Signs of a War

(Year 52)

It has already been one year since Orochimaru took Higeki in an apprenticeship.

"Higeki-kun, we have a mission to do."

Orochimaru told Higeki as he was practicing keeping his ice wings activated in battle, this time against a chakra beast in the Forest of Death.

Higeki is now able to keep his ice wings activated in battle, but he is still learning to maneuver mid-air in a battle.

"A mission?", Higeki tilted his head with a curious look on his face, "What is it about?"

Orochimaru smiled and replied, "You'll know when we get to the Hokage's office."

...

"Your mission is to exterminate a bandit group near the Tanzaku Town. They have been robbing the civilians on their way to the town, and the daughter of the client of this mission has been killed and r*ped by the bandits."

Orochimaru and Higeki nodded with a stoic look on their faces, not caring much about the detail.

"This mission is classified as an A-Rank mission due to the pay that the client has offered, although ordinarily, it would be a C-Rank mission at most."

Again, Orochimaru and Higeki nodded, but this time, Higeki asked, "How much ryo did he offer?"

"5 million ryo. The client is a wealthy man, and he offers you guys 10 million ryo each if you bring the head of the bandit leader."

This time, Orochimaru seemed interested as well due to him needing funds for his research equipment.

"Dismissed."

...

Orochimaru and Higeki were walking on the road, disguised as ordinary civilians.

"Orochimaru-san, wouldn't it be faster if we rushed to the town and then disguise ourselves as civilians?"

"Kukukukuku... Higeki-kun, the bandits have eyes on this road right here. You have to walk on this road to get to Tanzaku Town, and anyone who doesn't use this road would be classified as a ninja due to the dangerous animals in the forest. How else do you think that they avoided the ninjas sent to kill them all this time?"

Higeki nodded at Orochimaru's explanation, thinking it was reasonable.

"But still... do I really need to disguise myself as a girl?"

That's right. Higeki was currently disguised as a girl.

He was only 11 years old at the moment, so his face looked girly, and to perfectly disguise him as a girl, all they needed to do was add long hair to him.

Orochimaru was acting as Higeki's father on this mission, so he put an illusion on his hair so that it looked white.

"Kukukukuku... as you must've heard earlier in the Hokage's office, the bandits like to r*pe young girls, and one as exotic looking as you would be a person of interest to them."

"Still... I don't like thinking that I'm dressed up to be r*ped..."

"No worries, Higeki-kun. We'll kill them the moment they get here anyway."

...

It was nighttime, and they had set up camp.

There were silhouettes in the shadow, waiting for a perfect chance to attack.

Higeki and Orochimaru had already sensed them, so they were just waiting for the bandits to take the initiative.

"Orochimaru-san, I sense 12 of them, and that fits the description given by the client. One of the chakra signatures is high compared to the others, so I believe that bandit is a ninja."

"Good job, but you missed one."

Higeki looked surprised that he missed one, and Orochimaru pointed the last one out.

"There is another one hiding in the trees, watching over the other bandits. It seems like that one is the real leader. His chakra levels are high enough to be a jonin's, which is why I'm telling you to conceal your chakra as best as you can."

"I see..."

Orochimaru and Higeki resumed their wait for the bandits to attack, and finally, they attacked.

"GET THEM!"

At the ninja's signal, the bandits that surrounded the duo's camp rushed in.

The bandits were using swords as their weapons, and they stabbed inside the tent.

Orochimaru was already underground with his technique, and Higeki ignored them due to his ability to elementalize.

Higeki walked out of the tent completely untouched while yawning, having already discarded his disguise, "Oh? You guys are approaching me?"

The bandits looked surprised that their attacks didn't work against him, so they tried one more time.

Once again, their attacks went through him.

"Your attacks aren't even strong enough to break my ice? That's pitiful..."

Higeki got bored of letting them attack him, so he retaliated.

"I'm too lazy to kill you guys one by one, so I'll have to freeze you guys..."

[Ice Age]

Higeki used a significantly powered-down version of his ultimate move; [Ice Age].

Ice starting spreading rapidly from his feet, and wherever it touched, the place was frozen.

He froze all of the bandits that dared to attack him, which was 6; almost half of them.

The bandit leader took notice of him using Ice Release and rushed towards him with the intent to kill, perhaps wanting to exchange his body for ryo.

[Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique]

The bandit leader launched a fireball towards him, and Higeki had to dodge that.

Orochimaru finished dealing with the bandits and looked at Higeki, signaling him to try and deal with the leader on his own.

[Ice Release: Flying Ice Spikes]

Higeki used one of his signature moves; [Ice Release: Flying Ice Spikes] to see how the leader would deal with his attack, and like before, the leader used a fire jutsu to burn them all.

'Alright, this will be my first time fighting someone of this caliber mid-air...'

Higeki activated his ice wing and flew up, gaining an aerial advantage.

Since the ground was lit up from a fireball, it wasn't difficult for Higeki to find the bandit leader, and he started launching ice spikes towards the leader.

The leader this time used [Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique] and destroyed the ice spikes, then he used [Wind Release: Air Bullets] to enhance each of the small fireballs into larger ones.

Higeki used a small wind jutsu to propel himself out of the way, but he didn't expect the fireballs to explode; creating a shower of fire bullets.

'The leader's chakra reserves are diminishing'

Higeki noticed that the leader's chakra reserves were diminishing, so he went in for the kill.

[Ice Saber]

[Wind Release: Air Propeller]

Higeki created an ice saber and propelled himself with a wind jutsu, and he rushed towards the bandit leader and stabbed him in the heart.

The 'leader' turned into smoke, it was a shadow clone.

Higeki widened his eyes in surprise, and he turned around, only to see a large fireball coming towards him.

Higeki braced himself for the impact that never came.

"If that fireball hit you, it would've launched you into the burning piles behind you. The bandit leader completely outsmarted you."

Orochimaru reprimanded Higeki for his short-sightedness, only focusing on the current situation and not paying attention to his surrounding.

"If you're gonna use attacks on a jonin, make sure that it's a well-placed attack or a large attack that's unavoidable. The leader only humored you because he needed to use up his chakra to give you confidence."

Orochimaru continued reprimanding Higeki, but he also created shadow clones at the same time.

"Watch."

Orochimaru's shadow clones fought in perfect coordination with each other, pressuring the already-tired leader, and eventually, they defeated him.

"See? I crushed his plans the moment I saw them, rather than falling into like a fool.

Although one thing you did well was freezing the other bandits. We can turn them in for the client for possible extra ryo."

"I see..."

Orochimaru then decapitated the bandit leader and summoned a snake to swallow the frozen ones to take them alive, then he stored the heads of the bandits he killed and the leader into a storage scroll.

"Now, let's find the client."

The apprentice and master duo headed off to find the client and receive the mission rewards.

...

"There's a sign of a war."

The words rang heavy in the meeting room for the Konoha Council.

Mitakado Homura, Shimura Danzo, Utatane Koharu, and Sarutobi Hiruzen were having a meeting regarding a crucial topic - war.

"We can win. If the other nations attack, we'll be able to crush them undoubtedly.", Danzo gave his thoughts, "Konoha is still the strongest village."

"I want to avoid war as much as possible. I don't want to lose anyone important to me, like Tobirama-sensei."

Hiruzen wanted to avoid a war with the other nations at all costs, but it seems to be impossible with the way things are going.

"The other nations are strengthening their military and expanding their territory under the guise of giving free rights to all...", Homura stated with a grave look on his face.

"We'll have to fight. The nations are getting more aggressive than ever, and at the rate things are going, they'll strike first. We need to strike first to give Konoha an advantage."

Danzo pushed for Hiruzen to strike first before all the other nations, but Hiruzen responded, "I won't be the one to start the war that thousands of innocent lives will be lost in. I have hope that the other nations will come to their rational minds and stop this madness."

Everyone in that meeting knew that war couldn't be prevented, but no one pointed out anything in respect to Hiruzen.

"I see... then this meeting is over. We don't have anything else to discuss yet."

The 3 elders and the Hokage left the meeting one by one, and Danzo called one of his ROOT agents.

"Start the war. Provide fake evidence or attack the other nations. We'll be the one to strike first."

"Yes, Danzo-sama"