The next two days passed without signal or alarm as the outposts were set up without any trouble from the Mist. It was a nice turn of events, but I knew that it would not last long. During that time, I taught Shisui several Water Release ninjutsu and had him work on his fuinjutsu since Shikaku did not have much for him to do. Of course, I also worked on my Chrono-Vitality Release any chance that I could, but I was still trying to get it to the D- rank; the chakra cost for the healing was ridiculous.
Because of how much time I spent training and meditating, I moved into the bunker full-time. My tent might have been near the command center, but I was it as a waste of time to walk the twenty feet just to rest. I ended up giving the tent to Shikaku and Shisui to share since they were also working in the command center most of the time.
Our main camp had been fully set up and secured with stone buildings. Even the medical center had been laid out with Yuri's direction, so that only the roof and openings were canvas. Shikaku and I had also discussed adding watch towers at the corners of the walls, but I had not started working on them as of yet since we did not think it was worth rushing.
While the quietness was helpful for the army to get itself properly rooted in, it left me unsettled. The Mist were an annoyance, attacking and retreating as they saw fit then relying on their island nation to be such an arduous task of invading that no Village actually tries. Even worse, though, were the figures pulling the strings of the Mist Village; Madara and Black Zetsu would not make my life easy, especially once they took notice of me, and this war so do that, if not more... on the condition that I saved Rin, but she would have to be sent to this front before I truly needed to worry about her.
It was the third day since the army left the main camp, technically, but the sun was not even up. I had been sleeping when I felt a tug on my chakra network which woke me up. Although I was momentarily groggy, the realization of what was happening wiped out all of that. I immediately grabbed a token and sent it to Shisui, who was on duty. I quickly got up and put my gear on then rushed upstairs to the command center.
The token was a symbol to alert Shisui to gather the clan hands that Shikaku had suggested for situations just like this. By the time that I reached the top of the stairs, Shisui was nowhere to be seen, though a quick check of my FTG map revealed that he was rushing around the camp. I also used my map to check 'who' it was that signaled me then adjusted their figurine to their proper location followed by any others that had moved.
"What's the situation?" Shikaku asked as he hurried into the command center.
"Second eastern outpost, Butterfly. He's away from the outpost, so likely he's leading a scouting party," I explained then, as I reached for a stack of prewritten messaging tags, I sense a second signal. Checking the map once again, I added, "And now, the outpost itself is under attack."
"Damn... that means either a strike force, full attack, or probing our defenses, but it's probably just probing for now though it could be a feint," he mused, holding his chin momentarily as he thought.
Fugaku entered the command center next, already in armor, followed by Inoichi, Choza, and a slightly breathless Shisui. As Shikaku walked over to his desk and started writing out messaging tags, I caught up the other up on what was happening after I summoned my Phantom Realm and Space-Time clones.
"I'll leave my clone to coordinate with you, Shikaku. Fugaku, since you're prepared, would you like to go with me to the outpost? My clone can carry you," I offered.
"Yes," he agreed simply.
Shikaku did not look up as he wrote. "I'll alert the other outposts and activate the secondary scout routes. I'll signal you if there is another attack."
"Understood," I replied as Space approached Fugaka's side.
Space placed a hand on Fugaku's shoulder then nodded to me before all three of us vanished with a flash of silver. After a dozen or so 'jumps', we appeared on an outcropping near the outpost. The sound of screams and rhythmic thunder of jutsu detonations were deafening, and the smell of salt and smoke reached my nose. There were several dead outside and on top of the walls around the outpost while over fifty Mist ninjas had surrounded the structure.
Fugaku's eyes flared with the Sharingan, three-tomoes spinning, and remarked, "They're outnumbered."
"I'll give you five more of my clones and the one that brought you here," I said, already forming the hand signs. My Water, Lightning, Yin, Lava, and Boil clones appeared around us then added, "Support Fugaku and the outpost. I'll return once I've made sure the scouting team is secured."
Fugaku and my clones nodded before they rushed towards the outpost. Unsurprisingly, Lightning and Lava made a big entrance with Lightning throwing bolts before she even reached the Mist forces while Lava caused an eruption under the feet of a dozen ninjas. I could only shake my head with a smirk then watched for a few minutes until I was sure that the outpost would hold while I was gone.
I vanished from the outcropping and flashed between several markers before I neared the jonin that had signaled me first. Although it was dark, the reason why my vision was obstructed was because of a thick mist blanketing the region. Unfortunately, my sudden arrival took the jonin by surprise and slashed at me with his kunai, though I dodged.
"Easy there, Jonin Akimichi," I said.
"Commander, I'm..." he started, holding his injured arm.
Before he could finish what he was saying, I heard the faint whirling of shurikens, so I pushed the large man backwards while I jumped back in the opposite direction. Half a dozen shurikens whizzed by, but it gave me a direction, so I punched out twice, one fist releasing Fire while the other launched a blast of Wind, fueling the Fire to burn away some of the mist.
A middle-aged Hoshigaki ninja was revealed by my attack, though he was unharmed. He gave me a predatory smile, revealing his shark-like teeth, then raised two fingers which caused the mist to thicken yet again. Huffing, I teleported back to the Akimichi's side as I started through form hand signs at a rapid pace, summoning my Fire and Wind clones. They performed a combination jutsu, a Fire dome that surrounded us followed almost instantly by a Wind burst that pushed the dome outward and made it hotter, burning away the mist on a larger scale than my first attack. While they worked, I flashed through another set of hand signs then slammed my hand on the ground, summoning Hana and Saru.
"Weapon mode," I instructed.
The two little monkeys did not hesitate and transformed into their tonfa form. I grabbed the handles and channeled my Lightning chakra into them, making both crackle with electricity, as my eyes locked onto the five Mist ninjas that Fire and Wind had revealed. Behind all of us, a stone structure stood where two bloodied chunin guarded the doorway to the building.
"Akimichi, protect your team; I'll handle the Mist," I ordered.
"Yes, Commander," he replied, then shifted closer to the team.
"Handle us, huh? Big talk from some tiny kunoichi," the Hoshigaki ninja mocked.
"Yeah, Fuguki said something similar, and now six of your Village's swords are trophies on my wall," I retorted with a smirk.
There were several angry faces among the Mist, but that only made my smirk grow before I kicked off the ground. I swung Saru's electrified metallic form at the Hoshigaki ninja, who tried to defend with his kunai, but I overpowered him since my Yang Chakra Enhanced Strength was active. His kunai ended up embedded in his chest and he was thrown back.
I heard some cursing that nearly covered up the sound of thrown kunai, but my Wind clone deflected them with a jutsu. Hana turned into a whip, so I lashed out and captured the ankle of another Mist ninja. I yanked him close and delivered a clothesline with Saru to his chest, shattering numerous ribs. Stomping on the man's neck, I gave him a quick death while I scanned the surrounding for the three that had retreated.
"Lock down the area around the scouting team and prioritize their defense," I instructed as let Hana and Saru hover then I flipped through hand signs. I summoned my Earth, Yang, and Scorch. "Half chakra for healing, field dress what you can. I pick one and stick to it."
Yang nodded and jogged over to the structure while Scorch raised her hands in mock surrender. Just as I hoped, my causal attitude and back turned to them drew out the lurking Mist, and they struck with a coordinated attack. Left, right, behind... The three Mist jonin launched Water jutsus at me, supported by kunai and shurikens from a few genin and chunin.
Earth clapped her hands together as she used the defense jutsu that she was sneakily preparing once she was summoned. An Earth dome, half a meter thick, sprung up around me, so I causally grabbed Saru and Hana then holstered Saru to grab marked shurikens. Just as the Water Justus slammed into the dome, I teleported to my Earth clone's side and threw out the shurikens towards where I had sensed the chakra release.
Again, I teleported, this time above the nearest location, and below were three ninjas. Flicking away the younger ones with Hana's whip form, I retrieved Saru and slammed the bat down on the jonin's collarbone as I landed. He gave a grunting shout as he collapsed to the ground, and I ended his life with the same cold precision as the other.
Sensing their chakra levels, I did not follow up my attacks on the two younger ones since they were only genin and moved onto my next target. The Mist had already begun to retreat, so they had already moved from where my shuriken sunk into a tree. Still, they had moved in haste and left an obvious trail.
A quick dash along it, I found a duo retreating. The jonin noticed my approach, but instead of attacking me directly, he knocked his companion to the side, making him fall, while he continued to retreat. The fallen ninja was a chunin, so I could not ignore him like the others. Hana transformed back into her tonfa form and threw her with deadly accuracy at the fallen ninja's head without stopping my chase of the jonin.
He cursed as he continued to run then spun in the air and spit out a water shark before landing, continuing his retreat. Saru transformed into his whip form, and I swung his electrified form, exploding the jutsu. With my empty hand, I retrieved another marked shuriken and threw it straight at the Mist jonin. He dodged the weapon, flying ahead of his retreat, then I teleported with a smirked on my face and Saru back in his tonfa form. I planted the butt end of the tonfa into his gut, stopping his momentum completely; I barely had time to pull my arm away before he puked and crumbled to the ground. I clubbed the back of his head with Saru to ensure that he did not suffer for long.
"Hana," I called out while summoning back my shurikens using the Flying Thunder God marker.
There was a small poof of smoke next to my head and a familiar weight dropped onto my shoulder. Hana gripped onto my jacket with her hands and feet while her silver tail flickered over my other shoulder. The memories of Scorch reached me at the same time, so I knew that the third jonin had doubled back and tried to attack the scouting team, but my clones had killed him and captured two familiar-looking genins.
"Thank you both for the help; you can go back for now," I said.
The molten glow of Saru's tonfa form shimmered in respond before vanishing in a poof a smoke. Hana gave a nod then disappeared in the same fashion as her brother. Tucking away the last of my marked shurikens, I teleported back to Earth's side where two Mist genin were bound in earthen restraints, a boy and girl that were between Shisui's and Asuma's age.
The boy may have been missing the bandages around his mouth, but the cold glare and short, spiky black hair told me enough. The girl had not developed into her vixen future-form, but the long, auburn hair and emerald-green eyes made her identity easy to guess. Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Blood Mist, and Mei Terumi, the future fifth Mizukage, were bound before me.
"The situation?" I asked.
"Two genin that had been on watch were killed while the two chunin and jonin suffered injuries protecting the rest; nothing life-threatening, but one of the chunin will need to be carried back," Earth replied.
"Alright, head back and get everyone moving for the outpost; have the jonin call me if there is any trouble," I instructed, to which Earth nodded then walked towards the structure, and I turned my attention to the Mist genin. "I guess it's a good thing you weren't in his class."
She looked surprised and alarmed that I seemed to know his identity while he simply narrowed his eyes.
"Too bad you're so young and inexperienced. I would have liked to compare my Lava Release against your own," I commented with a smirk as I circled behind them.
"You know who I am?!?" she could not help but exclaim with surprise.
"Based off the info from Fuguki, you should be Mei Terumi, with the Lava and Boil Releases Kekkei Genkais," I explained with a sprinkle of a lie as I sealed her chakra with fuinjutsu at the base of her neck. "And you," I added, moving on to seal the boy's chakra in the same manner, "should be Zabuza Momochi, the little demon that killed his entire class to prove the stupidity of the Blood Mist policy."
Both had their minds blown for different reasons. Mei seemed stunned that her information had been linked while Zabuza reacted only when I mentioned the stupidity of the Blood Mist policy. It was something that he had likely told no one as trust was not something easy in their village. Although I was hinting at my outside knowledge, the risk was minimal, and he was the type to remember it in the future. Who knows, I may end up replacing Kakashi as Naruto's jonin instructor in the future if things go well.
"Alright, be smart and head back wherever you are supposed to meet up with the rest of your people; I left another pair of genins that way. I don't make a habit out of killing kids, but I'll treat you like an enemy if you point a blade at me or my people again," I said, making the earthen restraints to crumble with a hand sign.
"You're just letting us leave?" Mei could not help but question as she stood up, rubbing her wrists.
"You wanna die like the jonin and chunin?" I retorted then made a brushing gesture and added, "Shoo... our villages won't always be at war, so I would rather not kill your future."
Mei glanced at Zabuza then turned and retreated into the woods. The boy had not taken his eyes off me since I had revealed his secret, but I just shook my head with pity since I knew that he was already broken. Another twisted soul in this universe, but perhaps not without hope. If he never became arrogant and gained his sword, he might have joined Mei's group and strengthened the Mist for the future.
"There is still good in your Village, like a flower hiding in the snow... Standing together, you might turn the red mist white once again," I said mystically then teleported away with a silver flash.
The genin would not be enough to threaten my clones, so I returned to the outpost after planting my seeds. Madara might have the Sharingan and White Zetsu clones, but my knowledge of the future could throw off a lot of his plans, so it was time to start acting on them. On this perfect battleground, I would start with gaining Fugaku's trust and saving the Uchiha clan, and then, if Kakashi and Rin show up on my front, it means that I will have to act...