Chapter 7: The Might of Konoha(1)

A warzone is a place someone like me can thrive in. Opposing sides fight to the death to claim the victory. Everyone on the opposite side is fair game; all of them must die.

Monsters like me are the star players in the game that is war. It's a place we can feel alive, free, awake.

I never thought I would have the privilege to not only witness one of these ridiculous bouts, but help bring about the fall of the very person who started one. I'm elated that I was wrong.

Greetings war-torn Mizu no Kuni, a monster has arrived to set you free.

Me.

The shores that made up the coast of Mizu no Kuni were heavy with fog. The sun was nowhere in sight, and the air was thick with moisture. It felt like it could rain any minute now.

The small fishing village the four-man cell arrived at was said to belong to the Resistance. The war between them and the Lord Fourth Mizukage was heavily reliant on territorial dominance. Mizu no Kuni was made up of several islands, all centering the country's Hidden Village, Kirigakure no Sato, which was currently in the hands of the tyrant known as Yagura.

The man was leading a crusade to purge the bloodline users from Mizu. It was said that he thought them to be too dangerous to let live, so decided to kill his own people out of fear. Hundreds of thousands had already been slaughtered, and many more still lived in fear of his genocide. The other nations all decided to stay out of Mizu's business, letting them handle their own domestic affairs.

The bloody and crippling civil war finally reached the Land of Fire's citizens, in a way. A small scientific expedition into the waters that bordered Hi no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni turned into a massacre. The group of six civilian scientists – not a shinobi in sight – was captured by the Mizukage's forces and executed on the false charges of espionage. Konoha received their heads a week later, courtesy of the Mizukage himself.

Yagura was a fool, because now Konoha had him in her sights. She cried for his blood, and his blood she shall be given. The Mizukage was playing a dangerous game by poking the sleeping dragon that was the God of Shinobi's wrath.

That's why the Lord Third ordered a small contingent of Ro-Han to join the Resistance and strike at Yagura directly.

Taking a deep breath of the cold, salt air riddled afternoon air of the shoreline, Nezumi glanced at the captain of their newest assignment, Neko-senpai. The woman had long beautiful purple hair, and that was all that Nezumi knew about the cat-masked operative. She was an ANBU through and through, she never took her mask off, at least since he joined the corps two and a half years ago. Nezumi knew better though, she was a warm person and thought the same as he and Inu-taicho; the team was just as important as the mission. That made it easier for him to suddenly be under her command.

To his left was the 'official' youngest ANBU agent in Konoha, Karasu; his best friend. The crow-masked operative joined the fold half a year after the little incident that caused Team Ro to finally accept him.

It came to no surprise to Nezumi that Karasu entered the Black Ops, the things the blond felt coming from the young Uchiha amazed even him. He was strong, obviously, but his mind and heart made Nezumi instantly want to befriend him the moment he walked into Ro-Han's changing room. Being the closest to him in age was a factor too.

After a few missions together, the two became quick friends and were usually paired together. Team Ro had been a little more accepting when the ten year old joined; after working with an eight year old juggernaut made sure they'd never judge someone by their age again.

Crouching next to Karasu was the newest member of Ro-Han, Saru. It was strange, first Karasu, and now Saru called him Nezumi-senpai. He was too embarrassed to refer to them as kohai though, he was only ten now! They were both at the very least two years older than him.

Saru had shown a lot of respect to Nezumi right away, and that confused him greatly. The monkey-masked man had explained that he was somewhat of a celebrity among the younger operatives at HQ, even if it was just a rumor.

A child with the strength of an entire army was what they described him as, and some even said that he was invincible. Nezumi was less than pleased about the rumors. His status as an operative was top secret; he was the Hokage's personal shadow, a silent defender. He didn't mind fame, but his Hokage had wanted him to be a whisper, not a poster boy for the village. They had Itachi for that.

Of course, Saru was in his mid-twenties, but that was apparently young enough to 'look up' to the legend that was slowly coming forth.

His thoughts were interrupted. "Nezumi, find the Resistance, we need to meet up with them and explain Hokage-sama's orders." Neko spoke, giving her first order as a captain. Nezumi nodded, already doing what he was told. The village was small and not a lot of people resided in it. That made it incredibly easy to lock onto the strong chakra signatures that he was sure belonged to the Resistance.

"Done. They're not far from here, just northeast of this position, ten minutes I'd say." Nezumi replied, waiting for the next orders to be given.

"Lead the way." she said, confident in his abilities. Having worked with the young blond for the better part of two years made her a firm believer that he was in a league far out of her reach. She was just glad that he was letting her run the show, someone else that knew that they were the greater would have given her trouble during the entire assignment.

That's why she respected Nezumi, he was far from arrogant and loved to cooperate with his team, always listening to orders and offering help whenever it was needed.

"Yes, captain." And with that, he took off in the direction of the higher than average chakra signatures, leading the cell for the short duration. He took in the sights of the village as he raced across it. There were a lot of shops, and the ground of the shopping district was made of cobblestone; different. The people here looked so sad, and the young ANBU operative could feel their suffering. Good. Now he had more of a reason to fulfil his Hokage's orders. Yagura had to die.

Like he said, it only took ten minutes before they reached a seemingly random hut at the edge of a dock. Nezumi knew better, he could feel the shinobi below them. No one could escape his sensing capabilities; he was the greatest sensor in the village after all, able to feel the emotions and intentions of anyone in his range, which was incredibly large.

Nodding to Neko, the mouse-masked boy fell back, allowing the woman to take the lead again.

Stretching her arm out to rasp against the wooden door, she was cut off by a burly man with long black hair. "State your business, Konoha-nin. I've done nothing wrong, and you have no jurisdiction in this part of the world." His voice was gruff, matching his appearance perfectly. The scar that ran across the bridge of his nose reminded Nezumi of a chunin he knew to work at the academy.

He didn't know the man's name, but he knew that if he went to the academy, he would want that man to be his instructor. He had a good heart.

Neko chose her words carefully. "We've come on the behalf of the Lord Hokage." We have jurisdiction anywhere we so please. She gave the man a respectful nod of her head. "Konoha wishes to help wash away the red from the waters." We're here to clean house.

There it was. The code the Resistance used to identify friendlies. That little piece of information was invaluable to them. Without it, the Resistance wouldn't have let them anywhere near their plans. What they say about Jiraiya must be true; the man was a master spy.

"Wait here for a moment," was the man's reply, disappearing from the door to enter the small shack. Five minutes later, the man returned and ushered them into the hut, which would have looked strange to onlookers. The hut looked like it could only fit two of them in at the same time.

The hut itself was just a ploy, what lay underneath it was the true hideout. The underground tunnel was very large; an experienced Doton user must have had a hand in creating it. The tunnel stretched out for a small distance, which let out in an even larger room. There were people scurrying about like worker Bees. Nezumi chuckled, it was like a hive. So that must mean the absolutely beautiful woman with long, auburn hair sitting at the very large table in the center giving him a predatory glare like he was her prey was the Queen.

'This should be fun.' He thought to himself before joining Neko and the rest of the team in making their way to the obvious leader.

The smirk on her face kind of excited Nezumi. "So, Konoha finally decides to send assistance and all we get are three ANBU." She shook her head in mock hurt. "I'm disappointed."

"Four," Neko spoke, "you've been given four ANBU to your cause."

"Ah, but you're wrong, sweetheart." she retorted. "The children only count as half an ANBU." her smile was still as sweet as it had first been. "So I've been given three, such a shame too, I really could have used the help."

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