Legendary shinobi !

Day 350

The calm before the storm.

Tobirama knew this expression only too well, having experienced it many times in his life. He was currently with his troops in the land of rain for a battle that was to be decisive.

It had been almost a week since both sides had been waiting for action : neither side had engaged in any attacks. And as the days passed, the tension in the ranks increased. This status quo became almost unbearable as everyone was on the alert for the slightest move from the other side. Inevitably, the Leaf shinobi began to voice their concerns. Would the enemy strike and when ? Would they lay a trap for them ? Would they survive ? And all these questions did not go unnoticed as Tobirama could feel or even hear them by amplifying his hearing.

And it was because of all these feelings and conversations that Tobirama realised that it was high time he intervened in this war. Morale had fallen, supplies were low and the number of casualties had increased, especially since the eradication of Uzushio.

But right now, on this battlefield, there was only one thing to do : wait. Even if he understood perfectly well the state of stress in which his troops found themselves, this latency phase was important. It was even what would make all the difference against the enemy and as a good military strategist, Tobirama Senju knew that he and his troops had to go through this stage.

He just had to be patient, just a little longer.

Just wait for daylight, wait for the trap to close on their enemies.

— "Only a few more minutes," Tobirama whispered as he saw very fine reflections of light on the horizon.

The moment was near, very near.

If he wasn't such a shinobi, he might have been overwhelmed by the excitement of his impending plans and the end of this endless wait. But with all the control he had over himself and his emotions, he was unperturbed, focused on the objective he had set himself.

He had given precise orders to his soldiers and shinobi and all were in place for potentially the ultimate battle. The one that would decide the victory or defeat of this war. Although they were all aware that they had arrived at the turning point of this confrontation and that they trusted their leader's judgement, none of them dared to clearly formulate the only question that was on everyone's lips : why wait for daybreak in this case?

Tobirama could indeed have explained to them why they all had to be ready while waiting for daybreak. But this was also part of the combat strategy, maintaining this state of alertness among his men was essential for the future, but not only. Indeed, if they all had to comply with this meteorological requirement, there was a simple reason that had to remain secret for the good of all and to tip the balance in their favour : the Mizukage's army.

Gengetsu Hôzuki, the current Mizukage Nidaime of Kiri Village, had made this alliance with Tobirama and as such, they were on their way and had to catch the enemy off guard while Konoha No Sato was busy distracting them. The ninjas of Mizu No Kuni had a reputation for being the best assassination men and that would make the difference on this day.

And patience always paid off.

The proof would be in the pudding on this day and Tobirama knew it, especially when the moment he had been waiting for finally arrived as the sun was rising.

— "Execute phase one," Tobirama calmly ordered two of his subordinates.

The two ninjas immediately jumped with their chakra in two different directions to relay the orders. And barely ten seconds later, regular drumming sounds could be heard throughout the area. Usually, a shinobi should make as little noise as possible, but not today ! These were the orders given earlier.

Tobirama knew, as anyone who had ever fought in their life, that making noise before a battle was a sign of arrogance and self-confidence in order to destabilise the enemy. All means were good to show him that the troops were not at all afraid of him and that whatever the cost, they would be on him.

And the desired effect was there, the Nidaime Hokage could feel it very clearly thanks to his sensory capacity : panic. The small truce of a week had paid off and that reassured Tobirama. All of his enemies were flailing around lost and confused by the noise, while for seven days there had been such silence on the battlefield. The enemy had lowered their guard very slightly and that would be enough for the Leaf ninja.

Taking advantage of the enemy's disorganization due to the panic effect, Tobirama waved his hand. Mixed with the din of drums, the sound of hundreds of kunai split the air in the direction of the enemy position, they had been launched almost simultaneously over a width of two hundred meters. And once in the air, some wind manipulators used their Jutsu to propel the projectiles even further.

But in addition to all this ambient noise, one thing caught the eye of the opposing camp. It was too late to dodge, they were going to receive the full force of the attack in progress. Indeed, to each kunai that was crossing the kilometre separating them, was attached an explosive scroll. And in the gradually disappearing night, hundreds of papers lit up the space as they were being ignited to inevitably land on the enemy.

— "Katsu !"

These were the words of the Nidaime Hokage, words that only the Leaf ninja heard just before the deafening sound of explosions rang out from both sides. And despite the distance between them, the din of the scrolls' detonation did not disguise the screams of the victims who could not escape the technique.

Then, with another movement of Tobirama's hand, the real battle could finally begin.

The shinobi of Konoha No Sato charged towards the enemy who was totally disorganized in their actions following the explosive technique. Some of the more seasoned shinobi, who had come to their senses, were positioning themselves for the assault by the opposing troops. Others were busy putting out the fires that had broken out, while others were busy pulling a fellow countryman out of the rubble caused by the detonations.

And all of this, the Senju had considered, and he had every intention of taking advantage of the situation and doing as much damage as possible in the enemy ranks.

Out of duty... out of revenge !

Because during this war, Tobirama had lost almost all the members of his clan. There were only a handful of Senju left alive and they were all present during this battle.

And for this one, the Nidaime Hokage had no other option : surround himself with the best... the Uchiha ! He had swallowed his pride and put aside his resentment towards this clan. Always a fine strategist, he knew when he needed the necessary skills to achieve his goal. The Uchiha, with their Sharingan, were the most likely to anticipate and do the most damage if sent to the front.

As the ninja charged towards the enemy a second burst of wind-propelled kunai passed over their heads and before the weapons even hit the ground, "Katsu" could be heard behind them. Same technique, same result: explosions soon followed, once again accompanied by the enemy's screams. The crashing noise sounded like sweet music to the majority of Konoha's ninja: Vengeance!

Turning his head back slightly, the Hokage saw his army charging in that direction as well. The military strategy he had decided upon was unfolding perfectly. Indeed, in this kind of world war, it was not only shinobi who were fighting, but also soldiers who did not practice the shinobi arts.

A large group of men in armour was trotting along after the ninjas. They were samurai, soldiers, militiamen. This was not a new procedure, as it was already in use during the provincial wars. The ninjas fought each other while the armed troops fought separately, as a kind of implicit and rational code of honour. Indeed, it would have been completely absurd to ask a soldier not trained in the ninja arts to go after a simple Genin. He would not have been able to keep up with the aspiring ninja's speed and he would have simply lost sight of him, so to engage in combat was purely and simply inconsistent.

However, the countries had not given up on training non-shinobi armed troops, as there was one unchangeable rule regarding ninja. Without chakra, ninjas became a much easier target for the enemy to kill. The ninjas were then happy to have an army behind them to rely on.

Moreover, even if during a conflict, only the members of the army were left on one side, the army would not venture to attack the enemy still composed of its ninjas and soldiers. Just as it was unthinkable that the ninjas would attack the opposing army first, since they would inevitably suffer the attacks of the opposing ninjas.

— "Projectile !" Shouted one of the men, Sharingan active.

The choice to send the Uchiha to the front of the line had this advantage : they were able to deflect or parry the majority of the weapons thrown in their direction although some were not so lucky and perished under the blow of a kunai. But despite the losses, the shinobi of Konoha reached the enemy in force.

The carnage was finally about to begin.

In the middle of the fight, it was impossible to establish a precise strategy because once in the middle of the action, the only desire present was to cause the maximum damage to the opposing camp. This desire could be summarised as follows : two combatants were fighting hard against each other, two sides, two different policies. They were present on the battlefield because their leader had forced them to fight... for their homeland !

And today, on one side there was Hi No Kuni who relied on his teamwork and the abilities of the Sharingan and on the other, Tsuchi No Kuni who compensated for this detail by their outnumbering.

Of course, any attack led to its share of horrors and atrocities. Everything was going very fast, there was no time to observe in detail what was going on around them at the risk of perishing at the hands of the enemy. And that was what was happening to these earth ninjas.

An aspirant who had stayed close to his master had seen him in trouble and had wanted to help him. But because of his lack of experience and reactivity, he did not see the Uchiha's feint that fell on him. The earth ninja had no time to react, so much so that the speed of execution had caught him off guard. In a fraction of a second the apprentice's throat was slit, taking his life in the process.

— "No ! No Akira !" Shouted the ninja who had just seen his student die before his eyes. "You scum ! He was just a child son of a bitch !"

At times like this, even the most highly trained shinobi could be overwhelmed by anger and rage. They were still human beings with emotions. And the earth ninja was so angry and upset at losing the student he had trained for years, with whom he had bonded, that he charged the Uchiha without further thought. He had forgotten that emotional control was key on the battlefield, it wasn't for nothing that they had always been taught to let go of feelings and impulsiveness. Letting anger get the better of you could be very dangerous, especially when the enemy has mastered the art of teamwork. He focused his hatred only on the Uchiha without seeing the third person who stabbed him in the liver. The pain was so great that it paralyzed him, giving the brown-haired man time to quickly decapitate the earth ninja, without a word, without scruples.

At the same time, a few hundred meters away, an Uchiha was killed, surrounded by five Tsuchi No Kuni ninjas. As much as shinobi had to know how to control their emotions in order not to act on impulse, they should not be too rash either. The Leaf Shinobi forgot that although he belonged to a clan with prestigious techniques, he was still a man. He was so presumptuous and confident in his abilities that it cost him his life.

Such was the game at the heart of the battle : die or stay alive. And as the battle went on, the battlefield was littered with this, death.

But on this day of battle, there was something different on both sides, the active presence of each of the Nidaime. Mû the Nidaime Tsuchikage and Tobirama the Nidaime Hokage. And the participation of the kage within their own troops had the sole purpose of eradicating the opponent as quickly as possible. This war had gone on too long, it had to end, even if it meant taking care of it yourself.

— "Jinton : Hôkai ransu !" Mû pronounced as he floated slightly in the air, aiming at a group of Leaf shinobi. From his hand appeared a bright light encircled by a translucent film before a beam of the same light shot from his hand to its destination. Everything the light touched imploded.

The Tsuchikage was one of the most devastating ninjas in this battle thanks to his Jinton ability. Unfortunately, he couldn't abuse it, as it was extremely chakra intensive, but it did allow him to do immense damage to the opposing side. Each technique of Jinton launched by Mû made a minimum of fifty deaths.

The second most devastating person present was Tobirama Senju who was in constant movement thanks to his teleportation technique. He would appear out of nowhere and slice someone before dropping an explosive tag on the ground or on the enemy. Then this same tag would split with one of his techniques creating a domino effect of explosion across the battlefield.

— "Suiton : Yari no kakutoku !" Tobirama uttered as water also materialized out of nowhere and three condensed spears shot forward, skewering and cutting through anyone in front of him. With this technique Tobirama killed dozens of earth shinobi.

As the battle raged throughout the area, a light mist began to appear as the seconds passed. It could be mistaken at first for smoke made by a fire technique, or steam resulting from the contact of a fire and water technique. But it was nothing of the sort, it was indeed mist.

Suddenly, in the middle of the battle, a thin blade pierced a man, then two, then three, followed by a dozen others in only a few seconds before being planted in a tree. This thin blade, more like a long needle, was attached to a wire and the weapon suddenly turned around and returned to its owner.

A man carrying a sword twice his size appeared behind a group of earth ninja as if from nowhere. He lowered his weapon, which must have weighed a ton, with such speed that three men were cut down in one blow. Their bones and entrails were shredded from their bodies before scattering to the ground in a great spurt of blood.

Another man materialised in the middle of a combat zone and struck with his very large sword, which was parried in extremis by his opponent. The swordsman was surprised but extremely pleased by this parry : it meant an explosion ! From his weapon, a group of explosive parchment detached itself to come and stick on his opponent before everything exploded, reddening the surroundings.

— "It seems that Kiri has finally arrived," Tobirama remarked as he felt many signatures approaching from the south. But more importantly, he felt many shinobi perish at once as seven rather large signatures entered the battle : The Seven Swordsmen of Mist were in the place !

They were considered the most deadly ninjas of the elemental nations, but also the most sadistic. It was said that they took pleasure in killing their enemies, in making them suffer. So a rush of fear began to grip the earth ninja as many of their own began to die.

— "Hokage-sama !" Shouted a leaf ninja as he dodged a number of attacks to get to his military leader.

— "What !?"

— "A message !"

— "Do you honestly think this is the time for paperwork !" Tobirama shouted as he killed another shinobi in front of him.

— "That's the Raikage's seal on it !" the paper shinobi insisted and it had the desired effect, Tobirama glared at his subordinate. The Raikage writing to him ? For what reason ? Tobirama concentrated a lot of chakra in his lungs and mouth before making some Kandji with his hands.

— "Suiton : Suishota !" Exclaimed the Nidaime Hokage as he unleashed one of his most powerful Ninjutsu techniques. From his mouth came a veritable tidal wave of water designed to propel all of his enemies in front of him and hopefully drown a number of them. This would also give them some respite on this side of the battlefield. The Senju then turned to his ninja to grab the scroll.

To the attention of the Nidaime Hokage Tobirama Senju,

By the presence of this missive, I A, Nidaime Raikage desire a truce in this war which brings only death to our respective sides. I am ready for a meeting to sign a temporary alliance until this war is over.

If you are interested, I await you in Kumo,

A, Nidaime Raikage.

This letter changed a lot of things for Tobirama Senju, especially since this missive was signed by a blood signature, which testified to the veracity of its contents. He was thinking fast about what to do, so he looked around. The battle was going quite well and the arrival of the Mizukage's army should allow them to win this battle.

So Tobirama Senju did not hesitate and gave many orders for the continuation of this battle and also to indicate who would take his place as leader during his absence.

— "Sarutobi ! Danzo ! Kagami ! Homura ! Koharu !" Tobirama shouted to his five most promising students. They all turned in his direction as they called out to him and all reached his side in an instant.

— "Hokage-sama ?"

— "We are leaving to sign a truce with Kumo !" Tobirama announced and gave no further explanation before hurrying off towards the land of lightning.

At the same time, in the middle of this mass grave, a man under Genjutsu moved peacefully forward before making an invocation.

— "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

In a puff of smoke, a giant clam appeared in the middle of the battlefield : the Mizukage Gengetsu Hôzuki was there !

As soon as his summons was present, he revealed himself and when everyone recognized him, many tried to kill him. Everything was used, kunai, shuriken, Ninjutsu, explosive tags... but nothing did, he was invulnerable.

— "TSUCHIKAGE ! Come and fight, you coward !" Gengetsu shouted in the middle of the battlefield. Many tried to attack him in a treacherous manner, but none of the attacks aimed at him did anything to him. Every Ninjutsu, every weapon, every Fûinjutsu was ineffective against him, for he was only an illusion. And in the midst of all this chaos, his voice echoed everywhere as he used the chakra of the mist to make it resonate over the entire battlefield : "I know you're there ! Come and fight ! Or shall I execute every one of your men ? Eradicate your city so you'll deign to come out of your HIDDEN !"

— "Jinton : Kujo !" Uttered Mû who was standing on a pile of earth, unseen. The technique landed right on Gengetsu's position and its surroundings. If he could not touch him, then Mû was going to try to get him by reaching a large area in the hope of injuring him.

At the Mizukage's location, an intense light appeared surrounded by a translucent film that grew for three seconds before imploding over a radius of nearly fifty meters. Everything in the place had been eradicated : earth, plants, weapons, enemies... allies !

A deadly silence had settled over the battlefield. At the same time two of the greatest ninjas of the time were fighting and one had probably just died. A very slight smile appeared on the Tsuchikage's lips when he heard no more sound from the Mizukage. There was only a large cloud of dust that was slowly fading away.

But the silence was broken by the burst of laughter of Gengetsu Hozûki who was completely intact in the centre of the crater made by Mû.

— "Is this all you have to offer me ? Is this all the power that Tsuchi No Kuni has to offer me !" Taunted the Mizukage in the face of his opponent whom he hated.

Fear could be felt in the battlefield as he heard this man's words. He deserved his reputation as an invulnerable man. Normally, no one survived an attack by Jinton.

— "Tch ! You're just a big mouth !" The man covered in bandages retorted.

— "Hahaha, but unlike you, I can afford to be a loudmouth !" Gengetsu ironically turned on himself, so that his opponent could see him well and especially to detect him, because after all, Mû was invisible to all.

Then suddenly, the Mizukage stopped in one direction before extending his arm forward with his hand in the shape of a pistol. Many people's eyes widened as they recognized the legendary technique of Gengetsu.

Mû reacted at the quarter turn when he knew that he had been spotted.

— "Suiton : Suisei taihô !" Said the Muzikage and from his index finger shot a small ball of water that crossed the battlefield in a second at the very spot where his opponent was. The water projectile pierced the mound of earth that was about five meters thick as if it were butter.

— "Attack him !" The Tsuchikage ordered as he dodged a second water shot.

— "Hahaha ! They can't reach me you idiot !" Gengetsu mocked as many weapons hit him but did not touch him. Behind him, his clam was suffering the same fate, but it was also in a Genjutsu and thus did not suffer any damage as long as the illusion was attacked.

Mû had no choice but to run on the battlefield to dodge numerous water shots launched by his opponent. He knew it, it only took one shot to be finished with him. Just look at what the Mizukage's technique was doing behind him. Anyone unfortunate enough to be hit by the Mizukage's Ninjutsu was literally pierced through and through.

And a game of cat and mouse began between the two Kages. Mû tried several stratagems during the next few minutes to defeat his opponent but he could not find out the true position of the Nidaime Mizukage.

Then, while this manoeuvre had been going on for a while, Gengetsu Hozuki stopped shooting. He was tired of playing cat-and-mouse with his enemy.

— "No... this is not humiliating enough for the execrable being that you are," said the Mizukage, lowering his arm along his body.

Then Gengetsu split and a clone emerged from his body. Another of his legendary techniques.

— "Let's see if you even stand a chance against a mere Tsuchikage clone !" Boasted the Kage of Kiri sarcastically.

The oil and water clone rushed at full speed towards Mû who also charged the clone. In the Tsuchikage's memory, his opponent was incompetent in the field of Taijutsu and he was right, the Nidaime Muzikage was weak in Taijutsu. Mû thus quickly took the advantage on the clone. However there was something strange and particularly disturbing with this clone : his sadistic smile.

Mû was more flexible, more agile and managed to dodge and parry the weak attacks of Gengetsu, but it was before he understood what was the mistake he had made by engaging in this hand-to-hand combat. With his mastery of Yin and Suiton, the clone was able to alter his own body to create growths.

In a single blow, the clone's right arm was transformed into a blade that narrowly missed Mû's body, who dodged in extremis with eyes wide open. It was therefore a less confident man who attacked the clone.

— "Urg !" Moaned Mû after having hit the head of the clone. He felt the bones in his hand break under the impact and didn't understand why it was so solid, it felt like hitting iron !

The technique of the Mizukage allowed him to modify the density of his clone with oil to make its head or any other part of its body as hard as steel. So Mû just started to dodge for the next few seconds attacks coming from unlikely places of the clone's body.

If this continued too long, he would exhaust himself for nothing, so Mû did something normally dangerous : he made his Jinton at short range.

A light appeared in the back of the clone before it imploded. Except that the technique of the Hozuki clan had a second effect, when the clone was in movement, the oil inside started to heat to extreme temperatures. So when Jinton blew it up, the boiling water and oil shot out at everyone around, Tsuchikage included. All of them screamed in pain as the bubbling rain washed over them.

After a few seconds, the air cooled down and hundreds of small drops of water and oil gathered in one spot to reform the clone of Gengetsu Hozuki under the frightened gaze of all his enemies.

— "You are pathetic to call yourself Kage Mû !" Gengetsu taunted with a smile.

— "Pathetic ?! That I know of, it is you who hides behind your illusion techniques ! Not once did you really confront me face to face ! Of the two of us, you are the coward !" Mû shouted at his opponent.

He wanted to provoke him, to force him to make a mistake that would allow him to potentially take the advantage, he only needed a tiny moment. And as his eyes searched for the real Gengetsu, a deafening noise resounded behind him as a spike of pain shot through him.

He stood there uncomprehending for a few seconds before he felt heat on his chest. He looked down to see his bloody torso with a hole in the centre. He slowly turned his head and saw the real Gengetsu Hozûki looking at him with an arrogant smile and his hand shaped like a gun.

— "I've been by your side since the beginning you fool... you're just like all the others, not paying attention !"

He had played with him since the beginning and he could not do anything against that. Mû suddenly lost his balance when almost all the fighting had stopped : a Kage was going to die soon. The Tsuchikage collapsed on his back before seeing his long time enemy above him with his arrogant smile.

— "You're weak little worm," Gengetsu began before looking up at the assembly, "AND IT'S YOUR TURN !"

But the Mizukage had forgotten an immutable rule in combat : never underestimate your opponent until they are actually dead. As soon as Gengetsu turned his attention from his person, Mû took advantage of it. He was going to die, it was a certainty, but he would be damned if he did not take this man with him to the grave. He very quickly channeled his chakra to mold it into Jinton and a bright light appeared near Gengetsu's torso who saw the technique only too late.

It exploded and the Mizukage's torso was blown to smithereens. Nearly a quarter of his torso was gone with the disintegration technique. Pieces of organs, bones, and spurts of blood spilled out all around Gengetsu as he collapsed to the ground dead : killed by his own arrogance.

— "Die little shit !" Mû said before feeling his heart stop beating and his eyes blink.

Two of the greatest shinobi legends had just killed each other.