The battle was hardly a battle whatsoever; Kirigakure’s strength hadn’t diminished whatsoever in the past several months of Imperial occupation. They weren’t prepared for an attack on this scale, and by the time anyone had noticed enough to start fighting back, over 75% of the Empire’s open occupation throughout the village was dead, and what was left didn’t stand a chance within the hidden mist technique that spanned across the entire village. The rebellion had seized itself a major victory, and all it had taken was sixth months of biding time as Takeshi had instructed them. They had grown too comfortable and their defenses were lowered; though his people grit their teeth and whispers of how a ‘kid’ didn’t know how to handle a matter like this, the results had spoken for himself. He hadn’t led this personally, but instead suggested the tactic a few months previously.
The young man of the Yuki clan sat atop the barracks of the Empire’s forces, the surface of the stronghold crippled and its surface covered with a mixture of both water and ice. Both he and his sister had finished things before the last body within Kiri had hit the ground, and though to avenge their father she wished to kill the last man that had fled, Takeshi stilled her senbon and jutsu both; a single survivor was what they agreed on, what the message was meant to be for the Empress that had struck Kirigakure so strongly sixth months ago. Mask firmly in place over his soft-featured face, he picked himself up from the tower and jumped down, landing quietly on the ground in spite of the questionable drop. Within the barracks all were frozen over, dead. Though Kotomi didn’t enjoy making it quick, Takeshi had a way with his sister and she responded well. Their mother might not have made it so painless for these people, but she was not here for this and was instead helping oversee Konoha’s own start to the fight. If he was right, it was starting shortly if Takeo’s estimation was right.
Through the frozen ground littered with blood and corpses in a misty graveyard that was stricken of its former power and security, Takeshi removed his mask and looked back up at the barracks he had helped clean up. With his sister combining her strength with him, they had cleared a fighting force of what he counted to be 344 men in less than four minutes. Their father would’ve done it in thirty or less …no, fifteen. There was no man that could rival him in speed and technique in countless generations, but as far as the world was concerned even the 5th Mizukage, who was going to bring forth peace, wasn’t enough in the face of such a heartless set of enemies. The dim red of the sky above Kirigakure resembled blood more than ever before, and the term ‘Bloody Mist’ would now be renewed to those that called Kirigakure its enemy.
In quiet contemplation of the victory and his father’s memory, Takeshi Yuki proceeded to return to the village and reunite with his fellow shinobi.
‘It’s in your hands now, Konoha…’
-
The clans of Konoha and the individuals that made up the bulk of Konoha’s fighting force had been brought together tonight, en masse, for a single purpose: To free themselves of the Empire’s grasp. A gathering like this had not been made since just before the Empire’s attack on Konoha, which had decided the open war between the two villages remaining. From where Takeo Watanabe stood within the compound of the Uchiha clan, several of Konoha’s best and brightest Uchiha remained on close standby with the Hokage, who was atop his very home in wait with his dark eyes looking towards the red and yellow skies above. Things in the last hour had fallen silent even among the organized group of Konoha’s best and brightest, everyone counting down the minutes in their head. Well, to be accurate there wasn’t a set time for this to go down. The Hokage had been very vague about the signal, which would be everyone’s freedom to wipe out the Imperials to the last man; listen for it.
“You’re sure that you were clear enough, Kenji?” Takeo suddenly spoke, although his voice didn’t do much to overturn the already tense mood. “You said ‘listen’ for it …what happens if someone gets the wrong idea?”
“It’s distinct and everyone will be familiar with it – I don’t think even an academy student could screw this up, and should someone happen to screw it up they’ll face the scorn of the peers beside them. We’ve worked too hard at this to let it fail because of the stupidity of a single person.” Kenji’s normally laid back nature was buried underneath a pool of seriousness. Although he was the man this attack was waiting on, he appeared lost in thought.
Although Takeo was his right-hand man in this war effort, he himself had little idea of what the Hokage intended to use. The man was his mentor once, and now a father-in-law …and when Kenji ‘went big’ he tended to mean it. All this waiting …could he possibly be…?
“I’ve got confidence in this plan of yours …it’s simple, but effective. All we needed was the time.” Takeo recalled a time where proper strategy was an afterthought to him, and yet the man he became is the exact opposite of who he used to be. When it came to the lives at his command there weren’t any games to be played like he was when he was a Genin.
Both ANBU and the Root division, shinobi handpicked by the elders of Konoha with the Hokage’s permission as of discovery six months ago, would converge together at the center of the gate from the farthest sides and effectively secure it. The signal to begin their approach was simply watching for something unusual occurring within the village thanks to the efforts of accurate lookouts, and they had to trust in the plan’s efficiency to work. It went without saying that the ANBU and Root division understood more about the plan than others, but they were meant to be the most loyal to Konoha, which made a ‘leak’ nearly impossible. Takeo had already made mention of a troublesome former Jounin who had put faith in Konoha’s young people into question, but it was nothing harmful enough for him to push back the revolt. Outside Konoha and hidden away on the far left and right of the gates was effectively much of the military power Konoha had mustered for a large scattered push towards the large barracks positioned half a mile down the road, no struggle for fit shinobi to reach in record time.
“Get ready.” For the first time the several Uchiha had looked to their clan leader and Hokage with a daring gleam in their eyes. He didn’t explain how he knew it, but the ANBU and Root were all waiting, which left nothing more than the signal itself. The group he had with him now had one job in particular, and were more than familiar enough with the Hokage’s methods just as Takeo was. His position as the village leader didn’t deteriorate his enjoyment for connecting with those in his clan, and the anticipation was literal murder.
“Everyone get in position, this is going to be close.” The several Uchiha had vanished immediately, but Takeo remained behind if only to show Kenji a grin of approval.
“Before I get moving …you haven’t worn that cloak in six months. Tell me why you wear it now?” Takeo noted the 4th Hokage’s long haori of a steel gray color with darkened cuffs. Although Kenji had never stepped down from his duty as the 4th Hokage he had abandoned the cloak that labeled him as that exactly.
“So they have something special to tell the Empress when Konoha sends them packing: I’m still here …and we’ve got a score to settle.”
“I like that.”
Satisfied with Kenji’s answer, Takeo had vanished as well, leaving Kenji alone in the compound.
-
A heaving Imperial soldier rapped harshly against the door of Nikuya’s holdings; who would’ve expected a grunt with no name to figure things out just before the situation was getting worse. Everything had made perfect sense; the quiet day was a little strange, but with little to no threats made towards Imperial soldiers since the Empire effectively claimed Konoha, no one had thought any different about one quiet day. It was dinner time back at the Barracks, which meant a bare minimum of fifty soldiers or so were within Konoha now while a majority meant to keep watch were back at base. Combining hungry soldiers with nothing made to fear for the past six months meant that they wouldn’t have expected a damn thing at any time!
By the time Nikuya hustled to the door with those livid eyes of hers, the lowly grunt was quick to collapse over her, his armor being light enough to not bear much weight on her. Hands firm on her shoulders, a line of snot ran down his nose as he began to hurriedly express his shock.
“Th-th-th-the rebels! Th-they’ve come from Kiri, Suna, Kumo, and Iwa and th-th-they’re amassing outside the gate. We’re going to be beaten without you, there’s just too many of them! HURRY!” a lumbering oaf as this soldier may be, he was surprisingly able to free Nikuya of himself before she decided to claw his eyes out. With surprising speed fit for a true coward, this soldier had hustled down the stairs of her holding within Konoha and hustled down the main street, as dead as all of them were about to be without Nikuya’s help!
-
“They’re all moving …the ANBU, I mean.” Kaede whispered nervously with Natsumi just beside her, holding her hand tightly as she used the Byakugan’s range to examine how quickly the forces of the ANBU were moving on either side of the protective walls that surrounded Konoha’s interior. One by one, guardsman unaware and without focus had fallen in silence, one after the other. Surrounding her were several chuunin and jounin of various backgrounds, even a couple of powerful gentlemen from the Hyuga clan, but Natsumi was to stay beside her. The seals were emplaced on a multitude of the fighting forces, and as long as Kaede drew breath they wouldn’t fall to anyone tonight.
“This is it…”
-
“This is it!” The overweight guard stumbled at the gate, gasping for air and ultimately revealing that there was no such fighting force. He had effectively attracted the attention of the men that were at the very forward gates and was now grasping onto his knees, bent over and coughing a little from how hard he had to run. As things stood now, Nikuya had fell for the ramblings of a delirious soldier who was now standing on both his feet. In spite of how much of a fool he looked, he pointed down the large road ahead of them, eyes lit with excitement more than fear.
“See? This is it!”
-
“This is it.”
Kaede nearly yelped in surprise with Takeo’s sudden arrival. Even in spite of her Byakugan’s abilities she could still find herself jumpy in moments of high tension. Covering her mouth in embarrassment and blushing, Kaede read the man’s face closely; the struggle of maintaining this cover for so long was vaporized in the face of impending freedom. Everything the resistance has been working towards, from small attacks on Imperial patrols to making high-ranking Imperial footsoldiers ‘disappear’ to lower the morale across the Land of Fire but never near Konoha …it was all coming to this. No longer did his fellow shinobi need to pretend they were satisfied with the way things were, and finally they could let loose on the people that would see them chained by the ‘one true ruler’ herself. No more.
“The barracks contains at least one thousand strong, and usually has a sub-commander of noteworthy skill. Even if you’re my grandchild, don’t let your guard down out here.” Takeo grinned in spite of all he had said, feeling his own excitement building. There was no longer any sneaking around, only the objective at hand.
This was it.
-
“Don’t get the message yet, do you?” By now things were likely to have been confusing for Nikuya, but the silence of the rebels wasn’t submission, only time being bided for a move like this. The overweight clueless guard had a small amount of smoke uncovered from his body, revealing the 4th Hokage who had combined a shadow clone with the standard transformation technique, the oldest trick in the book. Lucky for Nikuya that she had never had to bear witness to it, unlucky for her she just did. On both her shoulders appeared the mark his clone had placed on her before under the guise of a panic-stricken soldier, and that prompted a pair of hands to be placed on the Two-Tail’s shoulders. She’d know them well.
“Hit the road.” The 4th Hokage’s foot was driven into the back of the Empress’ Jinchuuriki, launching her towards the shadow clone of a long-time enemy. The clone opened its arms and fell backwards, disallowing her the opportunity to regain her footing and maneuver. Catching the woman in his arms, the clone had leaned in closely to her ear before his back had even reached the ground.
“Boom.” Self-destructing and intending to fully engulf Nikuya, Kenji hadn’t expected the technique to kill her but at least stagger her. Sure enough the explosion had brought the attention of what guardsman remained in the towers, but the ANBU and Root division had worked closely, taking full advantage of the distraction the Hokage had put forward. Some men had their throats slit, others had kunai hitting their necks, but the success of securing the wall was certain. The kick on Nikuya would effectively launch both his shadow clone and herself out of the village, sparing the interior of too much collateral damage. The Flying Thunder God technique served him well, and Nikuya’s lax nature when it came to ‘expect the unexpected’ served him even better.
“UCHIHA!” The wall had been secured, and the several Uchiha he tasked with remaining behind appeared behind him atop a few small buildings. Taking their place atop the wall, Kenji joined beside then and together in unpracticed unison, prepared the exact same technique that the Uchiha were especially known for.
Katon: Gokakyu!
Releasing powerful spheres of harsh flame from their mouths altogether, the massive forms of all eight traveled above the forests outside Konoha and disappeared into the distance. Collision with the barracks was inevitable and placed the base on high alert, prompting the release of dozens upon dozens of soldiers at a time. Pouring out and assessing the damage, it was quickly found that the blast had come from Konoha. Few stayed behind to put out the fires and tend to the badly burned who weren’t likely to survive the wounds of several deadly techniques combined into one deadly force, but it wasn’t as if medical shinobi were in abundance for them. This risked very little, and the foot soldiers would sooner fight than retreat.
With the blast successful and hearing the shuffling of hundreds of shinobi drive towards the massive barracks themselves, Kenji allowed his chosen seven to scatter and join beside their peers. Jumping back down again to the smoldering ruin that he left Nikuya to wallow in, his eyes had shifted to the Sharingan in his fully matured stage. No Mangekyou was necessary for what was coming next.
“I don’t have all day …I’ve got half a year’s worth of humiliation and struggle to make you feel.”
This was the Hokage’s fight alone; none were to interfere.
-
Takeo had moved out, the escort for Kaede and his granddaughter included in those that were backing him. Though he was the commander of rebel forces, he intended to respond to threats as they came. The orders of every man and woman within this force were already instructed: Leave no one, and bring forth all your frustration here and now.
