Chapter 4 Three Clan Alliance

In a room there were multiple drawings of the human body, papers explaining the average shinobis body's anatomy and chakra nodes.

Laying all around the wooden floor, desk, and shelves.

In the middle of this mess of papers was Ritsu who was lifting paper after paper looking for something.

Eventually Ritsu gave up looking for the specific paper and went back to furiously writing down his ideas before he forgot them.

Since Ritsu need to know how to flow his chakra, for the water ninjutsu given to him by God, he had a to watch a full explanation on how a shinobi body was different and how it worked.

It was a full on lecture that went on for twelve hours.

Currently Ritsu was designing seals that could possibly be tattooed onto people's skin clearly taking inspiration from someone who like to leave his mark on someone.

However to his dismay for the past month or so he has been incapable of finding a working method to accomplish this at least on theory.

Deciding to put this off and organizing the noteworthy thoughts into a drawer of the desk at the top right. Getting up, Ritsu proceeded to exit the house.

However, he managed to make basic storage scrolls which the clan a lot as he managed to infuse his chakra into the scroll slowing done time.

Allowing herbs, meat, and other essential items to not expire as quickly.

Ritsu in the past six years has spent every single piece of free time he had to study fuinjutsu allowing him to make an explosive tag.

Ritsu had just started training with a real katana that his father had given him, it wasn't anything special, just a standard shinobi katana.

His explosive tags only had a twenty percent success rate in making them, he learned the storage seal which he learned to engrave into a basic metal ring which his father got him a storage seal.

Now he could put his katana into it, sadly the ring only allowed for one item to be stored.

Luckily Ritsu managed to make the appearance of the katana happen within a fraction of a second.

Ritsu also created a tag capable of concealing chakra signature which he used on Chikao when he first unlocked his sister's chakra.

Although it worked on Chikao even if he wasn't at his peak, Ena was still capable of using Ritsu's chakra signature to track him down.

Despite the many attempts to hide the chakra signature further he still hasn't made any progress since then.

He didn't let it get to him as he still has to learn the advanced level, compounding seals, and eventually discovering the unknown of fuinjutsu or what God decided to not give him.

Ritsu exited the house luckily it was cloudy that day so he could let his eyes adjust to the light level gradually as he was home this entire time.

He planned to take a walk as he's just been training this entire time.

Unfortunately for Ritsu, as soon as he left his house he ran into his sister.

When Ena was born and seeing her talent Ritsu made a commitment to turn his sister into thinking that his actions were for the greater good of the village.

Enough that she was to not doubt his words or actions.

At the beginning Ena was just a baby so he would simply play with her towards the end of the day before she fell to sleep, thus stopping and starting his studies in fuinjutsu.

At times he was studying so late at night that he would calm down his sister whenever she was crying in the middle of the night.

When Ritsu came back the day he unlocked his sister's chakra he had to use the chakra suppression tag that allowed his sister to hide her chakra until Ena was four years as it was the standard time that all clan members unlocked their chakra.

Of course Ritsu used the excuse that he unlocked her chakra because she begged before their father could do so.

As for her abnormal chakra increase, due to her training, was simply waved off that she was talented just like her brother, 'unfortunately' she was born a woman.

Time passed and Ena began to reach the standards of a shinobi.

Perhaps blursed, Ena was a training maniac who would pull Ritsu to teach her more or ask him to set up a location for her and Chikao to practice.

After all, only Ritsu and Chikao knew she practiced more than what a female clan member should do.

This led to Ritsu training more in areas that he had already a good grasp of wasting some time, but Ritsu would comfort himself saying that his sister would take over his mantle in the future, sparing him from clan affairs.

Seeing Ritsu, Ena grabbed him, "Brother you left your little sister alone this past month.

I'm sure you're out of practice so let me help get back up to par."

"Ena I was just planning to take a walk around the compound" Ritsu tried to regain control of his hand, but to his dismay he was easily breaking free from his sister's vice grip and said with a teasing smile, "Maybe I'm a bit rusty. But this isn't the time for that, I need to meet Chikao."

"Chikao is in a clan meeting with the other clan members," said Ena with a worried face.

Sensing something was wrong, "Did something happen during my one isolation?"

As Ritsu recalled the numerous times Chikao, Ena, or his parents would try to get his attention so he closed the shutters and the door.

In the end they were chased away by the mad look Ritsu showed along with the numerous pieces of papers lying around the room.

After checking no one was near, Ena leaned towards Ritsu before saying softly, "I was told by Chikao that a couple weeks ago two of our clans members have disappeared.

The clan responded by sending a clan member specialized in tracking and information gathering to look for them.

Instead they found traces of foreign shinobi.

Also I couldn't help but feel that I was being watched this entire day."

Hearing Ena's words, Ritsu's face turned dark as a system notification went off.

[Danger Notification

Fend off the Scouting Shinobi from the three way alliance between the Fuji Clan, Toru Clan, and Yua Clan.

In the year 25 B.K the Fuji clan along with its subordinate clan waged war against the Karatachi Clan and its subordinate clan the Yua Clan.

The Fuji Clan suffered continuous losses against the Karatachi clan.

To end the war, the Karatachi Clan used the information provided by its subordinate clan's scouts to devise a plan to deal the final blow and end the war between the two clans.

In the year 21 B.K Unknown to the Karatachi the Yua Clan had provided false information on the Fuji's clans situation leading to an ambush between the Fuji Clan, Toru Clan, and the foreign mercenary shinobi.

While the Yua Clan members who participated in the mission 'provided' covering support so the remaining Karatachi members could retreat.

Of the Karatachi Clan members who retreated, only Suzuki managed to escape, allowing the Karatachi Clan to escape complete extinction.

Although the Karatachi members had enough time to gather their belongings and form a team for a final stand to allow the slower clan members to retreat.

To prove their standing the Yua Clans members rerouted the Karatachi Clan members successfully splitting up the retreating clan members.

Very few Clans members escaped the enemy forces, those who didn't were captured by the Enemy Forces.

The two clan members who went to trade for essential items in the nearest village a week away, they were found by Yua Clan members and quickly captured.

They were brought back to the Yua compound before being tortured into revealing the location of the remaining clan members.

Once they received the general location they sent notice to their alliance thus creating a scouting party to gather information.

After searching for the compound for a week they finally discovered it this morning.The attack will take place at midnight.]

Aftering skimming the notification and the gist of it.

Quickly headed to the clan's meeting house with his sister in tow.

—--------------------

Inside the meeting house the Karatachi Clan members all had a heavy expression worrying for the future.

For a whole sixteen years they had evaded detection of the Fuji Clan, keeping minimal interaction with the outside world only gathering essentials when supplies run low.

"Patriarch Nao, we must relocate the clan before it's too late."

"And go where?"

"Anywhere but here!"

"Why should we keep running?"

Nao looked at the clan members all giving their opinion on what the best course of action the clan should take.

However, it's been about a week since they sent a clan member to go look for the two missing clan members, and they still haven't decided on a course of action.

Time is running out.

'What should I do as a Patriarch? What about as a father? What would my father do?'

As Nao pondered these questions he recalled his father's action taking a stand allowing the rest of the clan to retreat.

Disallowing his son to partake and instead lead the future of the clan.

Recalling the moment when he had to worry about his first born gender, as a father he would be proud of his child, as for the clan they would have pressured him and his wife for an heir.

Luckily Ritsu was born a boy, holding him in his hand for the first time.

Nao felt the pride and joy that came with being a father.

Along with the pride and joy came the worry of the father for the future of his child.

It became especially more so when the first year since he was born Ritsu had not once said a word.

Appearing timid at times, raised concerns about Ritsu's qualification for being a worthy heir.

Until one day he changed.

It was like a switch went off on the boy causing him to train under arduous training Chikao gives him every day without uttering a single complaint.

Studying late at night those seals that no one in the clan could understand.

Seeing his son excel at being a shinobi, showing the capacity of being a worthy heir, Nao's heart swelled with pride.

However, seeing how his son tortured himself day after day, he couldn't help but worry that his son would break with all this pressure.

Time after time Nao would tell his son to take his time or to reduce the overall training.

Nao likes to think that it works, however, recalling the times when Ritsu wasn't training in some way shape or form Nao couldn't help but sigh.

Those times included breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all the mischievousness the clansmen suffered in Ritsu's hands.

But the day when his wife noticed she was pregnant with his second child.

Ritsu had doubled his training, even going as far as coming back all bruised, but he always stayed awake late at night studying fuinjutsu.

Nao had always considered himself to be a good shinobi as he had his fair amount of training by his father but compared to the way how Ritsu pushed himself to the extreme made Nao feel ashamed.

One time he asked Ritsu why he was pushing himself so much and the response stunned him,

'I'm going to have a sibling. I want to be a brother that they will recognize and worship.

Anything that gets in their way.... let's just say they or them won't exist for much longer.'

'After all, I need them to have blind faith in me.' Ritsu mentally smirked.

Recalling Ritsu's words, his daughter, his wife, the time when his children were but helpless little babies that he held in his hand, Nao reaffirmed his beliefs and decision taking a look at the rest of the clan members.

In the most authoritative voice he could muster, "Silence!" hearing Nao's voice the rest of the clan members stopped their argument looking at their Patriarch.

Seeing that he had the attention of the clansmen Nao continued,

"Since we can not come to an agreement, I will take it upon myself to make an order.

The women and children along with all the younger men of the clan along with Chikao will retreat from the mainland of the Land of Water and seek refuge either in the other Lands or islands.

While retreating the young clansmen must cover their tracks, while me and the older clansmen will make traces of the entire clan heading a different direction, completely splitting apart. In case the diversion group is captured we should not know what direction the retreating half of the clan is going."

said Nao solemnly before adding "Ritsu should be able to bring the clan back to prosperity and Chikao will ensure that."

With the end of Nao words, the clansmen all took a solemn expression, before they could all agree to Lord Nao's order, the door to the meeting house was opened.

It was Ritsu and his sister who had just opened the door to the meeting house unannounced.

All eyes were on them as they made themselves in front of their father before bowing to their Patriarch.

Seeing their actions Nao said "Raise your heads!"

"Patriarch, may I speak?"

"You may"

"I can't help but say that the plan won't work," hearing the words come from a eight year old child the clansmen couldn't help but frown but before anyone could dispute Ritsu, he continued,

"They will be attacking today at midnight, they should have just found the compound today.

The reason why I left the house this morning is because I felt foreign chakra signatures."

That was a lie as he was sure that no enemy shinobi would be foolish enough to get so close to their compound.

The Karatachi Clan may have declined but doing so would alert the sensors of the clan.

He simply trusted his sister's words because she had the most talent as a sensor in their clan.

They must have used a technique that allowed them to see the situation within their compound.

The room was quiet, the displeasure in the air was gone, now replaced with tension.

They could dismiss the genius doubting their plan as it could be explained that he simply didn't have the experience.

However, if the boy says that he felt foreign chakra they can't help but believe it as they had seen the training and Ritsu had done over the years.

They knew Ritsu was a genius and had the skills to back it up.

Especially recalling the time when Ritsu had switched his eyes from the younger generation to the older generation sparring every single clansmen till he was either beaten black and blue or they were beaten black and blue.

"We should prepare for the attack tonight, we won't be able to group the non combatants as that would alert the enemy shinobi.

Father, I appreciate the faith you have in me to bring prosperity to the clan, however let me be selfish so that you be there to witness the the rise of the clan." Ritsu said to his father.

Ritsu took a breath before facing the other clansmen, "I will say this right now as the heir of the Karatachi Clan, I am not satisfied with what I have as an heir.

Our clan is in decline. We have few numbers, we have no reputation, and we no longer have any subordinate clans.

The future I see is a future where we will have numerous clans at our beck and call.

A day where no one will dare insult the Karatachi Clan.

However I must know that the clan has my back no matter how wrong or right I may appear in the eyes of the world.

If not, it may be best for me to leave the clan as it's not worth the trouble to fish in troubled water."

The clansmen couldn't help but tense up at the words of Ritsu, they wanted to condemn him for even thinking of leaving his clan behind.

But they all knew the circumstances they were in as it was dire, they too wanted to better the situation of the clan but the only one who could do it was the young boy in front of them.

Starting it off, a young man of the clan nearest to Ritsu, bowed from a seiza position, "I pay respects to the heir of the Karatachi Clan, if you tell me that white is black and black is white then I, Daisuke Karatachi, will execute your order with no fail."

Seeing the example of the young man one by one the clansmen all bowed their heads in seiza repeating the same phrase.

The last one being Chikao showing an approving nod before falling in line with the rest.

Ritsu, seeing their action, had a devilish smile not seen by anyone before saying, "Even if it meant the sacrifice of our clansmen?"

Their heads still bowing, the clansmen hesitated but when they looked up to see their eyes they could see a mad look in his eyes, a look they didn't dare to defy.

Taking their silence as their agreement, Ritsu continued "I'll take it that you guys agreed so the first order is to capture the enemy ninjas we are not to kill them.

For the past month I have been studying the human body structure, I devised multiple ideas and theories for Jutsus.

However I could never implement it as the ideas were so risky to safely perform without any prior experience.

Luckily we received some material that I could use."

Hearing Ritsu's words the clansmen shuddered, they admit that they came from a brutal time period where children are sent as young as six to the battlefield, destruction of the entire clan happening overnight, but they have never subjected enemy ninjas to experimentation.

The idea was inhumane, it was better to kill or interrogate them than to use them as lab rats.

Although they wanted to refute they couldn't go back on their word now.

"Very well then, Father I will be taking my leave now to perfect the experimentation that I will be doing so that I may reduce the risk of failure as I am not sure how much material we will gain."

Ritsu said before adding,

"Everything I do is for the greater good of the clan, whether it be the Sage of Sixth Paths, or the Shinigamis of hell I won't let anything get in the way of our prosperity. You have my word."

Ritsu and his sister bow to their father before exiting the compound leaving the clansmen in hope for the future and worry for how many enemies they might bring upon themselves in the future.