnight," I said before jumping down from the watchtower and heading straight for my tent, her reply reaching my ears as I touched the ground.
—
The following days settled back into a routine. I was sent inspect one camp, then moved to the next, participating in little skirmishes during scouting missions—just the usual activities.
Haku and Zabuza left a few days after the large battle, initially heading back to the Land of Grass before heading to the Land of Waves if my memory served. Those missions apparently paid quite well.
As the days stretched into weeks and, eventually, two full months passed, I noticed a rather troublesome pattern: whatever progress I managed to make, Yagura would undo it on a different front.
Even with Mei beginning to show up more often on the front lines, the defenses were growing increasingly formidable the closer we got to Kirigakure. Whenever Mei or I were confirmed to be in a certain camp, Yagura would come out and quite literally stomp our defences into the ground while staying far away from either of us.
On the rare occasion that Mei was close enough to intervene, he would retreat quickly, perhaps lacking confidence after losing his arm, or maybe he simply aimed to undermine the rebels' morale. I wasn't lucky enough to ever be close enough, unfortunately.
Thankfully, he wasn't very successful; the rebels preferred to mock him for being too scared to confront their leader if they managed to survive. Whether there was truth to that didn't matter much to me. I was just relieved that I hadn't lost several hundred allies in battle since the large invasion.
From what I had heard, the Water Daimyo was not happy that one of his personal guards had been maimed and many of his samurai killed in a single day. Perhaps there was still hope for negotiation if we could declare victory.
The only thing I did that I maybe shouldn't have was summon Yoru just days before Sakura's graduation. I asked the little black cat to look after her unless Hinata or I summoned her. I preferred to be safe rather than sorry.
With Kakashi now serving as the Anbu commander, I wasn't sure who would be Sakura's sensei. Even if Izumi managed to get the position, having a solid jonin-level summon around would help put my mind at ease, especially if they ended up going to the Land of Waves.
I actually wondered how Zabuza would react, considering I hadn't mentioned my sister to him. Haku knew about her though, so she better keep him in check, or I would have to have some choice swords with him.
Fortunately, Yoru thought it would be fun to observe how a normal genin operates, so she easily agreed to the task. In the worst-case scenario, Zabuza might just get scratched by one of my summons. I'm pretty sure he has seen me train with Zangetsu a few times, so he should be aware that the cats are not as weak as they appear.
My main concern was the mental state of the team sensei. Yoru could be both mischievous and fun-seeking when bored, not to mention downright scary when she felt slighted. I shook my head, trying to avoid getting sidetracked again.
I was on my way to a meeting. Mei apparently had devised some master plan in collaboration with Ao. The last time they were planning something, I ended up with my intestines outside my body, so I was a little skeptical. But to be honest, that was partially my fault for volunteering in the first place.
I entered the large tent where a massive table dominated the space, covered in a detailed map of the entire country and numerous smaller maps of specific towns or bases. It displayed frontlines, camps, harbors, and important towns.
I noticed that one of our ports was close enough to mount a real attack on Kirigakure itself, but a large naval base stood in the way. I already had a feeling as to why I was summoned here, and I was quite sure I wouldn't like it.
"Ryuuzaki. Glad you could join us on such short notice," Mei said, looking relieved that I had come.
"I mean... I just walked over from my tent," I shrugged, trying to stay casual. "So what's the plan, boss lady?" I asked, hoping to steer the conversation back on topic.
"Blunter than usual, I see," She remarked with a small smile before addressing the room with the plan. "As you can all see, the naval base here, on Aokujima, stands in our ability to launch a real offensive."
She paused for a moment. "I find that obstacle unacceptable. It is not beautiful in the slightest." She turned her gaze directly at me. "I have it on good authority that you possess a lightning jutsu large enough to destroy a war camp. Do you believe you can disable their harbor and destroy a significant number of their ships?"
I took a moment to think. Was she seriously asking me to obliterate a harbor-town turned military headquarters with Kirin?
"Technically, yes. But I'm not pointing that jutsu at civilian targets... nor will I use any other jutsu that way," I replied, maintaining my composure even as Ao fixed me with a stern look.
"Youth these days, back in my day—" he began, but I interrupted him before he could say something I would get too angry over.
"Back in your day, people clearly had no morals, Ao. I do, however low they may be," I stated plainly, focusing to suppress my conqueror's haki that was leaking out, forcing a few of the ninjas present to take a step back.
That guy really is a slightly less horrible version of Danzo.
"Alternatively... I can freeze their vessels in the harbor with my crystals. This would prevent them from sailing against you while avoiding mass casualties among people who are simply guilty of living near our operation," I suggested. Crystallizing a harbor should be well within my capabilities, especially if I could catch some ninjas in the crossfire.
I didn't even mention the ill will from the other inhabitants of the country; people rarely took well to their fellow countrymen being killed by soldiers, regardless of which side they were on. Turning an entire town into a crater, or severely damaging it as Kirin would undoubtedly do, would only bolster Yagura's popularity. Even if he lost, the people would be unhappy with the new regime.
Mei paused for a moment, while Ao looked torn between calling out my blatant disrespect and attempting to order me to go with the plan anyway.
Thankfully, Mei spoke first.
"That might be doable. But only if you manage to capture a majority of their vessels, if not all," she said, contemplating whether it could be done.
The harbor never held all the ships; many were typically patrolling the seas, and the ones that weren't were the reserves she wanted to eliminate.
"I'll see what I can do. I'm pretty sure that I can crystallize the entire harbor if the maps are drawn to scale," I replied, studying the size of the harbor on one of the smaller maps.
"It was smaller before the Civil War. If I had to guess, it's about three times as large now," she pondered, though even she didn't have the exact number. Getting spies that deep into Yagura's territory must have been challenging.
"I'll figure it out. Don't worry," I assured her, a grin spreading across my face. "If I can't do it, I'll just have to run around and destroy the ships that my crystals won't reach."