Chapter 109:

As the battle between the mist, leaf, and sand raged in the land of rivers. Another battle was about to take place in the northwest, along the border of the land of grass and land of fire. The hidden stone had amassed a force of 8000 strong and were preparing to charge on the 4000 strong unit of the leaf who had been forced to meet them, charged with halting their advance.

Currently, in the hidden leaf, things were very tense as the Hokage did his best to manage the village's resources, knowing he would need to send another force out soon, as well as keep a large enough unit behind to protect the village.

Plus the added strain at the loss of Danzo had caused an uproar among the route members, who had either been forced to join the ranks of the Hokages anbu or die. Almost causing a small internal war between the anbu as a result.

That and the added threat of the Uchiha's possible rebellion, something that the Hokage had been keeping tabs on with the help of both Itachi and Shisu Uchiha, who had been acting as double agents for both him and Danzo before his death.

Thankfully, the announcement of war had been enough for the Hokage and Fugaku to meet eye to eye and allow them to put aside their clans and villages' differences for the better of the village. Both of them knew that a civil war between the village and Uchiha would leave either side weak and at risk of invasion by the other nations.

Fugaku had agreed to have the Uchiha help in the war for the protection of the village, only if they would be allowed to fight on the front lines, and not be confined to the village as they had been in the past.

The Hokage had agreed to his terms, knowing that it was only Danzo who had made the Uchiha stand back in the past.

As such, half of the Uchiha clan had been assembled to join the ranks of the unit that was heading to the grass, while the other half would remain in the village, maintaining order and peace as their job as the leaf police force.

Hiruzen knew that their power would be needed if they were to stand a chance in this war and that their cooperation would be essential in order to achieve victory.

Fugaku had even volunteered to lead the battalion that would be heading to the grass, having been granted by Hiruzen, who knew that Fugaku was currently the strongest person in the village, other than himself.

Of course, Hiruzen was prepared to join the war front himself, not being one to shy away from battle and hide behind his men. However, the village was still in a delicate position, and he had been advised by the elders to remain behind for now so he could maintain order.

Currently, Fugaku had led the force of 4000 strong hidden leaf shinobi towards the grass, knowing they would be facing twice as many stone ninja, outnumbered two to one as the reports had said anyway.

Still, Fugaku was not worried as he had a secret that no one else knew about. He possessed the mangekyou Sharingan. And he planned to use it to turn the tide of battle if he needed to.

He also knew that he was only one man, and could not be everywhere at once. Knowing he wouldn't be able to help with the other battles that would be taking place against the sand and other nations who would launch an attack from different locations around the land of fire.

"Sir, our army is in place." A member of the Akimichi clan said, snapping Fugaku out of his thoughts.

"Good, stand by for my orders," Fugaku said as he stood with his arms crossed, looking across the large open plain that would serve as their battlefield.

"This is where we will make our stand." He thought as he served the area, doing his best to plan for every possible eventuality. Knowing he would need multiple plans if they were to succeed.

Meanwhile...

"ARRGHHH!!!" The screams of war sounded as Fuyōna hit the front of the enemy lines like a bowling ball into a set of pins.

Using his Shikotsumyaku abilities, Fuyōna was like a human porcupine, becoming deadly from every angle as he charged into the enemy lines, killing anyone who got too close to him with great speed and precision.

Fuyōna flipped and danced around as his bones continued to attack and defend at the same time, causing more and more bodies to pile up as he was unstoppable, acting as a one-man army.

"Stop him!!!" The enemy sand troops shouted, doing their best to try and defend against their overwhelming taijutsu, however, none were skilled enough and soon the leaf and mist units crashed into the sands, causing the full battle to start.

"We can't let our Mizukage take them all down, men!" One of the mist captains shouted as the battle raged, getting a roar from as many around him that could hear his words.

Fuyōna had charged well into the middle of the sands army, fighting alone and well away from his men as he continued to dance around, flipping from side to side, front and back. Unstoppable, as if he was a storm of death that no one could contain.

"Who the hell is this guy!" One of them shouted as a four-man team suddenly stopped as they made the hand signs for a combined wind style jutsu, doing it at the same time to make it even more powerful.

However, Fuyōna simply slipped into an ice mirror, disappearing before the Jutsu could make an impact, instead, it took out a massive amount of their own men as the wind style ripped through their comrades.

"What in the hell! Where did he go!" One of them shouted as they did their best to try and look around.

But Fuyōna simply slipped out of his ice mirror and cut through them like a hot knife through butter, continuing on his path of blood and death.

"We can't stop him!" Someone shouted before they were implied by one of Fuyōna's bones, the sight of it causing fear as everyone tried to turn and run from the sight of him covered in their comrade's blood.

"There are so many of them... At this rate, I'm going to be doing this all day." Fuyōna thought as he ducked under a demon shuriken before he blocked a sword slash to his head, letting his bones counter themselves without even thinking about it.

"I should head towards the S rank chakra I could sense coming from the back. That way I can take them out before they do any damage to our troops." Fuyōna thought as he ripped through another twenty men as if they were nothing.

Suddenly Fuyōna felt something attach to his back and pull him through the air, feeling there was nothing he could do about it.

"Chakra threads!" He said as he realized what was happening.

"Clever..." He then thought as he let his chakra flow through his bones to sever the chakra threads, allowing him to fall through the air where he was met with another blast of a combination jutsu, trying to take him off guard while he had nowhere to go in his free fall.

"Good, but not good enough," Fuyōna said as he simply fell into another ice mirror, allowing the combined Jutsu to miss him again.

"Where did he go!" One of the sand shinobi shouted in panic as he looked around for him.

"Calm down squirt!" Chiyo said as she remained calm, waiting until she could sense his chakra appear before she attacked.

"There!" She suddenly shouted, allowing her chakra threads to ripple from the tips of her fingers as she tried to attach them to Fuyōna again.

However, Fuyōna simply cut them out of the air, having already clocked onto them.

"I'm afraid that won't work on me again." He said, looking Chiyo up and down.

"So you are Lady Chiyo. We finally meet." Fuyōna said as he greeted her out of respect for her reputation.

Chiyo looked Fuyōna up and down, watching his body ripple and mutate as his bones slowly retracted inside of his body.

"So you are the Kage killer... And famed fifth Mizukage." She said, seeing how he lived up to his reputation after having watched him wreak havoc on the battlefield.

"I try not to go by that name these days..." He said, knowing that is how everyone saw him. After all, he had already killed two Kage in his time, and he was sure that number would increase in the near future.

"Are you intending to fight me, lady Chiyo?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"I am." She said simply, as she pulled out a scroll from her cloak.

Fuyōna smiled a little as he already knew what was coming, knowing she was about to use her famed ten puppet jutsu on him.

"Are you really going to go all out from the start," Fuyōna asked, knowing she meant business.

"I'm not here to joke around, Kage killer." She said as she made a hand sign and summoned her puppets, allowing them to float in the air as she connected her chakra threads and prepared for battle.

"So be it..." Fuyōna said as he took a ready stance, knowing this would be a tough fight using only 25% of his power.

The main battle was still going strong, even with Fuyōna having killed well over three hundred men by himself. The sand's forces seemed to never end as they continued to fight tooth and nail against the combined force of the leaf and mist units.

Kaga was also in the middle of the battlefield as he commanded his troops, having them work together as much as possible in order to take out more enemy soldiers than they could alone.

The battle was getting messy as bodies littered the ground and the smell of blood drenched the air. Neither side was ready to surrender and both sides continued to fight as hard as they could, giving it their all as both sides pushed with everything they had.

"Don't give up men!" Kaga shouted as he cut another sand ninja down with his sword, turning around to block another attack that was coming his way.

Kaga quickly blocked the downwards slash and kicked the man away from him before he dashed forwards and cut him down, feeling his blood splash onto his face before he looked up to take a look at what was happening around him.

Meanwhile, Fugaku and the other leaf forces had come into contact with the hidden stone's force, and the two armies were now facing off against one another.

Fugaku could see that the stone's force was considerably larger than his own, knowing they were outnumbered.

"This isn't looking good," Fugaku said as he remained standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Sir! The mist reinforcements are here!" A leaf shinobi shouted, alerting everyone to their arrival as they turned to see the large ice mirrors that were allowing the mist troops through.

Suddenly Ao and Mangetsu landed next to Fugaku as they greeted him with a nod.

"I take it you are in command," Ao asked, already knowing who Fugaku was.

"I am." He said, doing a quick headcount of the mist reinforcements.

"Looks like we made it in time," Mangetsu said as he took a look over towards the enemy forces, whistling as he tried to count them all.

"Good to see you again Fugaku." Fuyōna suddenly said as he appeared from his own ice mirror, standing beside Ao and Mangetsu.

This time Fugaku turned around, seeming to accept Fuyōna's arrival in his own way.

"I didn't realize you would be joining us on the battleground, lord Mizukage," Fugaku said, showing genuine surprise.

"I see you are also doing your part in this war." Fuyōna countered, simply flashing him a smile as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Still, even though you are a clone. Your presence will indeed help turn the tide of this battle." Fugaku suddenly said, showing that his eyes were as sharp as daggers.

Fuyōna couldn't help but smile at his keen senses as he sighed.

"I guess they don't call you wicked eye Fugaku for nothing," Fuyōna said, looking him in the eye with a powerful stare.

"Sir." A familiar voice said as its owner appeared from thin air.

Both Fuyōna and Fugaku turned around to look at its owner, seeing none other than Kakashi standing there as he waited to be permitted to speak.

"Report," Fugaku said.

"It is as we thought sir, the stone is using Kannabe bridge to supply their army as they did in the previous war," Kakashi said as he turned to look at Fuyōna, bowing his head as he did.

"Lord Mizukage." He said, acknowledging his presence, knowing he had overall command now he was here.

"Is that so?" Fuyōna said as he turned to Ao, giving him a nod so he could have a look.

Ao nodded and made the hand signs as he activated his byakugan, taking a look at the entire battlefield and all the way back to where the enemy had made camp.

"It's true," Ao said as he let his eyes rest and return to normal.

"However, this time they have the bridge under heavy guard," Kakashi said as he looked back at Fugaku.

"Seems they have learned their lesson from last time," Fugaku said as he crossed his arms again.

"Still, it will fall once more, and put an end to the stone's advance as it did the last time," Fugaku said, turning to Kakashi.

"I want you to assemble a squad you can trust, and do whatever it takes to take out that bridge If I remember correctly, it was your squad that completed that mission in the last war, so you already have a better understanding of what needs to be done," Fugaku said.

"Yes sir, however, it will not be easy," Kakashi said, knowing the enemy would make it much more difficult this time.

"Did I ask you whether it would be hard or not?" Fugaku suddenly said, looking him in the eye.

"I gave you an order, not a question did I not?" He said, snapping at him a little.

"S-sorry sir, I will go at once," Kakashi said, knowing he should have known better.

Fuyōna remained silent as he stood next to Fugaku, taking a look at the battlefield.

"You could thank me you know." He said after a moment, keeping a straight face.

Fugaku raised an eyebrow as he moved his eyes only to look at Fuyōna.

"And why would I do that?" He said.

"Well, with Danzo gone, I'm guessing life is much easier for your clan," Fuyōna said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Fugaku only half-smiled as he tried to keep a serious face, knowing full well they had wanted Danzo dead for years, only never being able to carry it out due to the consequences that would have followed.

"No comment." Fugaku simply said as he unfolded his arms from his chest as the sounds of the enemy's battle horn sounded in the distance.

"The tides of war are upon us." He said as he grew serious, watching as the hidden stone started to advance.

Fuyōna remained silent as he too watched, knowing another intense battle was about to begin.

"Let it begin."

-----------------------------

Happy Friday, double release day for my fans!

I hope you are enjoying the story. Remember to check me out on P.atreon for more!