The Invasion (Part One)

Mizuki's face was a shade paler then normal, nervous sweat dripping down his face.

The moment had arrived.

Today was the day.

As if on queue, the bells in the fortress all chimed as one could see *something* slowly advancing towards their encampment.

An army of around a thousand Iwa shinobi strong.

And on the defense?

A mere fifty in an incomplete fort.

Mizuki: {How the fuck did things end up like this?}

. . . Several Hours Earlier . . .

Mizuki's looked towards the Iwa nin in shock, who was now swiftly executed after confirming that the information he was telling was consistent, ending their misery.

Mizuki: "Captain, your orders?"

Neko thought back to how all of the information the spy gave was consistent, even after constant torture, and his ninken confirming that he wasn't showing any signs of lying.

To believe that the man would not only be able to withstand intense torture but also lie in such a manner that did not trigger his hound's senses would simply be living in a fantasy.

Mizuki: "So this is how it begins, huh?"

Konchu: "Neko, we need you to make a decision. We need all the time we could get."

Neko spaced out for a second, lost in his own thoughts.

Mizuki and Konchu nodded towards each other before promptly making sure not to disturb him.

After all, the decision he was about to make would not only be the most important in his entire career but would also affect the lives of many people.

Minutes passed, and Konchu opened his eyes suddenly, his will apparent in his gaze.

Neko: "Konchu, I want you to send your bugs to the North West, look for sources of light, such as campfires or chakra signatures if you can [1]"

Konchu nodded before sending out as many bugs as he possibly could, all of which scattered in their given directions as they searched for signs of activity.

Neko: "Konchu, we are going to fall back to the base now, we must move as quickly as possible."

. . . Thirty Minutes Later . . .

The group of three shinobi all rapidly approached the base, only to be stopped by those who were patrolling.

Ninja: "You are unauthorized to be here, turn around now"

Neko: "I am afraid you are mistaken, we are here to deliver critical information"

However, whether it was just the guard having a stick up his ass, or him just being incompetent, he continued to be difficult.

Ninja: "Allow me to make myself clear. If you continue to pull this charade, there will be consequences."

Clearly sick of his shit, Mizuki quickly grabbed his scroll and unsealed it, revealing the corpse of an Iwa shinobi.

Mizuki: "We are here on a mission to report critical information about the enemy. If you want to be the retard responsible for the loss of thousands of Konoha lives and possibly an entire theater of war, be my fucking guest."

Mizuki's words clearly shut the shinobi up, as he simply stared towards the trio.

Neko: "We must see the commanding officer here."

The guard frantically nodded before turning and guiding them towards the command tent.

??: "Who is it? I have specifically requested not to be bothered at this time."

Ninja: "Sir, a trio of messenger have arrived, requesting to be allowed to relay their message to you."

??: " 'They Konoha shinobi"

The ninja nodded.

??: "Let them in, but I want a guard placed at the entrance of the tent in the event of them being a spy."

The ninja then saluted in acknowledgment, before turning and guiding the shinobi into the tent to be face to face with the commander.

Mizuki: "Oh hey, I remember you! You were the proctor who looked at Asuma like he was trying to kill him"

The commander instantly snapped his head over to Mizuki, only to see the boy with a sheepish smile on his face.

Mizuki: "Greeting Proctor, hope you have been well [2] "

Shinku: "Been as well as one could be in this situation"

Mizuki: "Well then, I hate to say this, but I'm afraid that I'm gonna have to break the status quo a bit here."

Shinku let loose a deep, anxious sigh before turning to face Neko, the team leader.

Shinku: "Report."

Neko: "Yes sir. We were here on a mission to try to weed out a spy . . ."

Neko recounted the story of their mission, what they did, and finally, how they confronted the spy and tortured the information out of him.

Shinku: "I'm surprised you went with such a brutal approach"

Neko: "This is war, sir. I'll take the approach that lets me wake up tomorrow."

Shinku: "Fair enough, although I have one last question."

Neko: "What exactly did the Iwa shinobi say?"

. . . One hour prior . . .

Konchu and Mizuki got to work on the Iwa shinobi, employing techniques that they had learned from less than ethical sources as easily as breathing.

Although the shinobi had a strong will, that too was slowly eroded, until eventually, after fifteen minutes of torture, the man gave in.

Iwa Shinobi: "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

Neko: "You know exactly what needs to happen for me to order them to stop."

This was the third time this exchange has occurred between the two of them, where the Iwa shinobi begged for mercy, but Neko was regrettably unable to give it.

Neko then snapped his fingers, indicating that the torture should resume.

However, just when the fourth session was about to begin, the Iwa shinobi finally threw in the towel.

Iwa Shinobi: "Wait-Wait-Wait-Wait-Wait! I'll Talk."

Neko: "Ok, we are going to ask you some questions which must be answered honestly and to the best of your ability."

Neko: "I am sure you are smart enough to know what the consequences are for not abiding by those two principles."

Neko glanced towards Konchu and Mizuki.

Iwa Shinobi: "A-A-Anything but that!"

Neko: "Glad to see you get it."

Neko: "First Question: What is your name?"

Neko's first line of questioning went on like this, asking personal, yet mundane questions in order to establish a dynamic and to try to get extra information about him.

The first part of the interview passed with little to no extraordinary circumstances.

Now, onto the second part.

Neko: "What was your mission here?"

Iwa Shinobi: "To help with the smuggling of supplies both to and from the spy to allow them to better complete their mission."

Neko: "Ok, what did you help smuggle in?"

Iwa Shinobi: "Nothing yet."

Neko: "And out?"

The Iwa shinobi hesitated a bit before responding.

Iwa Shinobi: "blueprints of the fort's layout"

Neko: "What is Iwa planning to do with those blueprints"

. . . Back to the meeting . . .

Neko: "An invasion of thousands of Iwa shinobi, intent on taking this fort as their first foothold in Kusa before pushing south towards the Land of Fire."

Neko: "If we let this happen, not only will they have an insurmountable advantage due to surprise and gained territory, we could also lose hundreds, or even thousands of Konoha lives."

Shinku contemplated what he had just heard before nodding, a slight look of fear evident in his eyes.

Shinku: "Order the base on red alert. The base hasn't even finished being set up yet, so we are going to need to set up impromptu barriers and traps."

Neko: "Understood"

Shinku: "Any chances of reinforcements?"

Neko: "If I'm being honest, not for a whilst."

Neko: "We have sent messenger crows to Konoha and to the surrounding bases, but even the closest one won't be able to arrive within the next four days minimum. More likely one week."

Shinku: "Perfect."

Shinku: "Ok, this is going to be our strategy. . .

. . . Present Time . . .

Mizuki looked out over the horizon, just barely able to see the advancing army of thousands of shinobi using the rays of light provided by the sun rising behind him.

This would be the first battle of the Third Great Shinobi War.

And It would not be pretty.

It would be an entire formerly innocent generation's introduction to the darkness of the word.

War.

Their first battles.

Mizuki's first battle.

The birth of countless legends.

And this very battle.

This one would begin the journey of a legend that would long outlive or far outgrow it.

. . . . .

[1] Link to the Map I am using for reference is posted as a comment on this paragraph so that you can copy-paste it.

[2] For those of you who don't remember, Shinku Yuki was one of the proctors for the chunin exams, and also Kurenai's father.