Chapter 52

Yo!

I've posted this on Webnovel as well...

So it's not stolen...

Thanks for sticking up for me though!

Much appreciated.

Also pat-reon is up.

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I idly hummed as I walked the perimeter of the camp, Byakugan active.

Things in Frost were ok, we held our ground and made it difficult for Kumo to get supplies into Lightning Country.

That made them pissed and now we had to worry about a potential Raikage attack.

Things in Grass were a shitshow, not much had changed.

There were constant large battles and we were losing a good part of them.

Noodles was doing alright but anyone who stood out was immediately assassinated.

Kiri loved assassinations...

The battles in River Country were pushed into Wind Country where we blocked Suna from importing water from River Country.

Sadly, Suna didn't like that and were now fucking us up.

Who thought it was a good idea to fight Suna in Wind Country?

I sighed as I thought about the state of things.

According to my rough timeline, we had about a year more of war.

Things weren't looking too good for Konoha.

We were besieged on almost every side and we would soon run out of civilian ninja to throw into the meatgrinder.

So, soon the clans would be forced to commit more of their ninja...

And once those ran out, they'd send in the academy students...

It wasn't looking good at the moment...

But Konoha still had Kushina, Jiraiya, and Tsunade to toss around...

Not to mention the Hokage and Danzo...

All people who should probably be participating in the war...

I sighed and kicked a branch covered in frost into the woods.

Besieged and with a good part of our heavy hitters doing fuck all, things were looking slightly grim.

For the average ninja at least.

I turned my vision telescopic and gave the area a brief sweep before deactivating my Byakugan.

Jiraiya was in Grass according to Orochimaru, so there was a good chance Minato would be free should we have a Raikage problem...

I turned and started making my way into the camp.

I looked at the sky and mentally thanked Iwa for angering the Raikage and keeping him and the Two-Tails Jinjuriki busy.

If he wasn't so busy he would probably be demolishing our camp right now...

...

I laid in my bed and stared at the ceiling of my room with thoughts of the Tenseigan swirling around in my mind.

Madara took years to awaken his Rinnegan and he already had all stages of his Sharingan unlocked...

I think it's because it took a long time for his two chakras to combine and become Six-Paths chakra...

But the moon Ōtsutsuki got it within a few days...

So, the moon-men had the chakra but lacked the eye...

I had the eye but lacked the chakra...

Sadly, the Tenseigan was dependent on the Ōtsutsuki's chakra then...

If I remember correctly after the eyes were returned, they were no longer the Tenseigan...

Meaning if I wanted the Tenseigan I had to be able to produce the chakra that the moon Ōtsutsuki produced.

So, I somehow needed to produce their physical energy and spiritual energy...

Physical energy was easy...

There were many ways I could do that...

Spiritual energy was my main problem...

And it wasn't an easy problem...

But then again, I wasn't sure...

The physical energy from the moon Ōtsutsuki might be the only thing I require...

It depends on what end of the spectrum the Ōtsutsuki's bloodline is on...

Physical or spiritual...

Sigh...

This was annoying...

I couldn't keep the Tenseigan out of my head, it was my next big goal.

Sadly, I likely wouldn't see any progress for a long time...

...

I watched with slight annoyance as the skin on my hand regrew after another failed attempt at replicating A's chakra cloak.

The cloak was just lightning chakra, there was little actual electricity needed...

So why the fuck did it keep burning my skin off?

With my Bone Armor or Dermal Armor, I could use the cloak pretty well, but I was trying to do so without the Shikotsumyaku.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

A and the Raikage used the cloak plus some sort of Shunshin...

And that was my current goal.

Or perhaps I should call it my current dream...

Because a lightning cloak seemed to be something, I could only achieve in my dreams...

I released both a mental groan and a groan in real life.

Why was Nature Transformation so annoying...?

...

Orochimaru and I both cracked a smile while reading the latest report.

Kiri had sailed across the Kaizoku sea and set up a camp on a small chain of islands near Lightning Country.

They had been raiding villages and assassinating nobles since then.

The Two-Tails Jinjuriki was tasked with dealing with Kiri while the Raikage dealt with Iwa.

Said Jinjuriki was only fourteen at the moment and was very likely to die, so Kumo's second Jinjuriki was bouncing between Frost and the area around Kiri's camp protecting her.

So, we likely wouldn't see many more attacks.

That's what had Orochimaru smiling, he could devote more time to his experiments.

I was smiling for a different reason, with the Raikage alone, Iwa was pretty likely to get him.

He was my main worry and with him out of the scene, I could run around and raise havoc to my little heart's content.

The battles around Frost would likely slow a bit, and that was something to look forward to.

...

Aomi met me with a flurry of slashes, each was precise and without wasted movement.

Every strike was made with the intent of uncovering a weakness, little by little she'd find the weakness in an opponent's style and then exploit it.

I let her lead the fight, and I carefully watched, taking note of what she did so in the future I could do so myself.

Should I ever desire to have a fight that lasted longer than a few strikes at least...

I hummed and blocked a horizontal slash from Aomi.

She was certainly more skilled than me in Kenjutsu.

Sadly, I was faster than her and could slow my perception.

I stepped it up a notch and used the tip of my sword to smack Aomi's sword down and away from her and went for a beheading slash.

Aomi used a kunai to block my strike and tried to disembowel me with her sword.

I Shunshined behind her and tapped her on the back of the head with my sword.

"If you don't find a way to overcome the Shunshin I'm going to keep winning..."

Aomi outdid me skill-wise, but when I made my bones hollow, enhanced my arms with the Shunshin, and slowed my perception skill didn't matter.

When I wasn't cheating with Ninjutsu, Aomi's enhanced muscles and newly enhanced reflexes made her a worthwhile fight...

I retracted my sword and Aomi shrugged and collapsed onto the ground.

She stared at the sky and yawned.

Yawn*

I walked a distance away, sat against a tree, and stifled my own yawn.

I ran my chakra through my bones, felt myself become notably heavier, and smothered a second yawn.

Changes to my bone's density seemed to be the most chakra expensive...

I imagine it's because calcium needs to somehow be created...

I certainly didn't get it from my food...

Nor did my body seem to store it anywhere...

Yawn*

I yawned this time failing to smother it.

Late-night missions were the worst...

...

"What's the problem?" I narrowed my eyes and stared at the Inuzuka duo who had sought me out.

Half of the problems in the camp were caused by the Inuzuka, so I had little patience when dealing with the lot.

"Ummm..." He shifted from side to side. "One of the squads disappeared..." He trailed off at the end.

I sighed loudly and the two shank into themselves.

"Why aren't you telling Orochimaru?"

I watched them fidget for a moment and waved at them to hurry it up.

"Ummm..." His friend gave him an encouraging shoulder pat. "Orochimaru-Sama is not here."

I sighed and shooed them out of the room.

"Come Aomi..." Aomi gave me a firm nod in reply.

I activated my Byakugan and followed the idiot duo out the door with Aomi trailing behind me.

...

After looking through the camp for a few minutes I saw that Orochimaru really was no-where to be seen.

I sighed loudly as the idiot duo nervously bumbled about and told me about the team that disappeared.

Apparently, a whole squad went missing-nin...

Or at least that's what the idiot duo thought...

It was more likely that Orochimaru needed their assistance and disappeared with them...

"Alright... Thanks for the report, your dismissed..." I shoed them away with my hand and started towards mom's usual hang-out.

I've not yet met an Inuzuka I've liked...

And, likely, I never will...

"Since I'm out of my lair, let's go see how moms doing." I eyed Aomi as I spoke.

I got a nod and a thumbs up in reply.

I sent my own thumbs up and continued on my way.

I might as well get all of my socializing out of the way...

...

After completing my bi-monthly socializing and then sleeping for fourteen hours afterward, I was in Orochimaru's office doing the last four days paperwork that Orochimaru had elected to put off, and reading some orders from the Hokage.

The Hokage wanted us to do as we were doing and keep occupying our small slice of Frost.

Which was expected...

The Hokage was passive and didn't attack unless provoked.

Sadly, this mindset translated into his orders and we weren't really allowed to attack unless we were attacked first.

It was a major hindrance.

But if one wanted the Hokage's favor, then they shouldn't attack unless provoked...

Orochimaru luckily didn't care for the Hokage's favor too much and bulldozed his way into frost and set up a camp before Kumo had time to respond.

And now we were entrenched in an ideal spot and could stop Kumo from approaching The Land Of Fire.

The fact that our presence stopped a lot of trade traveling into Kumo was also a plus...

If we had to fight within our border there would be massive collateral damage, but luckily fighting within our borders was minimal.

Instead, we were fighting in someone else's borders...

The first and second war likely taught the Five Great Nations that warring in your own territory was a bad decision.

Especially when a stray fireball could devastate your crops and forests...

Suna was probably the only nation that didn't have to worry about that though...

It was all sand there...

I sighed and dipped the tip of my brush into the inkpot.

I had to send a message to the Hokage confirming I got his useless message, then I needed to go through the leave of absence forms and requests for time off.

With me behind the desk, it was likely everyone who applied would be able to leave...

There wasn't anyone that needed to stay, cannon fodder were cannon fodder.

Having a hundred less wouldn't matter in the long run...

I wiped the brush on the rim of the pot getting rid of the excess ink in the process.

Hopefully, this would only take an hour or so...

"..."

I eyed the pile of papers on my desk and felt less optimistic.

Konoha sure knows how slow everything the fuck down with paperwork...

...

Orochimaru returned two days later and barged into the command center with a wide smile on his face.

I stood up from the desk and moved aside so he could claim my seat.

He did so and smiled to himself while picking through the documents.

I watched him pick through the documents for a few moments while wondering if I should ask him about his whereabouts.

It was likely that he would tell me and I didn't want to risk annoying him so I stayed quiet and leaned against a wall behind him.

Orochimaru browsed the papers on his desk for a few more moments before he spoke.

"Everything is in order..." Orochimaru's smile further stretched across his face.

I fought a sigh.

Why was he being creepy?

"Of course." I kept my tone even and my face blank.

It wouldn't do for me to show my distaste.

"I've taken the liberty of destroying two of Kumo's camps." Orochimaru sounded proud of that...

Even though the camps were likely filled with fodder.

"Well done Sensei." Was all I said instead.

Orochimaru likely took a chance and attacked the camps by himself because A and B were occupied elsewhere.

It was something that would piss off the Raikage...

The risk of a Raikage Rampage just rose dramatically...

"What's the plan now Sensei? Kumo is likely to retaliate." Retaliate was putting it lightly...

There was a good chance that they would gather their S-Ranks and wreck us...

"I've requested reinforcements, next we're going to destroy their camps on the border and bring the fight into Lightning Country." Orochimaru paused and started laughing. "Kekeke..."

I withheld a grimace.

I had forgotten how creepy that was.

"Alrighty, I'll take my leave." I sent Orochimaru a bow and made my way out of the command center.

Hopefully, we got another S-Rank ninja, more cannon fodder wouldn't help us.

...

Or reinforcements arrived in the form of Minato and a thousand ninja of various rank.

With a thousand ninja making their way from Grass to Frost there was no way Kumo didn't know what was up.

The door swung open with a creak interrupting my thoughts.

Orochimaru stalked through my lab and handed me a sealed scroll and stalked away, likely eager to continue his experiments involving sleep.

I gave the scroll a quick read and heaved a heavy sigh.

The Hokage was ordering me to go to Kiri.

As fun as that sounded, I wasn't interested.

But orders were orders...

And sadly, I couldn't refuse.

Replacing me with Minato...

Fuck this was annoying...

...

Goodbyes were said.

Bags were packed.

My minion Aomi was given instructions on how to manage my lab.

And Orochimaru cursed the Hokage for taking his number one minion.

Everything I needed to do was done.

Now it was just a day of travel.

I'd have a nice change of scenery and some warmer weather to look forward to.

And potentially finding the Akatsuki's shark dude was a plus.

He was called the tailless tailed beast after all.

I could use some of his DNA...

I cracked my knuckles and rolled my shoulders.

It was time to go...

...

From what I understood the situation in Noodles was alright

The force there was mainly comprised of clansmen.

Under the lead of Fugaku Uchiha, things in Noodles were going well.

They won some and lost some, nobody stood out aside from Fugaku.

Anyone who did was almost immediately assassinated...

There were less large-scale battles and more small skirmishes and assassinations.

So, according to the scroll I had gotten I was supposed to team up with Fugaku and push Kiri out of Noodles and back to where they came.

I sighed and adjusted my course so I could avoid a Konoha Scout team.

I didn't feel like being stopped and questioned.

Nor did I feel like fighting in the open fields of Noodle Country...

I haven't been enjoying the war for a while now...

I held in my sigh and continued on my way to Noodles, I should arrive in a day or so...

...

After sneaking past the camp's scouts, I made my way directly to Fugaku who welcomed me with a raised eyebrow.

"Hyuga-san it's been a long time." He nodded at me.

I nodded back and gave a lazy wave.

"Yo." I stole a chair from a group of chairs that were stacked against a wall and claimed a seat in a corner.

I leaned back lazily and yawned loudly.

"Yawn* How goes it?" I rubbed at my eyes a bit feeling a tad bit sleepy.

Fugaku didn't look impressed at my lack of manners and crossed his arms and looked at me with slight contempt.

"Mist has been avoiding direct battles so I called for reinforcements so we could bring the battle to them." Fugaku spoke in a bland tone.

I hummed...

Most of the Seven-Swordsmen were sighted in Lightning Country so Fugaku likely thought it was an ideal time to try and push Kiri out of Noodles...

They currently had their Jinjuriki lurking somewhere and that was what we had to worry about.

"When do you plan on attacking?" I stifled another yawn.

I watched Fugaku stifle his own yawn with slight amusement.

"Tomorrow evening." He spoke with a clipped tone.

I hummed for a long moment.

"Alright, I'll see you then..." I gave him a sloppy wave and Shunshined towards the edge of the camp before he could say anything.

There were other clan heads and clan heirs here lurking around the camp, I didn't want to endure idle chatter from them...

...

"Sigh..." I sighed heavily.

Kiri had quite the setup.

Instead of a few large camps, they had many smaller ones dotting almost the entirety of Noodle Country.

Some were underground, some were set-up in villages that had been taken over and some were in what little forested area Noodles had.

Kumo and Konoha opted for two or three large bases and ran things from there.

Kiri seemed to have taken a different approach and dotted the entire landscape with bases.

I imagine it would be easy to wipe out these small bases, I don't know why Fugaku was having such a problem clearing them.

Especially with plenty of Hyuga and Uchiha...

It didn't quite make sense...

I changed my vision to telescopic and gave my surroundings a thorough scan.

The bases held about four squads of ninja each and so far, I'd seen about twenty bases...

I was about halfway into noodles and was hesitant to travel too deep.

My chakra usage was undiscovered, but I likely wouldn't continue to have such luck for long.

They probably had a competent sensor in one of these camps...

And I didn't need to get swarmed...

Especially with no possible back-up...

I held back a yawn.

As much as I would like to know where all the camps were, a little surprise was good sometimes...

That and I didn't want to delay my beauty sleep any longer...

So now I needed to steal someone's house for the day...

Sigh...

And depending on what time I woke up, I might be able to set-up some explosive tags in a few of the camps...

If I destroyed their important infostructure ahead of time it would make the coming battle easier...

Plan of action decided I let my Byakugan return to its normal vision and started making my way towards Konoha controlled territory.

I had a bed to commandeer...

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