22 Chapter Twenty Two- So It Begins
"We will be meeting with platoons 1-5" Captain Yoru ordered as we all jumped off the encampment walls. The platoons were something I had just learned about. As it was explained to me before, each of the vice commanders was responsible for a thousand shinobi. The ten Vice commanders were numbered similarly to make identification more simple.
The infantry division had ten platoons and in each platoon, there were a hundred ten-man squads.
Our squad belonged to division five and we were joining half of the entire infantry mere miles away from Suna's gates.
'What a way to start my first day enlisted in the active forces, a full-on military confrontation' I almost chucked at that, it was too bad I was racked with nerves. Who wouldn't be? This wouldn't be like last time, now I'd be front and center. Dodging stray ninjutsu and kunai from allies and enemies alike.
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{Quest Accepted}
In The Trenches
Objective: Survive your first day on the frontlines.
Rewards: 5,000xp, Common Loot Cache
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'Thanks scroll, one more person telling me not to die. I'm really starting to think these people are trying to jinx me.'
"I will go over this with you all one more time so please listen carefully." Yoru Nara said with a heavy sigh as he lit a cigarette. How did he plan to light it while we were moving this fast? I had no idea.
"We are not desperate. We are at the enemy's door, our prerogative from this moment onwards is to bleed them dry. Tiber, Tometsu, explain to the rest of us what that means for us." Our captain asked as he snapped his fingers and a spark of flame lit his cigarette. The Inuzuka teen growled slightly at being singled out, but I decided to answer to possibly save an argument.
"We don't rush forward. We play the long game with them and try our best to conserve our lives for when they get desperate" I harbored a guess based on what I learned thus far. Nothing was more dangerous than a corner animal and that was quickly what Suna was becoming.
With their future Kage missing a limb and it being a month since he took the field, well Konoha could smell blood in the water. I was sure Iwagakure did as well, those rock bastards were surely giving the Second Kazekage the fight of his life on the border.
Though if that man remained strong I doubted Suna would even consider the notion of surrender. He and over half his shinobi have been holding Iwa at their shared border for a few years now.
Little was known of the Second Kazekage other than three or four things.
Shamon of the Wind, the Second Kazekage has been considered an S-rank shinobi for close to two decades now. A bonafide seal master and possessed an almost 'perfect' wind affinity. Though what he was most known for was his mind, a brilliant strategist.
Not the most grandiose bingo book entry I've ever read but surely one to be feared.
"Correct, more or less. To make it simple, stay with the squad. I don't care if the enemy is holding your mother's head and taunting you. Stay. With. The. Squad" Captain Yoru said as he addressed all of us, paying a few extra moments to Tiber and I. I simply nodded at the order as it was our best chance to keep ourselves and our teammates alive.
"Yes yes, leave the glory to those who are willing to risk their lives for it" Tiber said with a load of sarcasm that his companion whimpered to. It seemed somebody had something to prove.
Captain Nara whispered," troublesome" about our Inuzka companion, and signaled me over. I arrived next to him after a small application of my 'continuous flicker'.
"Watch him for me, if he tries to go off on his own either try to stop him or watch his back" Captain ordered as I looked at him like he was crazy. 'Is this some kind of reverse psychology? Why order it if you knew the idiot wouldn't listen? Why am I stuck with him?' But I simply nodded, I'd watch his back while trying to accomplish a few of my own goals if possible.
It wasn't long before we joined an absolute army of shinobi, bloodthirsty and armed to the teeth.
I almost thought I could see Suna's walls in the distance but there were so many dunes and sand storms that I doubted it to be true.
Though we didn't arrive here unimpeded, of course, there was a welcome waiting for us this deep in the land of Wind.
If you were far away it would seem like we were about to fight a battle at terrible odds. Around nine thousand shinobi surrounded me while on their side there were easily twelve thousand bodies.
It was a good thing that most of the difference in numbers could be attributed to their puppets. Thousands of them in fact, without a doubt the puppeteer division was impressive. Yet another thing that could be attributed to the second Kazekage's claim to being a seal master. That was something I learned from Sakumo that the Bingo book didn't inform me of.
Despite that fact, if there was one thing the Village Hidden in the Leaves was known for it was quality over quantity. So despite these odds, I didn't see one shinobi older than a teenager sweating before this battle.
A small smile broke on my face as I heard the sky rumble above me. A few claps of thunder later and a lightning bolt touched down in front of our army.
'Sensei sure knows how to make an entrance' I commented internally as I watched the shinobi around agree. It was honestly astonishing to see their reaction to their commander joining the front.
Their chests pushed forward, smiles broke out and I swore they even seemed to stand taller. Sensei was loved by his shinobi, and I could understand why. A man that led from the front was truly worth fighting with.
'Could he become the next Kage?' He definitely had a pillar to stand on in that debate. I could only think of four or five others that could challenge his claim. He had the strength and charisma of a Kage even in his twenties.
I was interrupted from my thoughts as Yoru nudged my shoulder and nodded to me to look forward. Even without his nudge, I would've noticed how the sand under us began vibrating slightly, almost as if a small explosion had happened under the sand.
Though I wish that had been the cause as in the silence a black tornado tore through the ground in front of our enemy's army.
As the tornado of black sand settled I caught a glimpse of the enemy commander. Russo and he looked feral and absolutely furious. More Inuzuka than the teenager next to me, a noticeable metallic shine shone on what was once his left arm.
Another thing about Suna that was impressive. Using their knowledge of puppets to create state-of-the-art prosthetics.
"Get ready everyone, any moment now and they'll charge." My Captain warned us and we all began last minute checking our weapons and various pouches. I hummed as I drew my family's blade and began circulating my chakra.
I had a few rules I would need to abide by to survive this. Twenty genin I would retreat, 5 chunin and I would retreat and if I even thought a Jonin was targeting me I would again retreat. If I could follow that simple set of rules I could thrive on this battlefield.
My Sharingan came alive at the first twitch from the enemy's front.
Less than five minutes later and I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, much similar to the last time I was on the battlefield.
Skillfully knocking away a barrage of kunai and body flickering past a wall of slicing wind I couldn't help but ask myself. 'How the hell did I do this as a Genin?' It was an odd question seeing as how I was still a genin but the fact remained.
"Hey dumbass, any further and we'll be fucking surrounded!" I yelled toward the fur-covered figure in front of me. Though he continued to ignore me just as he had Captain Yoru when he yelled for him to come back.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught what I thought was a Suna genin preparing a rather nasty great breakthrough jutsu that would surely mutilate my mentally challenged companion.
Going into my next flicker I cut off the technique, turned my ankle, and blasted forward in three continuous bursts. Not a moment later my sword was hilt deep in this unlucky genin's chest. I watched him choke on his own blood as his heart refused to pump anymore.
[Suna Genin killed +300xp]
Turning my head quickly I realized the idiot was still pushing forward, with no regard for the fact that he was just barely dodging all of the stray projectiles.
We were inside what many would call the 'kill zone'. A stretch of land between the two armies.
"Tiber!" I said in annoyance as I was done with this already. I appeared next to a proactive Chunin and clashed blades with him. A moment later my Inuzuka squadmate might have lost his head. He voiced a quick thanks as he continued to charge forward.
My frustrations bled over into my fighting style as I did a tried and true combo.
As our blades were still locked I jerked my own causing a storm of sparks. In the next moment, my blade lit with an orange flame, simultaneously my stomach bulged and I screamed.
[Suna Chunin Killed +700xp]
In the span of a few seconds, a charred corpse fell at my feet. The combination of my blade's chakra flow and a tenth of my chakra empowering a great breakthrough seemed to literally charbroil a shinobi in seconds.
"How many times had I saved his ass already? Five?" I voiced aloud as I took a few deep breaths. It seemed I was right on track as the system confirmed it.
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{War Quest Complete}
A Boy At War ll
Objective: Kill twenty-five enemies during the Second Shinobi War.
Rewards: 5 stat points, common loot cache
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'Almost forgot about that questline' I commented internally as I sidestepped a barrage of shuriken and turned to their sender. A trio of genin who looked pissed, they must've known that chunin I had just cooked alive. I dropped the five stat points into agility and regarded the Suna shinobi with a glare.
"I don't have time for this….." I whispered as a puff of smoke appeared next to me. I gave the clone a third of my chakra and a simple order, hunt and survive.
I disappeared from that small battlefield and decided enough was enough. Seven bursts of my continuous flicker and I was right next to Tiber. A quick leg kick and the shinobi collapsed into a roll.
Quickly arriving next to his crumpled form, I held the back of my sword to his neck. "Now you're dead, one move and you've lost your head" I said with an air of annoyance as the chunin at my feet looked up at me with wide eyes. A growl alerted me to Borka charging but with a simple turn of my head the dog was immobilized and placed under a minor genjutsu.
"Now get your shit together, stand up, and explain to me why you're running through a kill zone" I said as I barely held in the growl that escaped my lips as I paired a stray kunai. An explosion behind me made me jerk slightly but the message quickly fixed my worries.
[3X Suna Genin killed +1100xp]
"I'm looking for someone, a Jonin with a crossed scar over his left eye, blonde hair, and average height. Free my dog" Tiber said as I complied, Borka gave a confused bark before glaring at me. It was cute.
"The reason?" I asked as if he was intent on going to get himself killed I wondered if I should attempt to knock him out and leave him at a medical tent.
"He killed my father a year ago along with his life companion. I can't let him see another day." I would lie if I said that story didn't pluck a few of my heartstrings. Still having shared unresolved parental issues wasn't enough for me to help him kill a Jonin.
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{Quest Accepted}
A Favor To The Inuzuka
Objective: Kill Kazera Urashu
Rewards: 1 perk point,???,???
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'Dammit….' I sighed hard as I debated if this was worth breaking one of my rules not ten minutes since the fight started.
"Fine, what information do you have?" I said as I sent an order to my clone to follow behind us.
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Level 9 (3800/6000)
Name: Tometsu Uchiha
Chakra: 1640/2600
Title: Fang's Apprentice- Boosts the learning speed of Kenjutsu and Lightning release by 20%
Strength:49
Dexterity:67
Agility: 47-(52)
Endurance:40
Intelligence:104
Stat points:0
Perk Points:0
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A/N: Finally back to the action!
