Chapter 55- The Fields of Battle

Orochimaru, alone as always, gazed from his vantage point atop a lone tree at the vast army laid before him.

The Land of Lightning had truly come in force, 250 thousand strong, and Orochimaru continued to watch them as they settled down for the night and prepared camp. They were only a single days march from the Capitol, and as they seeped across the land, raiding the abandoned farmhouses left in the wake of fleeing civilians, the army moved unhindered.

The fields where the Lightning Army set camp were fallow, still barren and brown in the dead of winter, and the firepits between the tents were as numerous as the stars in the skies. The soldiers, having met no real resistance, were of high morale, and tonight was the best meal served to them so far, large and hearty, preparing them for the exertions of battle that would come the next day, should they make it to the city.

Orochimaru was organizing his thoughts, planning for tomorrow's events. It would be his duty to stop the advance of the troops by any means necessary, and he had to buy at least three days. Ideas came to his head one after the other, some brilliant and workable, others inane or untenable, but still, Orochimaru considered all options. A thorough ninja lived another day, and a callous one died early.

However, time and time again, his thoughts were interrupted by what that damned Minato Namikaze had said to him.

That he would become the fifth Hokage?! Perish the thought.

That was a fool's errand. The dream of a boy whose greatest dream was to make his surrogate father proud.

But Orochimaru no longer though of Sarutobi-sensei like that.

Sensei was overbearing, too critical, too meddlesome, and simply cared too much.

The man who simultaneously couldn't leave Orochimaru alone, but who didn't have enough time for him, leaving him under the auspices of Danzo.

Sensei was the man who had abandoned him. The man who had led him to a ruinous downfall. The man who no longer trusted him.

Orochimaru no longer wanted to make that man proud. No, he simply wanted to be free.

He didn't know what he would do once he was free, maybe learn all jutsu in the world, maybe search for immortality?

It didn't matter what he would choose, he just needed the agency to do so.

Orochimaru had learned that following the betrayal.

You can not live for another; you can only live for yourself, and without freedom, one cannot even live.

Orochimaru had once lived for Sarutobi-sensei, and where had that got him?

Orochimaru was now naught but a puppet with a cursed seal written on his tongue and burned into his soul.

"Danzo is my life-long comrade, one of the few people I trust implicitly, and he will teach you the things that I cannot. There is more to being the Hokage than what you see in the light, and Danzo is my shadow, doing the things that I cannot. You will one day replace me, but before you do, you must see the darker side of the village."

Sarutobi-sensei had told Orochimaru that over ten years ago, after the end of the Second War, and Orochimaru had believed him. If Sarutobi-sensei could trust Danzo, than Orochimaru could trust Danzo as well. The idiocy, naivety, and folly of youth.

Not all hope was lost though, Orochimaru was still a genius, and after years of research, his experiments concerning the soul were finally producing results. Sooner, rather than later, Orochimaru would finally be able to sever the part of his soul that Danzo's inky grip had pierced into, and he would be free once more.

Danzo's seal, stolen from the ruins of Uzushiogakure, was an ugly and wretched affair, a geass burned into that which was truly sacred, digging itself into the roots of honor, loyalty, gratitude, and pride. It took all those and more to bend the recipient to another's will. and Danzo perverted those feelings that were once pure as newly fallen snow into a mass of corruption and compulsion.

Orochimaru wanted to laugh and cry. Danzo had taken the Will of Fire that had been carved into Orochimaru's bones by Hiruzen himself, and now used that to control and set his pupil against him. Orochimaru had been betrayed by Sarutobi-sensei, and now he was forced to betray Sensei. It was too ironic. Alas, snakes shed no tears, and all that escaped Orochimaru was a harsh and bitter chuckle.

But Orochimaru was nearing in on results. He would sever his soul. It was the work of a madman, but the razor's edge of madness and genius is the path that Orochimaru walked. Orochimaru would cut out the Will of Fire, he would hack away from his core, and he would no longer be whole, but he would be free once more.

Like the fox that bites through its leg to escape the trap, Orochimaru would eventually escape the clutches of Danzo, injured and maimed, but free.

But speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Orochimaru, shaken from his thoughts, sensed a familiar chakra presence, the presence he wished to hate but couldn't, the seal bending his mind and twisting his thoughts.

With a quick shunshin, Orochimaru appeared in front of Danzo and spat out a few words.

"What could possibly bring you here?"

Danzo didn't seem to take offence, confident in his position of strength, unfazed by the posturing from the sannin.

Orochimaru might be more powerful than him, but Danzo still held the leash, and as such, held supreme confidence as well.

Danzo took a a few more moments to speak before finally giving orders to the sannin.

"I care not for your insubordination nor your petty displays.

I am simply here to deliver something unto you, and the fact that I am doing it myself should impress upon you the importance that I place in this task.

You have learned the Edo Tensei, the one jutsu Hiruzen has refused to share with me, and though Hiruzen has forbidden you from using it, he is but a sentimental fool. Jutsus are nothing but tools, and though I cannot cast it myself, you will do so in my stead.

I have a particularly important blood sample here that you will find invaluable in your efforts against the Land of Lightning.

You will summon this ninja and set him against our foes, then report his efficacy. If he is still amenable to serving Konoha, he will be an invaluable asset moving forward. Invincible, unkillable, and untiring. Use a control seal if you have too, but I want his strength under my command.

All for the glory of Konoha."

And Danzo disappeared as quickly as he had came, leaving Orochimaru with a sealing scroll in hand, and a nagging feeling in the back of his head that he must perform the edo tensei. Orochimaru knew that the compulsion would only worsen over time, becoming almost debilitating within a few days. His plans were forcibly being moved up, and Orochimaru now had no choice but to engage tomorrow with the help of an unknown and undead ally.

With much of the decision making now out of his hands, Orochimaru started putting a few of his plans into motion, starting with summoning a small horde of snakes that would sneak into the Lightning Camp and poison water and food supplies before assassinating the officers and other members of the command structures.

The headless army would be much easier to control and corral.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, though now old, was still the man once know as "The God Of Shinobi".

He had already scouted out the Lightning army in the nearby valley, who had set up camp and settled in for the night.

Hiruzen's strength had started to wane the past few years. It was still great, but even he had to admit that he was starting to wane.

Orochimaru, having the ability to call upon larger allies like Manda of the Snakes, had been sent to combat the army approaching the capitol from the north, a more open and deforested area than where Hiruzen was now. The land surrounding the south of the capitol was densely forested, and it was nearby that Konoha was situated.

However, the valleys and forests offered a great advantage to Hiruzen, his enemy's mobility was hampered by the environment and was particularly well suited to his monkey summons.

Hiruzen had already spoken with Enma, the Monkey King, who had begrudgingly allowed his people to be reverse summon themselves to the battlefield. More so than most animal tribes, the monkeys were especially contentious, and there was a surplus of young summons who wished to cut their teeth in a war. Enma would've had a riot had he not let his people come.

With the cat out of the bag, and the monkey out of the barrel, it was only Enma's continued presence that prevented hostilities from immediately breaking out. Enma knew that the honor of first strike against the enemy must go to Hiruzen, so Enma and his monkeys waited patiently.

Hiruzen was calculating and recalculating his odds. He still came to the same conclusion no matter which way he thought about it.

He didn't want to do it, but he had to.

So Hiruzen steeled his resolve and snuck into the Lightning camp where he knocked out a single guard that he then secreted away with the man in tow.

A comfortable distance away from the Lightning Army, Hiruzen found himself once more breaking a sacred vow. Too many times had he done this during his life as a ninja. If there was a hell, he was already going there.

Though he was capable of making the hand seals much faster, Hiruzen still methodically went through them one by one, and prepared himself.

"Tiger.

Snake.

Dragon.

Dog."

He then clapped his hands together as the following words left his lips, leaving naught but salt and ash in his mouth.

"Edo Tensei!"

And the guard he had kidnapped from the Lightning Army was the first casualty in the coming conflict.

The guard convulsed and was then covered in papers that obscured his appearance, quickly transforming the living and breathing human into a person shaped homunculus that slowly morphed into the extremely displeased visage of the Nidaime Hokage.

Senju Tobirama, his soul having just been ripped from the pure lands, stared at the old man he barely recognized.

"Saru."

Hiruzen, cringing under the weight of his sensei's gaze, once again felt like a chastised child, and could not utter a word in his defense.

Tobirama looked around and remained silent for a few more seconds before breaking the silence.

"You've already done the deed.

Now own up and explain."

Hiruzen, hearing the austere command in the voice of his sensei, fell into long forgotten habits that had laid dormant for decades, as he readily fixed his posture and reported the situation at hand.

As Hiruzen explained the unbelievable chain of events that led to the current reality, Tobirama listened attentively, interrupting only a few times to ask a salient question or two.

Tobirama eventually stopped Hiruzen from speaking any further, holding up his hand.

Hiruzen waited for his sensei to respond.

"Saru, I am furious beyond measure.

The state of Konoha, the wars, everything.

I am so mad that if I loosened my grip at all, I would fly into a rage.

However, it is not the time nor place for emotion.

The situation is truly as dire as you believe it to be.

I will help you, and you, who has broken your vow to me will eventually answer to it.

Don't be in a rush to die, because once you come to me in the Pure Lands, I will pour into you and fill you with regret and remorse.

However, you made only one good decision today.

And that is that you summoned me.

I accept this as my punishment for creating such a jutsu.

Had you used this jutsu on any of our village comrades, I would never forgive you.

But also know this Saru.

Had you summoned Ani-Ue, I would have struck you down on the spot."

Hiruzen nodded gravely, and knew it to be true.

Tobirama would not easily forgive Hiruzen, but he might eventually. After all, it was Tobirama's fault that this cursed jutsu existed in the first place.

But if Hiruzen had summoned Hashirama as well, and had disturbed the peace of the Shodai, Tobirama would definitely kill him without room for explanation. Such was the love and devotion of the younger Senju brother.

At the site of the main battlefield, the two forces stared at each other.

The five hundred thousand strong group of ragtag conscripts and volunteers from the Land of Fire were heavily outnumbered by the 2 million large force of the Land of Lightning, which happened to also be better equipped and better trained.

The Land of Fire's camp was dead quiet, and a heavy air had settled over it.

The grim and fatal determination of the soldiers pervaded the air, and many of them men were silently contemplating their future.

Most knew that they would die. They knew the odds were against them. They knew that it was futile. But behind them was their families.

Their wives and children had begged and pleaded that they not go to war, that they not march against the invaders, that they not dash their lives upon the rocks.

The Men of Fire had set their shoulders and replied 'Someone has to.'

The Fire People were a proud and noble nation, and long before ninja, people still fought over the fertile land of the Land of Fire.

There was a long and storied history to the native inhabitants of Fire, of a fierce and tenacious warrior people. The legend was so old that its truth could no longer be verified, but it was oral tradition that the Land of Fire was not named for its hot summers and the blazing sun, but it was named for the undying and enduring spirit that dwelt within its people.

It had taken a people like them to hold onto such bountiful land. Eventually though, the age of ninja had come, and many families found that they no longer needed to pick up arms to defend their homes and families. For the common man, the age of ninja was the age of peace.

So the children who were raised on stories of glory and heroes took their forbear's arms and armors, and forged them into plowshares, and they lived in peace and harvested the bounty of the land their fathers and grandfathers had fought and died for. They raised their children on those stories as well, and they passed down the Riddle of Steel.

The spirit of warriors lived on in those people, and the weight of a hundred generations of honor laid heavy upon their shoulders.

So when invaders had come from the Land of Lightning like they had in generations past, beyond living memory, the Men of Fire took their plowshares and forged anew their arms and armor.

And they marched onward, to certain doom, so that they may hold back the tide.

The Konoha Ninja were nearby due to necessity. Kumogakure forces were accompanying the Lightning Forces, and Konoha couldn't afford to let them out of sight.

Konoha-nin were in the same situation as the Land of Fire's Army. They were outnumbered almost four-to-one, and they too had their families and loved ones behind them. A few ninja were even amused, it was not common for a ninja to know when and how he will die.

Some of the shinobi were quiet and thoughtful, while others were cheerful and spirited, giving off one last spark before the darkness swallowed them. Some laugh and joked, and the gallows humor drew a grim smile here and there from even the most dour of ninja.

Minato and Jiraiya walked among the shinobi, Minato offering encouraging words and easing his ninjas' worries with his presence alone. Jiraiya took a more direct approach, and handing out a bit of sake here and there, causing uproars as he was oft to do, and in general, showcasing his crazy antics, well he defused some of the tension in his own unique way.

Minato and Jiraiya were the emotional and physical backbone of Konoha's forces right now, and they both knew that ultimate responsibility fell upon them.

If they were to fall in battle tomorrow, Konoha would shatter. But when it came to these two, there was no one more reliable when the situation demanded it. They were made of stern stuff, and they were both the type to shine, rather than fold under pressure.

As the night continued, Minato and Jiraiya eventually found themselves alone, talking man to man, sensei to student.

Minato laughed sardonically.

"The prophecy was right. Sorry I didn't turn out the way you wanted me to, Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya, in a rare mood of seriousness, didn't immediately reply, and simply looked at the stars twinkling in the night sky for a few moments before speaking.

"The prophecy doesn't matter anymore."

Minato, in a rare moment on confusion, tilted his head.

"What do you mean?"

"The frogs, they summoned me back to Mount Myoboku several months ago.

The Great Toad Sage had to tell me that the prophecy changed.

He said for the first time, he couldn't see anything. Just a haze of gray.

He can't even see potential futures anymore. Too much in play. Too many possibilities."

"You know how the toad sage is, He's senile beyond his years even though he's still a thousand years old."

"No, he was lucid. I've known him since I was a boy, and he was as serious as he ever was."

"I'm sorry Sensei, I know how important the prophecy is to you."

"Don't be. If it was hopeless, the future wouldn't be in flux. We can still make a change.

And the first step is believing that we can."

Minato nodded his head in agreement, and a comfortable silence fell over the pair as their thoughts meandered and the night grew long.