The Battle of the Ravine

Transporting civilians using my [Flying Thunder God] has gotten quite tedious. I know that they have only had a few hours to evacuate, but the citizens of Hoshigakure have all been panicking and packing their things in a hurry. I convinced Minato to allow me to bring Naruto with me as well as a few other Uzumaki chunin who know the Shadow Clone or Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu to help speed up the process, but things were still quite hectic in the beginning.

Once every twenty minutes, I send a group of villagers and their things, which are sealed in Storage Scrolls provided by the Uzumaki, to Konoha. There, Yamato is using his wood release [Serial Pillar Houses Technique] to create temporary shelters for the refugees. While the whole process was rather chaotic, after about two hours we figured out a system and everything began to run more smoothly.

Four hours after it began, the whole of Hoshigakure was successfully evacuated. Seeing the use of Yamato's wood release, the Uzumaki Shadow Clones, and my [Flying Thunder God] in coordination, Jiraiya commented on the possibility of creating an emergency evacuation unit using this method in the future.

While I was busy sending civilians away, Minato was busy sending Jonin to us through the seals I left in the Kandaihoshi's estate. At first, he only sent a few anbu specializing in tracking and delay tactics. They set off immediately after hearing the situation from the Hoshikage along with Hoshi anbu, but after an hour or so, he began sending regular combat troops.

Among the rapid reaction force are Fugaku Uchiha, Hizashi Hyuga, Kakashi Hatake, Jiraiya Ogata, Kai Uzumaki, Might Guy, and numerous other A and S ranked Konoha elites. I am 100% sure that Minato just wants to show off Konoha's might by sending these forces, or perhaps he wants to appear as though he did all he could if Hoshigakure falls, but either way, this much military power easily quadrupled Hoshi's fighting strength.

Although I don't know him since he didn't appear in canon, Kai Uzumaki is a famous Uzumaki Shinobi known as Kai of the Sealing Style due to his impressive talent with the Adamantite Sealing Chains and other Fuinjutsu. He is also a friend of Honoka's. Apparently, they were on the same team together when they were Genin, but I never met him since he was an anbu member. The only reason he isn't in his anbu gear right now is that Minato wants to show off. If it comes down to it, he can probably delay the 4-tails with a seal, tough completely sealing it would require him to extract it from Roshi first.

...

It has been roughly six hours since the evacuation began. All civilians and a few Hoshi Anbu who had been sent to Konoha to guard the Star have left and now the only remaining personnel is the fighters. I had sent back Naruto and the other Uzumaki chunin who were just here to help with the evacuation just in case.

I am now resting in a makeshift tent near the front to recover my chakra. I could just pop a senzu bean, but this is probably the last time I'll get a chance to rest for a few days, so I am looking through my things and Jiraiya and Kakashi have taken charge of the battlefront operations alongside the Hoshikage.

Haku is tapping her foot in the corner impatiently while Jugo paces back and forth muttering to himself. It is understandable since they are both scared out of their minds. I wish I could say that I wasn't nervous in the slightest, but in reality, if it wasn't for [Poker Face] I would probably be alongside Haku and Jugo worrying about the future. I am fine since even if I die, I will just return to Rob to reenter the reincarnation system again, but I still don't want to let my friends die with me.

As I finish preparing my things, a chunnin enters my team's tent. "Lord Jiraiya and the Hoshikage have called for your team immediately"

"Alright. Lead the way" I say as I get up and walk out. Haku and Jugo walk behind me. There is a thick layer of mist over the campsite. I can detect trace amounts of chakra in it, so I know it isn't natural. It is probably to disrupt any attempts at observation by the enemy, but it does give the whole atmosphere a gloomy and oppressive vibe, which doesn't help much.

As we make our way into the large white command tent at the center, Honoka jogs up to us and silently joins the team. She pushes open the tent's flap and allows us to pile in while the chunin waits outside.

"It is good to see you here, Team 6. I am glad that it was you who were sent here, as any other team wouldn't have been able to so quickly and efficiently evacuate so many civilians. Your contributions, especially your's Haruka-kun, have made our jobs very easy" Jiraiya says.

"Thank you, Lord Jiraiya" Honoka and I say at the same time.

"Honoka-san. I know that your team was labeled as special by Lord Fourth, but this upcoming battle is likely to become extremely chaotic with the poisonous gas of the ravine and the thick forests nearby providing even more difficulty. Your team doesn't have any combat experience under its belt, so no one would blame you if you want to pull out now" He says.

"Thank you, Lord Jiraiya, but I insist that we remain. While my team is inexperienced, each of them should be just as capable as any chunin or in Haruka-kun's case, Jonin in terms of combat ability. It will also not do to have them sit this out, as this is likely to be the first battle of another war, and they will need as much experience as they can get."

"Hmm. Very well, but I want your squad to go with Fugaku's platoon."

"Yes Sir!" Honoka said with a bow. Jiraiya turned to Hizashi before giving his commands.

"There are only two viable crossing points between the Land of Earth and the Land of Bears where the Ravine is short enough for the average Shinobi to jump across, so I will be splitting our forces into three. Hizashi will lead the force in the North section and Fugaku will lead the Southern section. Kakashi, Kai, Lord Hoshikage, and I will be stationed at a median distance between the two forces but further in the rear with the main fighting force of Hoshi. It is their land, so they are likely to break formation and go to where the fighting is most intense to protect their homes, so we will use their zeal to our advantage in the main force.

I will give both of your platoons these colored flares. If either of you encounters the Jinchuriki, you are to fire the red flare. If you encounter the Tsuchikage's son, you are to fire the green flare. If either of you is unfortunate enough to encounter both, you are to fire the yellow flare. The blue flare will be used if you don't encounter any enemy or if the enemy doesn't contain anyone you deem as an S-ranked threat. We will only send a small number of reinforcements if you use the blue flair, so be absolutely sure before firing them off." Jiraiya warned as one of the chunnin began passing out colored flares to the Jonin squad leaders.

"Remember to station yourselves on our side of the ravine and ambush any shinobi who cross the border. Unfortunately, it isn't an illegal entry into the Land of Bears unless they cross the ravine, so you must wait until they are on our side to engage. You all will be the first line of defense, so you must try to widdle down as many chunin and low-level jonin as you can while buying time for the main force to arrive.

Fugaku. If what Honoka said about Haruka-kun is true, you can use his Byakugan to scout ahead for enemies, while Hizashi does the same thing in the north. This early warning will be crucial to the operation's success."

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya"

"Once you all have gathered your squadrons, you must leave immediately. It is unlikely Iwa will wait for long, it is already late into the afternoon. Dismissed!"

...

It was roughly 5 PM when the first Iwa ninja came into my view. Fugaku had me using the Byakugan once every three minutes for thirty second intervals to check for enemy movement. Apparently, this tactic was created by Uchiha during the Third War when in the Land of Water to peer through the thick mist of the country. Thee Minutes is just enough time for the chakra used by the activation of the Sharingan to replenish itself if used for thirty seconds. While not quite applicable to the Byakugan since it drains more chakra than the Sharingan when looking over vast distances, it still kept my chakra pool at nearly topped off, so it was a good method for the future.

Anyway, I was able to see roughly three hundred shinobi coming our way but I didn't see Roshi or Kitsuchi coming our way, so I informed Fugaku.

"Lord Fugaku, it appears as roughly three hundred Iwa Shinobi are making their way through the forest towards this location. If they keep this pace, they will arrive in roughly two minutes"

"Did you spot the Jinchuriki or the Tsuchkage's son?"

"No sir"

"Hm... They may be acting as reinforcements and will come if this group encounters difficulties. When we engage, you are to fall back and keep an eye out"

"Yes sir"

As we broke our conversation Fugaku gave the signal to all of the Squadron leaders to prepare for combat and we went into silent mode, having to use hand signs for communications. I ran back towards my squad and gave the 'Cover Me' and "Move Back' gestures to inform them to update them with our orders.

After another minute, a dozen or so Iwa shinobi emerged from the treeline and jumped across the ravine. A second later, two dozen more began to jump.

The moment the first group landed, a sealing array Honoka had created on our side of the ravine went off and ignited several dozen paper bombs.

*BOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!*

The Iwa shinobi who were still in the air were pelted with shuriken and kunai from the forest. Fugaku had instructed us to only use basic ninja tools for as long as possible to maintain the illusion that only Hoshi shinobi were present since if they knew Konoha was nearby, they would likely call off the attack.

around two dozen more Iwa Shinobi made their way to their side of the ravine, but they all used [Earth Release: Practice Brick Technique] to provide cover while they begin throwing paper bombs towards the treeline on the other side.

Explosions begin to pelt both sides as paper bombs and shuriken are tossed. Thankfully, no one on our side gets hit, since the enemy can't see us. Unfortunately, the Iwa Shinobi still outnumber us ten-to-one, so we must conserve our strength.

I check again and see multiple new, more powerful chakra signatures making their way towards us. They aren't Kitsuchi or Roshi, but their chakra nature is different, seemingly unstable and explosive.

I make the Hand signs towards Fugaku with the signs for 'explosion' and 'reinforcements' before he nods. The real battle is about to begin.

I hear a yell from the other side of the rain as an earthquake rattles our position. Large slabs of earth begin being lifted upwards and tossed towards us at high speeds while the Iwa shinobi use other earth jutsu to create makeshift bridges over the gap.

As our ninja begin to scramble and engage the Iwa shinobi, I catch a shuriken aimed towards Haku's head between my fingers. She was stunned by the suddenness of the battle and how many people just died in front of her and wasn't being completely aware of her surroundings. This shocked both her and Jugo as Honoka ran forward and engaged a group of ninja who penetrated our lines. They snapped out of it as they began weaving hand signs.

Jugo immediately melted into his environment while launching earth spikes into Iwa ninja who crossed the ravine, while Haku created a large Ice Mirror and stepped inside of it. From there, she began to shoot [Water Bullet Jutsu] from it, making sure to chill the water with ice release so that when it hit the enemy, they would get frostbite and ice would form where they were struck, making them slow down considerably and rapidly become drained of strength if the initial shot didn't kill them or knock them unconscious.

I was firing [Finger Pistols] at anyone who survived Haku's assault, making sure to pierce their necks or other vital areas. During a quick lull in the combat, I checked once again and saw something I really didn't want to see. A huge feral and molten chakra was charging straight for our location. Thankfully, he only had a few jonin with him, so Kitsuchi was probably at the other front and this is likely to be the last wave of enemies.

I run to Fugaku's side as he cooks ten men alive with his [Great Fireball Jutsu]. "Lord Fugaku, the Jinchuriki is headed this way. I didn't see anyone else with him, so it seems the Tsuchikage's son was at a different front." I say as I decapitate another Iwa Nin with a bone blade. These shinobi are only chunnin, so it is relatively easy to deal with them with good timing and a calm mind.

"Hm! Take this and run to the clearing behind us. It's about 100 meters and you'll be exposed, but it is the only place to fire off the flare without it hitting the canopy!" He says while performing a shuriken jutsu. He is able to strike three targets all hiding behind the cover of trees with three shuriken. This guy's ability is no joke.

I nod before turning around and racing towards the clearing. After a moment, I arrive there. Haku is with me as a guard while Jugo is still underground somewhere. I pull the string and a red stream of smoke trails into the sky before popping.

Before turning around to race back, I immediately sense the surroundings becoming hotter. I look up to see a rain of molten rock falling from the sky in the surrounding area.

"[Ice Release: Tandem Crystal Ice Shield]" Haku shouts as dozens of Ice Mirrors appear to protect our platoon. As the magma meets the ice, a loud hissing sound comes from them as they melt. The two techniques cancel each other out, though there are now slightly warm rocks falling from the sky, forcing us to take cover.

Haku and I race back towards the battlefield. I flying jump kick a chunin into a join before throwing an [Exploding Bone Spear] at him. When the spear connects, dozens of Boney spikes emerge from his back and impale the surrounding enemies.

Just as the battle picks up in intensity, an explosion of intense, burning hot chakra uproots the trees on either side of the ravine as dozens of shinobi, from both sides, are thrown around. In the epicenter of the explosion is Roshi in his three-tailed version-two-tailed-beast mode, covered in lave. He growls sinisterly as he stares down Fugaku, who is surrounded by a golden yellow Susanoo ribcage. Fugaku is slightly burned and holding one hand over his eye. I can sense he is trying to suppress the Tailed-Beast Chakra with his Mangekyou, but it is too much for a non-eternal to manage.

"Jugo!" I call out.

He appears next to me in under a second.

"I need you to suck up that thing into the earth really quickly. I don't care if he can escape, I just need you to tie him up for one second."

'Got it, boss!" Jugo says as he sinks back into the ground.

"Haku, When Jugo sucks him up, I need you to go into your [Crystal Ice Palace]. Bombard him with water and ice style jutsu to cool him off." I give her the command. She nods before saving hand signs at a rapid pace.

Honoka draws near very quickly. "Haruka-kun, what's your plan?"

"If we can keep him cool, then I think Fugaku-san might be able to get close enough to suppress his chakra!"

"Alright! I'll help out!" Honoka says as she conjures Adamantite Sealing Chains from her back. I run around to Fugaku's side and he takes note of me. Unfortunately, so does Roshi.

"Lord Fugaku! Eat this!" I say as I throw a senzu bean at him. He catches it just in time as I am suddenly thrown several dozen meters into the air by the force of one of Roshi's screams.

I begin coughing up spit, but thankfully, I'm not bleeding, just winded. If this was Naruto's 9-Tails he used to fight Orochimaru with, I would probably be on the verge of death, but the 4-Tails is significantly weaker and is down by one tail, so I am just winded.

Before Roshi can follow up with his attack, he is suddenly grabbed from below and pulled into the ground. His forearms and legs have sunk down, but his torso and head are still exposed.

Golden Chains erupt from all sides and begin to bind and suppress his chakra while a large array of Ice Mirrors surrounds the crater he is in.

"""[Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu], [Ice Style: Ice Dragon Jutsu]""" The many forms of Haku call out as the immobile jinchuriki is pelted with jutsu from multiple angles.

"RRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Roshi screams as he is quickly cooled from his blazing hot state.

Fugaku quickly ruses forwards and opens his eye to its fullest extent, revealing his Mangekyou to the world "[Ameno Iwayato]!" He yelled as golden flames engulf Roshi.

I land into a roll and look up to see golden flames engulf Roshi. The flames don't seem to do any damage, but with my Byakugan, I can see that they seem to be sealing his Tailed Beast chakra since it is rapidly reducing in temperature and intensity.

"Aaarrggghhhhh!" He cries. Between being pelted by various ninjutsu which he is elementally weak to and having his chakra being forcefully suppressed from two separate sources, Roshi couldn't keep going for very long before falling unconscious.

I look around to see that all of the Iwa shinobi have either fallen dead or have begun to retreat. None of them seem too concerned about Roshi, but I assume that it is due to their prejudice against Jinchuriki and not because they hate him personally.

As I begin to get up, I see a hand come down and offer assistance. It is Kakashi.

"Nice plan kid. You ok? You took quite the hit?"

"Yeah, I was just winded," I say as I take his hand.

That's good to hear, well not that you got winded, but the fact that you're alright." Kakashi says as he realizes his mistake. Like a true man, instead of acknowledging his mistake, he completely decides to change the subject. "Anyway, looks like you scored a massive win for Konoha today. It isn't every day one captures a jinchuriki so easily" he said as he looked over at the unconscious Jinchuriki being sealed by Kai.

"While that's all well and good, we only won because Iwa wasn't expecting us. We came into this fight with full intel on their offensive strength while they believed they were simply raiding a minor village, so they didn't commit too many elites. I expect the next few battles to be much more difficult" Jiraiya added as he looked at me.

I nodded to him before he smiled and walked past me to check on Fugaku.

"Haruka-sama!" Haku yelled as she ran up to me and dove into a hug which nearly knocked me over. Jugo and Honoka also arrived after a moment but stood back and watched Haku embrace me.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" She said as she buried her head into my chest. I stood there comforting her as Kakashi and Honoka looked on, smiling softly.