Chapter 41- Opening Gambit

Koga, the commander of Kumogakure's black ops forces, sat at his desk within the headquarters and reviewed the most recent reports from the Land of Rice Fields.

It was early in the morning, and the sun had just started to peak over the nearby cliffs that surrounded his hometown. Quiet, dusty flurries of snow fell to the ground, nestling into cracks here and there, but it was not enough to blanket the ground.

Tonight, the world would be celebrating the New Year, and their plans in Shimogakure would begin.

Tomorrow, it would be Yugakure.

However, his on scene commanders would be handling those operations, and Koga could do nothing but wait patiently for the reports to come back to him in Kumo.

Success and failure were outside of his hands at this point. He had made the plans, he had trained his men, and he had promoted the best.

Everything was now on them, and it would only prove or disprove whether Koga had made the right choice of men assigned to the missions.

As he reviewed the reports from the Land of Rice Fields, a small smile threatened to break on out his lips.

It had gone perfectly.

The Land of Rice Fields was currently fragmented between Shinobi Clans, like a miniature version of the Warring States Period.

Koga was glad that it was this way. It had a whole host of benefits for any established village.

Constant fighting created a terrific training ground for his shinobi.

Constant fighting also created many orphans and disillusioned ninja, perfect for recruitment opportunities.

The only thing that Koga would regret about the situation as a whole was that it was just so quaint and petty.

There were no larger than life figures like Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

There were no myths or legends, only men.

Koga himself was born a few years after the establishment of the Hidden Village System, and his biggest regret was that he was not able to personally witness the Warring States Period.

Luckily, the Lightning Daimyo was more than happy to bring it back. Koga mused to himself, he must send the Daimyo a nice gift.

Something meaningful, maybe the personal tea leaves of the leader of Yugakure? They would certainly be delicious, and their previous owner would only add to the experience.

To drink the tea of a man you ordered the death of? To drink the tea from a village you ordered razed?

It must be sublime.

Koga leaned back in his chair for a few seconds more, and the hairs along his arms stood up and a shiver ran through his body as he imagined what it would feel like. His lips were parched and cracked, and he felt a deep and unquenchable thirst in the pit of his stomach.

But he was also a shinobi, and he quickly governed his faculties and turned his attention back to the reports from the Land of Rice Fields.

It really had gone perfectly.

The land was fragmented, and 5 families split the land between them.

Mai, Mugi, Kon, Yukka, Yamu.

Mai controlled the largest city; it couldn't really be called a capitol, the state was too fragmented for that.

That city was the major distribution center along the Great River, which transported food and goods along the northern border of the Land of Fire all the way down to the ruins of Uzushiogakure.

Hayatatsu, the intelligence chief, had once estimated that 35% of the continental food trade passes through this single city.

The other four families controlled the rest of the country, and they surrounded the Mai territories from the East, West, North, and South.

The Mai family was undoubtedly the strongest, controlling the vast majority of trade and reaping the profits, but the other clans controlled a great deal of the agricultural production, and by banding together, they could stop the Mai family from expanding.

The Mai family would try to play the 4 smaller neighbors off of each other, and it sometimes worked.

Thus an uneasy balance was reached in the Land of Rice Fields.

And Koga smile because he had just flipped the board.

He had 5 reports in front of him.

4 teams of 8 had been dispatched to the minor families, and a team of 16 had gone to the Mai territories.

The four teams sent to the minor territories had the same mission objective, destroy and disrupt food production by any means necessary.

The team dispatched towards Mugi had found the seed repositories and burned them to the ground. The Mugi would have nothing to plant come springtime. It was not the initial target of the infiltration, but it was good enough.

The teams dispatched to Yukka and Yamu completed the mission as assigned; they had snuck into the major cooperatives of the area and planted explosives on each and every piece of heavy machinery they found before poisoning any oxen they found.

The team that went to Kon however, went above and beyond their mission assignment. One of his best agents was in that team, someone who Kumo had almost fought a war over.

He was part of the Kamizuru Clan, and Kumo had stolen him when he was but a child.

After several years of programming and training, he was successfully integrated into the black ops teams.

Insects were an extremely esoteric ninja art, and while Konoha had the entire Aburame clan, Kumo only had this one agent.

This agent, codenamed Mushi, had essentially completed every single teams mission by himself.

All five teams were there to disrupt food production, and Mushi alone would have been enough.

He had found a grasshopper colony in hibernation. It was providential. The Sage himself must be helping their cause.

Mushi had written in his report that come springtime, the grasshoppers would emerge as normal, and there would be no adverse effects.

However, Mushi had gone ahead and altered the pheromones of the colony, and the colony was now primed into locusts.

The colony would devolve into a frenzy, and their pheromones would start to affect other grasshoppers, spreading and converting insects all throughout the region.

Mushi had created a locust plague.

Koga couldn't help but smile. Because after that, Mushi went ahead and he sent his insects to destroy the seed reserves of the Kon family while his team disabled their machinery.

It was total and complete victory.

The final team, in Mai City, had a somewhat different objective, but it was still within the scope of the overarching mission.

They were to disrupt food transportation and trade.

That team had infiltrated into the city and set alight to numerous granaries and shipyards, crippling trade and distribution of foodstuffs.

It was a complete success.

As Koga read the more detailed parts of each report, he started to get a better picture of the situation in the Land of Rice Fields.

No heavy machinery, limited oxen, trade crippled, granaries and food storages destroyed, and a coming wave of locusts.

Koga licked his parched lips and sighed. His eyes were twinkling.

The Land of Rice Fields could not avoid the upcoming famine. And when the famine came, the families would fight, clearing the way for Kumo and Lightning to engage Konoha and Fire.

It was a complete success.

Bee stood alone, a few feet away from camp. As he stared into the night sky, his gaze rested on the full moon.

The worst lightning condition a ninja could ask for when operating a night, but they didn't have a choice.

A biting wind blew across him, and he roused Gyuki's chakra and circulated it through him to keep himself warm in the frigid air of the Land of Frost.

The stars and moon did not evoke anything in him, and for the first time in a long time, there was not a single rap on his mind.

He simply didn't have the words to describe his feelings right now.

Gyuki reached out and touched his consciousness.

Are you truly okay with this Bee?

But Bee didn't have the words to answer.

The Third War had just ended, and here they were, starting another.

But Ay had made the decision, and Bee would follow.

Bee walked back into camp, and looked for his second in command. It was the first major mission Bee had ever been given as a team commander, and one of Ay's senior jonin was there to assist.

He found his second sitting in a ring with several other shinobi. Everyone was wearing a porcelain mask, something Kumo had picked up from Konoha. On missions like these, it was better to not reveal your identity.

Bee sat down to join his subordinates and waited a few more minutes in silence.

Two shinobi appeared silently and and one of them made a quick report.

"We just finished scouting the surrounding area. Our position is secure, and we are ready to brief."

Bee said nothing, but simply glanced at his second, who took over.

Bee's Second, Yoku, was a middle-aged man of thin stature. He had sandy hair and fair complexion, unusual for Kumogakure, and it eventually led to a long and illustrious infiltration career.

He was one of the most experienced jonin in Kumo's forces, and his presence, along with that of Bee and Gyuki were meant to ensure success.

Yoku surveyed the masks surrounding him before speaking.

"All of you know what our mission is, the subjugation of Shimogakure and the assassination of the Frost Daimyo.

We are going to move out in approximately one hour, and it is finally time for me to bring all of you into the loop on the most sensitive of the mission details.

Shimo forces are estimated as follows.

5 Jonin, 12 Chuunin, and 24 genin.

One of the jonin is loyal to us, and he will signal the start of the operation with a red, triple starburst pattern flare once he has disabled the village leader, Geto, who is their strongest jonin.

The jonin that is helping us goes by the name of Yukohama, he has a medium build, wears white and navy clothes, and his defining feature is a red forehead protector.

2 of the chuunin are sleeper agents along with 2 of the genin. Yukohama activated them last night, and when the flare goes off, they will do their best to aid us discreetly.

To identify them, throw a shuriken at their face, if they let it cut their right cheek, or if they already have a cut there, they're with us.

All five of our agents will be fighting against us in appearance. DO NOT KILL THEM.

They will be attacking their allies blind spots while their comrades are engaged with us.

If we use them correctly, the operation will go smoothly.

Yukohama is their second in command. He will assume command after Geto is incapacitated.

Agents 1, 2, 3, and 4. You will be disguising yourself as chuunin level missing nin, and you will make your presence known and abundantly clear.

I want you four to make it look like a group of missing nin are trying to rob the village.

You four are to separate once you're past the walls and start creating chaos and noise.

Agents 5, 6, 7, 8, you will follow agents 1, 2, 3, and 4 surreptitiously and assassinate those who follow them.

Bee and I will rendezvous with Yukohama in order to subdue the last three jonin. We expect the eight of you to eliminate all chuunin and genin in the village.

After Bee and I are done, we will assist. Yukohama will split from us and assassinate the Frost Daimyo and his family.

We will be leaving the 8 year old son of the Daimyo alive, and he be instituted as a puppet ruler.

Remember your orders. No shinobi are allowed to survive.

Does anyone have any questions?"

The masks that stared back at Yoku gave away nothing.

Yoku turned to Bee, to see if the young jinchuuriki had anything to say, but Bee simple remained silent and put his mask on.

Yoku put his own mask back on.

"Alright, get into your predetermined positions and wait for the flare."

And with that, the 10 ninja sitting in the clearing all disappeared without a noise or trace, leaving only virgin snow.

Geto sat in his office, working on some of the day's paperwork, when a knock rang out from his door.

"Enter."

Yukohama strolled in with an easy gait and flopped onto one of the visitor's chairs.

"Damn bro...

It's New Year's and the moon's already out

What are you still doing cooped up in here?

The village is celebrating, and they feel ill at ease doing so while you're still working."

Geto laughed but did not look up from his paperwork.

"Duty calls, Yukohama...

If I let myself get behind even a little bit, it will start to build up until its all consuming and unstoppable.

Do you remember when we were kids and we we built that snowman on top the mountain?"

Yukohama burst out laughing.

"How could I forget!

It fell over, and got as big as a cow by the time it rolled down the hill.

After it destroyed old man Ichiro's shed, your dad tanned our hides and made us rebuild it.

It took us like 4 weeks."

Geto smiled at the fond memories.

"My work is like that. If I leave some of it for tomorrow, then tomorrow I'll leave a bit more for the day after.

And before I know it, I'll be stuck behind this desk until I die, never seeing my wife or son.

I shiver at such a fate befalling me."

Yukohama chuckled.

"Your wife and son love you as much as you love them. They'd never let you rot where you sit."

Geto smiled and briefly looked up at his friend, and their grins matched each other.

He turned back to his work.

Yukohama sat there for a few minutes without saying much, and simply waited.

After another lengthy silence, Geto spoke.

"Five more minutes. This is the last one."

Yukohama, still alzily sprawled over one of the chairs grinned and pulleed something out his sleeve.

Moments later, two cups were on the edge of Geto's desk and a sealed bottle of sake next to them.

Yukohama sat back down and waited patiently.

When Geto finished the last document, signing his name with a flourish, he stood up and walked to the other side of the desk and grabbed the bottle of sake.

He inspected the proofmarks and whistled.

"This is a nice bottle, Yukohama, I thought Trader Maka stopped bringing it because he can't find any more."

"That's because this is from my personal reserve, I've been holding onto it for 2 years."

Geto laughed as he broke the seal and opened the bottle before pouring it into the two cups on his desk.

"No time like the present then."

Yukohama stood up as well, and the both of them grabbed a cup before toasting to each other and downing the drink.

The two friends downed their drinks in single gulps, draining every last drop from each cup.

In Yukohama's free hand, a senbon slipped from his sleeve, coming to rest in his waiting fingers.

A mere moment after Geto swallowed his sake, Yukohama's fingers flickered and the senbon lodged itself above Geto's Adam's Apple, penetrating his upper palate and brain as Geto's head was tilted back.

Geto collapsed in a heap.

Yukohama looked at the corpse with profound disinterest, all previous signs of good humor disappearing.

"Well that was anticlimactic.

Enjoy the sake, Geto."

Yukohama took a moment to gather himself, and then he leaped through the window with a crash, landing in the town square.

With a frazzled look and a shaky voice, he yelled out as loud as he could.

"Geto has been assassinated! Shinobi to me!"

And Yukohama fired the village's emergency flare into the air, where it exploded three times, casting three red stars into the night sky.

Several hours later, Bee sat in the former Head Jonin's, Geto's, office. The mission had gone spectacularly.

The two genin sleeper agents had died. One of the chuunin sleepers did too.

Of his troops from Kumo, only one was severely injured, and four others had minor injuries, but there were no fatalities.

All Shimo ninja were accounted for, and the only two survivors were Yukohama and the sleeper. They would be handled soon though. Ay didn't like to leave loose ends.

By all metrics, the mission was a resounding success.

Bee swallowed the bile back down as he signed his name on the mission report.

As the mission commander, he was attesting to the truth and validity of the report.

Shimogakure Forces destroyed in totality. Frost Daimyo is now Hokohoshi Agakare, the son of the former Daimyo.

The presence of rumored technology "Train" is confirmed and preserved in its entirety.

More to follow.

Bee looked at the report. It was a mere 33 words, and it didn't even begin to capture exactly what had happened here.

The worst part is that it didn't even matter.

His superiors would not ask him for the details. An unlucky genin might be sent to him to collect the report as Bee dictated mission occurrences.

But that scroll would be sealed into the records, and no one would look at it.

It was just another mission.

Bee looked at his hands.

He had washed his hands in the snowbanks just outside, but the sticky feeling just wouldn't go away.

He was a hero of the Third Great Shinobi War. He fought Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and Yellow Flash to a stalemate.

Be was called The Reaper of Jonin, The Destroyer of Iwa, The Scourge of Suna.

Bee was a hero.

The numb feeling in his hands started to come back. While he streamed lightning chakra through his sword, his hands would get numb.

He had spent such a large portion of his life with his swords active that at times like this, a phantom sensation would appear, and the ghost of a lightning blade would shift and crackle though his fingertips.

The fight he had with the Shimo Jonin was exhilarating. He had convinced Yoku and Yukohama to let him fight the remaining three jonin on his own.

It was a great battle, and for the first time today, he actually thought of a few lines he should add to his rap book.

Their blades clashed with clamor and acclaim, and the stage was set for a beautiful performance.

It was everything a hot-blooded shinobi could ask for.

After the battle, Bee went back to his men and helped them clean up the genin.

The lightning blade passed through them like they weren't there.

There was no resistance. He felt nothing as the blade bisected them.

Now that he was here, sending off the mission report. His hands wouldn't stop feeling something.

The sticky feeling of blood long since washed off in the pristine snowdrifts of the Land of Frost.

The phantom vibration of lightning chakra humming through his tenketsu.

Bee wished he felt nothing.

Four Kumo Shinobi sat in a makeshift camp in the Land of Hot Springs, about a dozen miles from Yugakure.

The oldest one among them was speaking with gravitas.

"You three are the shining stars of the upcoming generation.

That is why you were assigned this mission.

The village has faith in you, and it trusts you.

You are now here to return that faith and trust.

Do you have any questions?"

The three other ninja shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

One of them spoke up.

"Sensei, it's just...

Can we really trust these people?

We saw what they were doing at their church.

Why are we helping them?"

The older ninja betrayed nothing externally but was sighing on the inside.

"The mission is what the mission is.

It is not ours to question why."

He looked expectantly at his three students.

The replied in chorus.

"It is but ours to do and die."

A ghost of a smile hinted in his face.

They were good kids, but ultimately they were kids. The current mission was hard for him to stomach, and he had been in black ops during the previous war.

They would be able to pull through though. They were good kids.

But the things they had seen were beyond disgusting. Their first meeting had been at a neutral location, but their last meeting was at a local church site for the Cult of Jashin.

There were dozens of bodies strewn about, all mutilated and desecrated. Their viscera used to paint the walls. Their limbs used as brushes. Heads, empty of eyes and staring into nothing.

The worst part was a pit of bones to the side, all bleached white and clean. He tried not to think about how deep the pit was, but his earth sensing jutsu, which he used to maintain environmental awareness relayed the information to him crystal clear.

Too deep.

And some of the skeletons. Much too small.

He filed those thoughts away in the back of his head.

The next time he pulled them out, he would safe at home in Kumogakure and 6 bottles of sake deep. Surrounded by his friends and comrades. He'd be somewhere he could let his guard down. But not here. Not now.

The mission came first for now.

He looked at his students.

"Masks on, and let me do the talking.

Move out."

All four of them put blank porcelain masks on their faces and disappeared in a quiet poof of smoke.

A scant few minutes later, the four of them were meeting with the representative of the Cult of Jashin. The representative was stocky, had gray hair cut short, and was wearing a disarming smile on his face.

The sensei stepped forward and threw a scroll at the man. He tried to say his piece evenly, but the slight smirk on the other man's face told him that he failed to hide his derision and disgust.

"Here are the activation instructions for the sleeper agents.

Remember your part of the deal. You start to move in the morning, and we'll only enter the village in the evening.

Between your promised forces and the sleepers, we are expecting at least 75% casualty rates for Yugakure.

We will cover the southern entrance, while you will cover the north.

The Jashin Representative smiled and opened his arms magnanimously.

"Have I ever given you a reason to distrust me?"

The Kumo Sensei didn't answer, so the Jashin representative huffed, but still kept his easy smile on his face.

"Are you sure you don't want to come into the village earlier?

You'd be missing out on the lion's share of the fun?"

The kids were not naive, they knew what would happen, and one of them couldn't help but clench his fists. He said nothing though, keeping his faith in his sensei.

The sensei replied dryly.

"The plan is what the plan is.

We will not change it."

The man with gray hair grinned again, and this time rather than disarming and polite, it was inhuman.

"Oh well, more for us.

May you suffer greatly tomorrow and bring purity to the impure world."

The four Kumo shinobi left as soon as they had come.

They made their way back to camp in silence.

Sensei was the the only one to speak.

"Long day tomorrow. Get some rest, I'll take the night watch."