SFF: 072 - Ignition (Patreon)

Port Nagoya - IWAGAKURE

Guren inhaled, drawing in the cool air, heavy with the scent of sun-baked sea salt. The sun hung very low in the sky, casting a warm golden hue across the tranquil shoreline. The crystal-clear waters of the Hoppo Sea beckoned, their shades shifting from turquoise to deep sapphire as they danced with the light. Waves lapped lazily against the shore, leaving behind delicate frothy patterns in the sand before retreating with a gentle sigh.

To the north, a barren strip of white sand stretched for miles, a pristine carpet of ivory speckled with tiny shells that crunched softly beneath the feet. Just a few dozen meters beside it, a wall of palm trees swayed, their fronds rustling gently in the breeze.

To the south sat Port Nagoya. The installation was an artful, cobbled mess of ancient piers, weathered wooden buildings with sloping roofs and crude drydocks for fishing boats and small vessels. At the heart of it, fishermen prepared their boats while sailors loaded small merchant crafts with goods in preparation for their eventual departure. A sense of calm pervaded the scene, interrupted only by the occasional cry of a seabird or the distant chatter of fishermen as they worked.

Guren loathe to disrupt the peace, but orders remained orders.

“Go!” she whispered. The next moment, the combined might of Sound Five and her Team of elite shinobi descended on the tiny garrison tasked with defending the port from pirates. The three squads of Iwa-nin present did not stand a chance and were obliterated within moments of their arrival. So swift was their assault, that eleven out of the twelve enemy shinobi died oblivious of their demise. The last—one particularly perspective Jonin leader—managed to flee a few meters before Kimimaro pulped his skull with a well-placed bone bullet.

Guren flickered into the harbourmaster’s office, knocking the man unconscious before helping herself to the many logs just sitting on his table. Now that that was done with, Guren found herself pensive as her team geared up to begin the hard part.

Waiting.

Until the shipment from Port Kobe arrived, their task was to handle the responsibilities of the previous team they eliminated without tipping off Iwa’s increasingly paranoid high command to their presence; a rather daunting task, it seems.

Still, at least for the moment, life in Nagoya continued as usual, with none the wiser.

***

AMEGAKURE

Raido, Iwashi and Kakashi phased into existence with the aid of the Flying Thunder Formation technique. Their passenger, Jiraiya spoke nothing as he dropped to his knees and pressed his bloodied palm into the muddy soil. The next moment, a cloud of white smoke exploded beneath his hand and in its wake were three bull-sized frogs. The summons croaked harshly as they opened their massive maws to vomit three slime covered figures.

Hashirama, Mito and Tsunade rose and the group all exchanged wordless nods before bolting off to their respective, predetermined staging grounds to begin their assault. Time was precious and it was only a matter of moments before Pain, or worse, Sasuke Uchiha detected their presence here.

Even the toads were unusally stoic, their expressions hard even as they were dispelled to allow their more combat-capable bethren to be summoned. Rarely was one of their numbers extinguished in battle, so it was hardly surprising to find they took personal offense at the murder of one of the most genial and likeable of their kind.

Minds were made up.

Sasuke Uchiha would soon realise the folly of his actions

***

A hundred meters away, three dead men stood in a row on a tin can roof.

To Konan, what should have sounded like the start of a particularly bad joke was, in fact, no joking matter. Itachi, Tobirama and a figure she undoubtedly recognised as Kisame stood perched side by side on a towering spire overlooking the village. The former said something that was lost to the drone of the rain. In response, the latter wordlessly began weaving hand signs, his chakra churning turbulently.

The falling rain suddenly intensified. What was a simple downpour immediately grew into a raging storm. Konan acutely felt the weight of foreign chakra suffusing the air settle on her skin. She frowned, uneased at how effectively the strange technique was hampering her senses. Her gaze panned back to the younger, yet more troublesome Uchiha beside her. The boy stood leisurely, visibly locked in a genjutsu battle with his elder brother.

Hidan sought to take advantage of Sasuke's inattentiveness, flickering forward with his triple-bladed scythe poised to decapitate. The Missing-nin was instantly punished for his presumptuousness, a single bone spur bursting out of the Uchiha’sright shoulder blade to impale and suspend him midair.

“Who are the other two?” came Nagoto’s voice from an earphone hidden in her auditory canal. “I don’t recognise their chakra signatures.”

“Tobirama and Kisame,” Konan replied.

Nagato fell silent for a few moments before responding. “Stall,” he ordered. “The Paths will arrive shortly.”

“...And Obito?”

“Kill him if it's convenient. Otherwise, leave him be for now. Capturing Sasuke and recovering the One Tail should come before all else.”

“Understood—”

“There’s more of them,” Nagato announced, cutting her off. Not that he needed to. Konan could feel the reverberation of foreign chakra pusling in the distance as four translucent, red walls sprung from the earth into the firmament.

A barrier ninjutsu.

“Ingenious,” Konan heard Sasuke Uchiha muse. “You lot managed to find a way to muffle my connection to my technique formulas using a water-style technique. Quite elegant, if I might say so myself; restricting the range of Hiraishin to such an extent.”

The young uchiha turned his attention to the barrier surrounding the village. “I take that is to prevent me from physically leaving since I can’t simply teleport out? To think you lot would come up with something so complex all for the purpose of keeping me here, if only temporary. Truly, I am honoured. But you shouldn’t have bothered. I wasn’t planning to leave without the weasel’s corpse. And to be honest, I wouldn’t mind indulging you lot. I have been itching to try out a few new tricks I learnt during the break.”

“You seem awfully confident for someone who is about to die,” Tobi groused.

In response, Sasuke laughed. “Me? About to die? Surely you jest…”

“All you’ve done is level the playing field.”