Chapter 21: No Rest for the Wicked

During the break following the end of that first semester was the only truly major occurrence of my Academy years, but what a major occurrence it was.

It started off a lazy Wednesday at the end of spring, just at the start of summer. I had thought of the idea of having Ramen at Teuchi's, as it was Naruto's favorite joint and, well, I felt like it. Being a relatively powerful noble, that was really all the justification I needed. But Konoha was a big place, and I had no idea if it even existed at that point.

So, rather than look for it, I had Sachiko do so. I cannot recommend having competent minions enough; 10/10 would hire again. I told her that I had once heard about “the best Ramen restaurant in the World” from a traveler in Uzushio, and that the owner, or perhaps his son, was called Teuchi. Sachiko found the place in a couple days.

We were on the way when the emergency communications seal I wore on a wristband heated up. I told Sachiko, and we ran at full speed back to the Consulate.

I immediately joined Ichirou-san in the communications room, then sealed it and activated privacy protections. On the video-seal was an image of the same Council meeting room where we had discussed the epidemic nearly a year ago. A few people were still trickling in, but within a few minutes Kazuo-sama had called the room to order.

“As of two days ago, surveillance flights over Kirigakure's fleet as well as more cursory inspection of ports in Lightning have shown increased activity. Military readiness was raised. As of an hour ago, a large fleet consisting of Lightning and Water origin ships have rendezvoused near the North-Western Island of Water-country, about 400 miles away from our shores.” He pointed to a map on a stand.

Oh my god. It was war.

Spoiler: “Map”

(Not exactly to scale)

[img] https://orig00.deviantart.net/271a/f/2013/072/c/3/elemental_nations_political_map_by_xshadowrebirthx-d58zgoq.png [/img]

“A number of the ships from the Land of Lightening are bearing Iwagakure flags. Others bear the flags of Iwa or Kumo vassals. We plan on meeting the enemy near here, about two hundred miles from Uzushiogakure in two days' time. The main battle fleet will consist of the Flagship Spirit of Uzushiogakure, eight Naval Escorts and twenty Patrol Craft. Other fleet elements will be patrolling our waters in case of a sneak attack from a different direction. Three waves, each with a hundred and fifty Pelicans will be dispatched, one hour apart from each other, as will the Custom Pelican Wing.”

Holy shit. That was a lot of fire-power. A standard Patrol-Craft at the time had a broadside of two Cyclone-Bullet Seal turrets and a Cycle-Cannon Seal turret, for a total of four Bullet seals and two Cannon seals. The turrets were fully reticulated, and could fire in most any direction; all Uzushio ships were capable of forward firing chase configurations. An Escort had eight dual-purpose turrets with a Cannon-Seal and a co-axial Bullet Seal. The Spirit of Uzushiogakure was even more impressive. A testbed of advanced and prototype seals, it was capable of things that most people, myself included, were totally unaware of, and probably beyond our expectations. Beyond that, it had sixteen dual-purpose turrets, and likely carried a far higher proportion of more advanced and more destructive seals applied to the shells in the cannon magazines.

With a rate of fire of 2,500 rounds a minute for the Bullet Seals and 250 rounds a minute for the Cannon Seals, as well as a minimum ammunition allotment sufficient to keep up that rate of fire for at least ten minutes continuous combat, our fleet would be able to lay down millions of bullets and hundreds of thousands of cannon rounds without the Pelicans being taken into account. Kazuo-sama continued to lay out the plan.

“The fleet will arrange itself ready to fire over the horizon, using targeting information fed into the sealing network from the Pelican surveillance flight. When the enemy ships are within nineteen kilometers of the fleet, the attack will begin.

“The enemy ships are currently arranged with the Kirigakure war-ships in front, smaller groups of fast-moving ships on the flanks, and the bulk of their transports in the protected pocket that they form. Wings of thirty Pelicans each will simultaneously strike each group, focusing on damaging sails and oars to limit mobility, as well as deploying underwater hunter-seekers to prevent ninja fleeing through the water or by water-walking. After the first pass, the Pelicans will draw back and reform.

“While the Pelicans reform, the ships will begin bombardment. After approximately five minutes, they will cease fire, allowing the Pelican Wings to strike again. The thirty reserve Pelicans will chase down any runners. The Custom Pelican Wing will attack particularly fierce enemy resistance, and deal with any Jinchuriki or special challenges that are with the fleet.

“Should the initial assault prove insufficient, the fleet will continue to harry the enemy armada, and subsequent Pelican Waves will concentrate on the remainder. This will continue until all enemies are dead and all ships sunk. Overflights will search for enemy survivors for a week following the operation.

“Following this, I believe it is time to capture Water-Country. They have been a threat long enough. Five days after the battle, I intend to raze Kirigakure with massed air-assault. We will use our treaties to request aid from Fire and Konohagakure, and see what we can achieve.

“Ambassador Hato. We trust you will be able to contact the Fire Daimyo? Ask for troops; explain that we have a confirmed force of between eight and twelve thousand ninja incoming, and that we expect the war to last some years if the initial assault is repulsed. You may offer the majority of seized treasures; we are interested in the land and people, but they will not believe us capable of holding the land. Ensure we have operational command, and can prevent too many excesses from being taken.

“Consul Daichi. Get troops from Konohagakure. Ichirou, accompany him. Promise that we will forget any actions they may have had a part of; that move was well timed for this situation. Tell them that if they send at least a thousand ninja that you will not be recalled; we expect that the Daimyo will send many of the ninja attached to his forces. Also, you are expected to participate as part of the Custom Pelican Wing; your grandfather reported your Pelican is prepared.

“Commander Sho. Pass orders to our agents; make it known that we are recruiting samurai, ninja and soldiers, and that service will be rewarded, possibly with titles and land.

“Very well. You have your orders; get to it. Let us make history. Hato, Daichi, make sure to leave a servant in the communications center to pass messages. Dismissed.”

I turned off the sound transmission from our end. One of the servants assigned to the Consulate settled in.

“Sachiko. Help me get dressed.”

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Soon enough I was dressed and waiting in the Hokage's tower with a message of the “utmost severity” for the Hokage. Within half an hour we were shown in and saw the Hokage with the Jonin Commander, one of the highest ranking officers of the village, present.

“Hokage-sama. Kazuo-dono sends me with warning that a fleet of eight to twelve thousand ninja is on its way to Uzushiogakure. The fleet left from Lightning country and flies flags from Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and appears to be led by Kirigakure naval assets. If left unchallenged, they are expected to arrive in five days; our fleet will make contact in two, and attempt to destroy them, or at least hamper their progress. Kazuo-dono is requesting that Konohagakure provide ninja as per our treaty. Ambassador Hato is making a similar request for troops from the Daimyo for the following conflict, assuming we survive the initial assault.”

I allowed myself to project the frisson of worry that I was feeling (not that the Hokage needed to know it was about how my babies would perform in battle), and the determination for Uzushiogakure to survive. The Hokage's eyes had gotten wide as he heard of this attack.

“We received no word of this. How good is the intelligence?” the Jonin Commander asked.

“Impeccable. We have real-time information, using a set of fairly complicated seals.” He had no need to know about the aerial assets, one of the “holy grails” of the ninja world, especially not before negotiating how many ninja he would be sending. “Chakra-signature scans are indicative of a force of that size, and it is supported by images and the size of their fleet.”

“And under what terms do you request Konohagakure's ninja?” Let the dickering begin.

“We request Konohagakure’s ninja to reinforce our defenses, so long as the village has not already been razed. We request Konohagakure's ninja to continue to support our forces, whether deployed within Whirlpool’s territory, at sea, or in operations within Water Country, until the end of this conflict, not to exceed five years. Ninja will draw standard combat pay and spoils as laid out in our original treaty of fellowship, and the initial number may be drawn down at the agreement of both Konohagakure and Uzushiogakure.” The Hokage nodded. That had been about what he was expecting.

“And how many ninja are you requesting?”

“I would like 3,000 combat and infiltration capable ninja, with at most 1,000 being drawn from the combat reserves, and at least 1,000 drawn from the so called “elite” forces.” At this the Jonin Commander sucked in his breath. That was at least half their active mercenary forces, and a lot of combat capable ninja, especially if it drew them into conflict with Iwa and Kumo at the same time. An expansion would increase the number of fronts Konohagakure had to fight on, and thus stress their available personnel.

Before the Jonin Commander could say anything though, I let my eyes flicker away from the Hokage and to him and continued. “So long as there are at least two thousand combat ninja, with at least half coming from the elite forces, drawn proportionally at the levels of jonin and chunin, I have been told that Kazuo-dono will forgive any recent irregularities and suspicions. So long as at least a thousand combat ninja are provided, I will not be recalled.”

I was asking for a load more ninja than I needed to, more ninja than the Hokage would provide unless Danzo had confirmed some sort of involvement with the failed epidemic. Let's see if he was suspecting such a subtle ploy from an eight year old who just found out that his home was being invaded by what should have been overwhelming force.

The Hokage thought for a moment before nodding.

“I will provide twenty eight hundred ninja. Twelve hundred drawn from the elite. Another eight hundred experienced combat veterans from the reserves suitable to ship-board combat and jutsu support for regular military units. Three hundred trained in infiltration. And five hundred that specialize in logistics to help keep them properly supplied. We want Uzushiogakure to know how much we value our positive relations. They will be available for up to five years.”

Translation: Danzo fucked up. And in return we had about a seventh of Konoha's troops, including over half of their very best, for up to five years. Hell yes. Kazuo-sama would be ecstatic. I knew the Jonin Commander was somewhat puzzled, and needed to organize deployment orders; it was time to leave, and report back.

“Thank you very much, Hokage-sama. Uzushiogakure is deeply honored and grateful for the depth of Konohagakure's loyalty, and stands in awe of your Will of Fire.” Words were cheap, but I wanted it clear that I valued his contribution, and understood that he'd had nothing to do with the situation. I'd have to deactivate the dead-man's switch on Project Thor. “I will have Sachiko return immediately with a set of communications seals so your commanders may speak with their counterparts. May I ask when we might expect the first elements of your troops?”

“We will dispatch the first five hundred from the village guard by this afternoon. Would you be willing to give a brief speech and announcement with me, when they depart?” he answered after a moment of thought.

“I would be honored, Hokage-sama.”

“Excellent. I will send one of my ANBU when it is time.”

“Thank you, Hokage-sama. I will leave you to your preparations, and report this happy news to Kazuo-dono.” I bowed, and left Sarutobi to explain exactly why Konoha needed to send so many of its troops to what seemed to be shaping up to be a serious cluster-fuck.

Ninja weren't used to fighting in such a high density, and when they did, casualties tended to be extremely high, with a greater than normal amount occurring in the higher ranks. While a jonin might be able to beat a trio of genin a hundred times in a hundred days, the back to back fighting could drain chakra and result in death. That was basically every ninja’s nightmare; trapped in a meatgrinder, with no ability to use the subtle skills they spent so long training.

I sure as fuck wasn't going to explain that we actually expected to crush the invasion, and then invade ourselves, and thus be using the ninja the way they were meant to be; they'd send far fewer troops. While the terms of Alliance meant we'd be paying the standard pay and death benefits for their ninja, it wasn't overly generous, and probably wouldn't have been sufficient to make up for the Village's deficit if there were large losses among the Konohagakure jonin.

“Wait until we're back at the Consulate, Ichirou-san. I need to think a moment.” Ichirou nodded in confirmation.

After a moment’s pause I continued. “Sachiko, as soon as we return, take a stack of personal voice-communication seals. Show the Hokage how to indicate the identity of the user, and get them in communication with Command, then hang about to provide assistance as needed. I suspect I'll be spending the rest of the time up until the speech, and probably the battle, providing last minute advice about Pelican piloting and listening to the military officers.”

“Yes, Daichi-sama,” she replied.

After we returned to the Consulate and were in the secured communications room, I answered Ichirou's obvious question while waiting for Kazuo-sama to finish his conversation with the Fleet Admiral.

“You're wondering how I managed to get so many ninja assigned to us,” I remarked. “You remember our first meeting here, the tea and Danzo? I wouldn't have managed so many ninja if it weren't for guilt. So, Danzo's involvement in the epidemic is effectively confirmed.”

“Gods. What are we going to do?” he asked stunned. He focused on trade, not this sort of thing.

I smiled bitterly. “Nothing. They just made reparations for it, after all. Right now we need troops more than righteous anger.”

“Incredible. I understand why I was appointed your deputy.”

“You flatter me, Ichirou-san. You were appointed here for your unparalleled understanding of politics as it relates to trade. Had it not been for this invasion, I would be useless. Anyway, it is time to inform Kazuo-dono,” I said as I noticed an attendant directing Kazuo-sama's attention our way.

“Kazuo-dono. I have returned from negotiations with the Hokage,” I began, as he faced the communicator array.

“And?”

“Konohagakure will provide twenty eight hundred ninja. Twelve hundred drawn from the elite. Another eight hundred experienced combat veterans from the reserves suitable to ship-board combat and jutsu support for regular military units. Three hundred trained in infiltration. And five hundred that specialize in logistics to help keep them properly supplied. They want Uzushiogakure to know how much we value our positive relations. They will be available for up to five years, under standard payment as laid out by the terms for Joint-Operation included in our original alliance agreement. Sachiko, my retainer, is giving them communications seals to get in contact with our commanders right now.”

“So you were correct.” It seemed as though Kazuo-sama didn’t know whether he should be pissed off at Konohagakure’s involvement in such an underhanded attack on our home, or happy that the relatively tiny loss of life resulted in thousands of extra top-quality ninja for our upcoming war.

I nodded in reply. “It would seem so. For what it's worth, I truly believe the Hokage innocent. Danzo I suspect was the culprit. But that is behind us now.”

“Quite. Very good job, regardless. That's at least twice as many ninja as I was expecting. Depending on how your ideas perform during their first large-scale combat test, I will likely have to revisit your rank.”

“Thank you, Kazuo-dono, but I am unworthy.” He gave a small snort at this.

“Please, Daichi-san. You are more than worthy, and laid the groundwork for this situation perfectly. I am well pleased with your performance. You too, Ichirou-san.”

“Thank you, my Lord,” we replied.

“I need to continue with our preparations. Was there anything else?”

“Ah, yes, Kazuo-dono. Konohagakure is still unaware of the full capacity of our Pelicans and the Cyclone Seals. They expect to defend the Islands from an assault; I recommend that we tell them we were unsure of the weapons systems, and wanted to err on the side of caution. Following the glorious victory, if your troops do prove successful that is, we decided to end the problem once and for all.”

“That makes sense. Good luck with your preparations.”

“You as well, Lord.”