First Shinobi War !

Day 245

Tobirama Senju, the current Nidaime Hokage of Konoha No Sato was currently overlooking a large plain with his eyes. He had his arms crossed as he was thinking at full speed.

Since the disappearance of his brother Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju had become the most powerful shinobi of all the elemental nations that no one could expect to defeat in a one on one fight. Just like his brother, Tobirama was considered a shinobi God!

But, unlike his brother who had an unrivalled brute strength, Tobirama was the most intelligent being of all time. Even in the Fourth Great Shinobi War, no one matched his intellect.

After all, he was a virtuoso at everything he did. He was the greatest creator of Ninjutsu techniques of all time and mastered them with such ease that no hand signals were needed to perform them. His mastery of the five elements of chakra made him a completely versatile and dangerous ninja, but his reputation lay in the art of Suiton ! Indeed, he was able to create water out of the air : gathering water particles, no matter how small.

But Ninjutsu was not his only strength... quite the contrary. He was one of the greatest fighters in Kenjutsu : the art of sword fighting. And hardly anyone in the world could match him because of his greatest secret. He was with Ashina Uzumaki : the greatest genius of Fûinjutsu !

His most deadly technique was his teleportation time Fûinjutsu which allowed him to beat almost anyone. This same technique would be improved in the future by the Yondaime Hokage.

All his skills, plus his intelligence, made Tobirama Senju not only a shinobi, but also an extremely dangerous Hokage. And it was because of all his qualities that Tobirama was currently standing in front of this huge plain.

For weeks, his troops, as well as his spies, had been giving him reports of an imminent invasion planned by their enemies. So, like the military genius that he was, Tobirama acted accordingly : he prepared himself. He made sure that his country went fishing for information without skimping on means or unscrupulous methods to gather the information he needed. He organised several assassinations to get the information that would allow him to win the first battle !

In addition to all his other qualities, Tobirama also had something else that gave him a significant advantage over his opponents : he was the most skilled sensory ninja of all time. His training and dedication to this discipline made him impossible to ambush. His sensory abilities were so acute that he could detect an army approaching his position from several kilometres away.

That was why he had ordered his troops to stand back, hidden in the trees, waiting for the next orders. These soon arrived.

— "Everyone to their posts," Tobirama said without uncrossing his arms to his subordinate.

— "Hai, Hokage-sama," Hiruzen Sarutobi replied before jumping up into the trees behind him to give the next orders.

To tell the truth, it had been two days since Tobirama had stood in this very spot, staring off into the horizon. He had only stopped to stare ahead to eat or go to the toilet, but that was all ! He was not sleeping, not resting ! And his troops wondered how he did it and above all, what he was doing waiting like that. But no one dared say anything to him : he was after all their Hokage.

— "There you are," Tobirama said, squinting as the first soldiers advanced into the distance. There were nearly six hundred soldiers advancing in military line towards them. They weren't all shinobi, but half of them seemed to have mastered the ninja arts because of their chakra reserves.

Then suddenly, the troops began to charge in his direction : a sensory shinobi had just spotted him. But at the same time, he had done everything to be detected.

As the shinobi quickly approached, Tobirama could see if his information was correct.

— "Kaze No Kuni... Tsuchi No Kuni... Tch !" Tobirama said in disgust as he recognized the foreheadbands of his enemies as the entire army was scattered across the plain before him.

He would not make the same mistakes as his brother, he would not be as tender, he would be without pity ! Out of love for his brother, Tobirama had not objected when Hashirama had given Bijû to other nations as a sign of good faith. But for him, it was the same thing as giving a dagger to the enemy so that he could pierce you with it.

And it was when he saw these shinobi in front of him that he knew it had been a mistake to have been generous with them. Tobirama Senju was a mixture of Hashirama and Madara, and even if it cost him to admit it, he agreed with the Uchiha's proposal. He would have agreed to it without batting an eyelid : subdue this world before it subdues you !

The first shinobi would be upon him in less than twenty seconds, but Tobirama didn't seem the least bit perturbed by that. He swept his gaze over the plain, taking a last look at the work he had been preparing for two days. The Nidaime Hokage uncrossed his arms before placing his right hand in the sign of the ram. As he did so, the air in the entire area rapidly charged with chakra accompanied by a strong smell of sulfur as everyone's hair stood on end at such a concentration of energy.

— "KATSU !" Tobirama shouted.

It was then that several thousand explosive tags that the Hokage had placed during those two days in the plain, exploded at the same time ! The explosion was felt for dozens of kilometres and the sound that resulted was frightening. The blast uprooted many trees and the meadow, which was initially pleasant to look at, was now a field of ruins.

In the blink of an eye, Tobirama had just killed more than six hundred human beings without any effort and above all without mercy !

Day 250

For a little more than a month, this group of more than a thousand inhabitants had been moving towards Ta No Kuni. And more particularly in the direction of Heiwa, the city where they would be safe and could live in peace.

Strangely and surprisingly, the huge caravan had not encountered anyone during their entire journey. There were no wild animals, no souls living on their way... no banditry, no shinobi... nothing !

Many thought that good fortune was smiling on them, others said that the two shinobi who had saved them from the invaders were around to protect them. But the reality was quite different and no one knew.

Every ten seconds, the little stick in the child's cloth that a woman in the middle of this caravan was carrying emitted a wave of chakra mixed with a Genjutsu. It was a creation of Sakura's with the help of Madara.

This formula of Fûinjutsu allowed the Genjutsu created by Madara to be spread by a chakra wave to affect everyone around. Anyone touched by this illusion from a mile away would feel the irresistible urge to change direction without understanding why. Furthermore, the Genjutsu had a double effect : it created a chameleon effect to the group. And thanks to it, the thousand travelers were invisible to the world as they came into view of Heiwa in the middle of the valley.

The woman Sakura had spoken to and entrusted with the stick was playing with her child, who was chirping adorably in her arms. As she looked out over the large city that appeared before her, she remembered the pink haired woman's words. *Once you get close to Heiwa, throw that stick to the ground and break it.*

So the brunette plunged her hand into the cloth that was wrapping her baby and a few seconds later pulled out the famous little wooden stick with dozens of kanji written on it. It seemed to the young woman that from time to time, the writing became slightly shiny... but it was probably her imagination linked to the swinging of her child in her arms.

In any case, the woman looked straight ahead to see the huge valley on the horizon, the mountains surrounding the place and the sumptuous city that was being built. There were huge walls at various heights, proof that it was under construction, while buildings seemed to have been built higher up on the mountainside. And it was while observing all this that she threw the stick to the ground before crushing it with her foot.

The wood selected for its manufacture was rather fragile, and the force of the blow was sufficient to break the object into several pieces.

While the stick was breaking on the ground, a daily meeting was taking place in the council room with the Daimyô of Ta No Kuni and a new person to this city : Matsuo.

Matsuo was the first shinobi to join the true peace that the people of the rice country wanted to bring. He was a man in his thirties but looked much older than his age due to the vagaries of being a shinobi. Half of his left face was covered with a scar that continued down his neck and seemed to continue to the base of his shoulder. It was a Raiton technique that inflicted this battle scar on him in addition to causing him to lose the sight in his left eye.

He had received this injury for disobeying a direct order from his superior. He had been ordered to kill a child in order to set an example to an enemy clan shortly after the provincial wars. Except that Matsuo also had a young son and he could not bring himself to do this, so he refused.

In response, he received this scar and his son was killed to set an example of what happened to those who refused to follow orders. From that day on, Matsuo was a deserter from Tsuchi No Kuni ! So when he met Uchiha Madara who explained his plan to bring true peace to this rotten world, Matsuo immediately accepted.

On the central coffee table was a map of the land of Ta No Kuni and the new Heiwa ninja was pointing to a location to the north.

— "I dismantled a bandit camp there, after extracting information from the one in command, I discovered that there was a network in place," the dark-haired man with the blue-grey eye explained.

— "Any idea how big the network is ?" Suzuki asked the shinobi.

— Bigger than we think, but that shouldn't be a problem for me Suzuki-san," the shinobi replied before continuing. "Besides, there seems to be an outpost further north. I think he's using one of the rice warehouses in one of the rice fields Tsubasa controls."

— "What !?" Tsubasa exclaimed in surprise. "Daimyô-sama, I assure you that I know of no such dealings in any of my properties."

— "Is there anything other than your rice field in this direction ?" Matsuo continued, indicating another point on the map.

— "Technically it's one of the middle rice fields, so it's a small village with no more than fifty inhabitants," Tsubasa replied thoughtfully. "Daimyô-sama, I assure you..."

— "I believe you, Tsubasa," Hashuba reassured him, raising his hand. "Do you need troops to settle this matter ?"

— "No... just... do you have any enemies from the old era ?" Matsuo asked casually, and he saw in the Daimyô's eyes his answer.

— "My enemies are no longer of this world !" Said Hashuba, who with his brother-in-arms Suzuki had eradicated all his enemies in order to take control of Ta No Kuni. "Descendants included..."

Even though he wanted peace, Hashuba was a man of the old days and was extremely cautious. He knew how to be ruthless when necessary.

— "Well, if you allow me..."

Suddenly, Matsuo stopped talking and straightened his head in the direction of the window. His face had closed, he had frowned slightly because of a sensation. He was sure that a burst of chakra had just occurred.

— "Is something wrong ?" Suzuki asked as he saw the man staring out the window.

— "I hope not," answered Matsuo before getting up. "I'd rather have it straight... if you'll excuse me."

The man stood up before heading for the exit.

— "Well, Tanaka, what's next in the meeting ?" Asked the Daimyô, turning his head towards his scribe.

— "Your inventors seem to have developed a new defence system that they claim is revolutionary and one of them wishes to present it to you," Tanaka explained, reading his papers.

— "Guards ! Show him in," Hashuba continued to one of the guards who was listening to the conversation at all times. The man turned around and opened the door, calling for someone to come in.

Two people came through the doors of the meeting room. An elderly person who seemed to be the same age as Rômaji and who walked with difficulty. And a little boy in his late teens carrying a wooden crate.

— "My lords," said the man in a tired voice before speaking to the boy. "Put it down there my boy and come out."

The boy did as he was told before hurrying out quickly. The old man knelt down with difficulty, but no one rushed him : the elderly were respected in those days.

— "My lords, I come to you at the request of Daiki-sama who asked us to improve your defensive system... and so it is," the old man explained before taking out several objects from the wooden crate as well as some models : toys ?

— "Define defensive," demanded Suzuki, who wanted to know if this invention could be used to defend oneself while creating damage in the enemy's ranks.

— "Defence by damage," replied the ancestor, assembling two models into one. His answer could only suit the people around the table.

— "You have our full attention," Hashuba continued.

— "I present to you : the trebuchet," said the old man, pointing to a miniature siege weapon. "With this siege weapon you will be able to defend the city for several hundred meters to do significant damage to property or people."

— "Doesn't it seem a bit limited by the direction ?" Suzuki asked, stroking his beard.

— "We have also thought about this problem. All we have to do is place these siege engines on platforms that can be rotated, allowing us to point the trebuchet in the desired direction," explained the man, gently turning the wooden support, showing everyone that the machine could be rotated.

— "How does it work ?" Intervened Rômaji.

— "You place the projectile at the base between a hundred kilo and a thousand kilo maximum. Whether it's a rock, a machine-gun container, etc... Then you calculate the trajectory before letting the magic of the counterweights work."

— "Rate of fire ?"

— "Two shots per hour, three if there are enough manpower. But each shot will be deadly devastating," the man replied as the council looked on before being suddenly interrupted.

— "My lords !" Said one of the guards, storming in without knocking.

His fellow guards had drawn their weapons at such an intrusion. The guard who had just stormed in immediately dropped to one knee in submission. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but there are newcomers..."

— "Yes, and ? It's not the first time that newcomers have come to us," said Hashuba, who was used to seeing newcomers by now.

— "This time it's different Daimyô-sama... there are more than a thousand of them !" The guard added, and this sent a shock through the room. A thousand ?! It was something huge, unbelievable. There had been single people, families, even dozens... but a thousand !

— "Daiki !"

— "Yes father ?" The man concerned replied immediately, sensing in his father's voice the seriousness of a leader who should not be messed with.

— "I am charging you with seeing to it that the architects expand the city in a different way and quickly. At this rate we will have to build several levels of wall. Rômaji, I'll leave you to see with our guest about the installation of this new invention... Suzuki ! With me !" Said Hashuba Shôta, ending the meeting faster than expected.

Day 270

— "To the north ! A large chakra source and several smaller ones," Madara announced to Sakura.

The two of them began to move quickly towards the north without concealing their presence.

Where the two shinobi were headed, many of the Leaf ninja had just died against a most unique man. He was standing in the middle of a very small clearing, corpses all around him, with the ground dotted with craters. In his right hand he held the neck of his last opponent, slowly and surely strangling him as he went.

— "Why ?" The victim asked, gasping for air.

— "Hmm ?"

— "Why attack our borders ?" Asked the Anbu who had been sent with a team to investigate the various attacks within Hi No Kuni itself. Even though war had been declared, many attacks were being perpetuated within their own country. "What do you have to gain ?"

— "You seem very curious, little shinobi," said the man who wore a mask covering half his face and the entirety of his neck. The top of his clothes were completely shredded and his skin was visible : it was dotted with scars. The scars, so many of them, could only raise the question : how could he still be alive ?

— "Why ?" Asked the Anbu captain once again, feeling his last strength leave him as the individual's grip tightened around his neck.

— "Hmpf... fighting shinobi this weak isn't going to get me much money," said the man who had mastered an Anbu force without much difficulty.

— "Urhgg," the Leaf ninja complained as he tried to undo that grip around his neck. He couldn't breathe and darkness was surrounding him.

Finally, with a wave of his hand, the man in the middle of the clearing broke the neck of the last of his opponents before dropping him to the ground. Then suddenly he turned his head to the right : two huge sources of chakra were approaching.

He didn't have time to react as the two people were landing in the clearing.

— "Kakuzu ?" Madara said, completely surprised to see this ninja in front of him. He still remembered his fight with this man. The man had been given a contract to try and kill him, to no avail. "I seem to have killed you."

Madara was certain, in his memories Kakuzu was indeed killed by his hand and he had even checked his pulse to be sure.

— "It seems to me that the great Uchiha Madara has also been declared dead," Kakuzu retorted, not expecting to meet such a shinobi. He was actually thinking of a plan to escape. He knew he didn't stand a chance against him, especially since there was someone else in his company.

— "Times are changing," Madara replied and reached for the hilt of his sword. "Although I wonder how you managed to get out of the fingers of death, it doesn't change the fact that I'm going to make sure you stay dead !"

— "Wait !" Sakura said in a loud voice as she placed her arm in front of Madara. It was the very first time the young woman had intervened in Madara's conversation in this way, and particularly to tell him to stop.

The Uchiha very slowly turned his gaze to the woman he loved and wondered what she was playing at. This was not the kind of individual one should joke around with.

— "Ohhhh, the great Uchiha Madara getting his mouth shut by a woman," Kakuzu scoffed with a mocking smile under his mask. "I never thought I'd ever see that."

— "If you want your immortality to continue, you should shut up too Kakuzu," Sakura retorted as she unfolded her killing intent. By this wave of chakra, Kakuzu understood that she was just as dangerous as the Uchiha. But more importantly, she seemed to know his secret of immortality. No one in the world knew that he had gained immortality by stealing a technique forbidden in the land of stunts.

He squinted dangerously at the woman, exhaled loudly and the many hearts in his body raced. He wanted to kill this woman to find out about his immortality, but he couldn't do it with two against one.

— "Who are you ?!" Kakuzu spat coldly, he had never felt so vulnerable in his life. His immortality was his trump card and it had saved his life twice ! Against Hashirama Senju and against Uchiha Madara. Moreover, without his control, many threads began to emerge from his body.

Madara instantly drew his sword while activating his Sharingan. Indeed, he had not appreciated the previous remark and could not take the man and his threatening actions lightly. However, he continued to observe what was going on between Kakuzu and Sakura. The latter also seemed to know perfectly well the abilities of this individual.

— "Five ? Is that it ?" Sakura asked innocently, not in the least impressed by this man. She would have feared him in the past when she was a teenager. But now she was an accomplished shinobi who had the ability to annihilate many an enemy.

— "I don't like you," Kakuzu growled coldly as the woman revealed her weakness.

Sakura lowered her arm before taking a few steps forward until she closed the gap between them. She stopped when they were only two meters apart.

— "Kakuzu, you have a reputation for keeping your contracts to the death don't you ?" Sakura said.

— "Yes," Kakuzu replied dryly, still on guard. He had earned that reputation by perishing against Madara Uchiha in the past. It was supposed to be a sleep assassination, but he had underestimated the ninja's sensory ability.

— "How much would your services cost for a lifetime ?" Sakura asked bluntly.

This sentence had the merit of creating a silence in the small clearing. After all, it wasn't every day that someone came to you and offered you a lifetime contract.

— "Elaborate," the immortal asked suspiciously.

— "A century of your services," replied the young woman.

— "Can you even afford it, kid !" Questioned the deserter whose eyes were bloodshot and whose tone clearly expressed the contempt he had for her.

At this provocation, Sakura conjured up a linen bag in her right hand in a puff of smoke before throwing it at the deserter's feet. The bag burst open as it landed on the ground and dozens of gold coins rolled to the ground. Kakuzu's eyes widened at the sight of such a sum : it was more than he had ever earned since he had become a shinobi.

— "You're looking at the richest person in all the elemental nations combined... and I'm only going to make you this offer once," Sakura explained firmly as Madara said nothing even though his Sharingan was spinning dangerously, ready to unleash a Genjutsu. "Take this bag as a token of good faith on my part."

— "And what should I do for a lifetime of service ?" Kakuzu asked, though he didn't pick up the money right away.

— "Defend the true peace that we bring to this rotten world "! Sakura said before dropping her killing intent. "For now continue what you're doing, sow discord on the battlefields, take your bounties, but from now on you'll be talking about Heiwa and how it's a peaceful place to live in times of war."

— "So it's you," Kakuzu understood when he heard this last sentence. "You are the two protagonists we hear about everywhere."

— "Hai, during the war you are free to go wherever you want. Once one side wins, meet us at Heiwa and you will receive your first payment," the pink-haired woman replied.

The three ninjas said nothing for many seconds. The tension was palpable, the chakra could almost be touched as the three of them exuded it, ready to fight at the slightest sign of hostility.

— "Good," Kakuzu finally said after a long minute. With that answer, Sakura turned back to Madara's side.

— "Oh one more thing..."

— "Yes ?"

— If you ever meet someone who puts a contract on our heads : kill them ! And don't forget that I'll always pay more !" Sakura added before walking towards Madara. No sooner was she by his side than they disappeared from Kakuzu's view in an instant.

The immortal ninja breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the two protagonists were far from him. He had had a close call and was still wondering if this was real. He bent down to pick up the gold coins scattered on the ground and put them back in the linen bag : there were about a hundred gold coins there.

— "Heiwa...," Kakuzu whispered, thinking back to the words of the young woman whose name he didn't even know. He opened a bag attached to his belt before placing his new treasure inside.