Itsuki Kaguya, Hidden Cloud Village
Each beat of my heart roared like thunder in my eardrums as I frantically activated the ram seal, pushing away with a Body Flicker. I had faced stronger opponents than myself before, many times in fact, but this was ridiculous.
Ending the Jutsu, I spun back around. With some distance gained I hoped to have time to search for an opening to shift the flow of the fight, but my eyes widened upon seeing a massive bicep inches away from my throat.
"Lariat!"
Unable to raise my arms in time, I jumped, aiming to take the impact on my chest, whilst pumping out Earth Chakra into my bones to lessen the damage. I grunted as I felt them crack.
I had a multi-layered armour of dense bone directly underneath my skin, and the Kage had managed to break through the first two layers.
As I flew back, the Raikage continued to give me no time to breathe as I saw him begin to weave hand-signs.
Whilst Ay showed very few Jutsus in the show, that in no way meant they were the only ones in his arsenal. The Lightning Chakra Mode is one of the greatest feats one could achieve with the element, and Ay had taken the Jutsu to heights never before seen in the elemental nations. He had even managed to create the very pinnacle of lightning release with Black Lightning.
The man was a genius, a prodigy like none before him. What Tobirama Senju was to water, Raikage Ay was to lightning.
But lightning was not his only element.
"Fire Release: Dragon Breath!"
Having made hand-seals of my own whilst airborne, I flipped back towards the ground and slammed my hands down.
"Earth Release: Earth Dome!" A mound of earth shot up, heeding to my call and enclosing me within as the stream of fire scorched its walls, trying to breach inside. While I was confident in the strength of my B-Rank technique, I couldn't be sure that it would hold out against what the Raikage sent out, so I wouldn't be taking any chances.
'Fuck this, I'm sick of being ragdolled! Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole!' Slipping underground, I made my way towards him.
I rose near the surface as I neared him and spread my arms wide, pushing out a blanket of bone in every direction. It became a small platform directly beneath the ground roughly 20 metres in diameter.
Funny thing about my bloodline, after I figured out how to reabsorb my bones back into myself, I realized that the same method could be used to sink myself into my bones. Which led to one of my newest creations: The Bone Zone.
But making one this size took about 20% of my reserves.
Reaching up and touching the structure, I absorbed myself within it completely. It was a very odd feeling; my consciousness had spread throughout the entire area. I had no eyes, brain or any other internal organs, I had become one with the bone.
Whilst in contact with it, I gained a kind of sixth sense, the feeling of every vibration that comes into contact with the bone platform, allowing me to visualize what was happening above ground. If my body was whole going in, remerging from the zone thankfully only cost roughly 5% of my Chakra reserves, but staying inside for long cost significantly more.
Sensing where the Raikage was, I sent a massive bone spike as tall as he was up from under his feet. Knowing he would jump away, another smaller spike protruded from the side of the first, following him in midair.
The evasive angling of his body made him land slightly off balance. Which was when I surged from the ground, seeing his surprise as I slashed diagonally upwards with an arm covered in bone that he managed to lean away from, but I had found my momentum.
I continued the motion, discreetly bringing up my other hand to fire off some bone bullets from close range while twirling around, enhancing my arm with Earth Chakra at the peak of its arc before bringing it back down.
Stabbing forward with my left arm, carrying onwards by sprouting spikes across my shoulders and the backs of my arms as I spun, slamming into him with a bone-sharp spinning backfist and heel kick from my right limbs simultaneously. He managed to evade them, but I didn't let up.
This continued for some time. I was a wrecking ball of destruction, raining down blow after blow on the Kage, each strike precisely infused with Earth Nature at the perfect moments to maximise the speed and damage.
There was no wasted motion, no stopping to readjust my positioning as I covered any openings by poking out bones across my form to continue the attack. Any part of my body could become a weapon, and all the Raikage could do was sidestep away from the onslaught.
After sweeping low at his legs, I flipped myself into a handstand and was about to kick backwards into the Kage's chest, but I saw that he had taken the bait as he tried to grab my leg. Our height difference was to my advantage as it gave me ample time to react and sink elbows deep into the bones below, under his swinging arm.
At the same time, I continued on with my kick and was millimetres away from scratching his stomach before he went to bat my legs away and take a step back. But he failed to realize: he was still in my domain.
As his foot neared the ground, another spike emerged, this time infused with Earth release, pressuring him from behind while I overwhelmed his front firing off bone bullets from my toes from point blank, meeting his eyes with savage glee.
When his sandals grazed the jutted-out bone, he showed off his godly reactions by returning my smirk with one of his own as a crackling noise filled the air.
It was only an instant, less than that actually, a flash at a speed I struggled to follow. But in that time when Ay used a primitive version of his signature technique, he had managed to stomp not just through the spike, but also a large part of the bone platform underneath and swipe away the bone bullets, all before deactivating the Jutsu.
The guy could've just Body Flickered away or something, but no, apparently, he needed kids to think he was cool.
The look of amazement I had on my face was because of what I was doing, not him.
"Not bad, young shinobi! Not bad at all!" A more focused look reached the Kage's eyes after that, "but let's see if you can keep it going."
His hand shot forwards faster this time. I tried to sink back into my Bone Zone in time but only managed to get halfway before Ay grabbed onto my left leg and yanked, ripping it clean off at the knee.
"Hrgh," I slipped myself fully into my bone platform, my leg already beginning to reform.
'Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm. He clearly just wants to test you're healing mid battle.' I wasn't really one to get angry at things, but I probably would be once I jumped back out.
Because what the hell? It's a spar. And the guy, my village leader, just ripped off my leg. Healing or not, that still hurt. It was like punching someone in the nuts. No sportsmanship.
But here in the Bone Zone, my mind was at peace. I had no body, no brain, I was only bone.
I had tried this before, being injured before absorbing myself like this. When I get out, my body will reform exactly how it was when I came in, and then it will start to heal itself.
I needed to mentally prepare for the adrenaline rush, because it would do no help to my surely soon to be heated temper.
'Your mind is like bone. Still, strong and unbreakable. A bone has no need for anger.' I felt myself getting ready, '...okay.'
I re-emerged directly behind him as I began to heal, 'well if we're tearing off body parts, then I'll take his fucking head!'
…
A few days later, I found myself wandering Kumo's streets in search of their weapon stores, with a filled-up duffel bag slung over my shoulder. I had never actually been to one myself before, but I was in need of stocking up.
The Raikage didn't seem happy per say, almost reluctant to let me join the war, but there was little reasoning he could give to force me to stay. I had backed up whatever reports Blue B had given him and proven myself. I was unnaturally hard to put down, even with any of the extra focus Konoha may have on me, I could handle myself.
Earlier
Like most days, it was a beautiful day in the Hidden Cloud. The endless sea of clouds, gentle breeze on my skin and pleasant greetings by all who I walked past. It never failed to put me in a good mood.
Whistling to myself, I swung the bottle in my hand back and forth as I waltzed forwards towards the Raikage's office.
I never went a day without drinking a few pints worth of my favourite drink, and the glass bottle kept the milk inside at the perfect cool temperature.
Reaching the steps at the front of the building, my attention was caught by the doors slamming open. Storming out were three men in formal robes and swords strapped to their sides, flanked behind by a couple of samurai in full armour, who were seemingly not having as good of a day as me.
"No damn honour," one of them mumbled heatedly as he stepped outside.
Their sour expressions turned downright furious when they glimpsed me as I sauntered by. And I knew exactly why.
"You," one of the Land of Iron representatives sneered.
Innocently, I looked up at them, "oh, you know me?" I slapped my forehead. "What am I thinking, of course you do. It sure must be an honour for you all to meet the world's greatest swordsmith."
I intentionally paused for a moment, seeing that the hatred in their eyes painted a very different feeling.
"We-" one of the men seemed to think I was done talking, an honest mistake. So to help correct him, I cut him off by raising my hand, then took a long swig of my milk as I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment. The respectful Iron Country men patiently waited for me to finish.
Or the audacity had left them silent.
"Ahh," I gave a satisfied exhale when I was done. Smiling at them, I carried on, "you know, 'cus that used to be you guys."
That seemed to hit a nerve as I saw the samurai grab the hilts of their swords, which was a crazy move to pull in a foreign village. "You dare to mock us, you monstrous creature?" One of the men spat out. "Then maybe you should show us just how great your swords are," the man finished.
Everyone grew silent at that as my eyes never left the one who spoke, not showing any signs of fear as I looked up at him. I slowly walked up the steps, enough to be eye level with the man and get directly in his face.
After a few seconds, I smirked, then blissfully closed my eyes and took another long drink of my milk.
I had called their bluff. Told them "fuck you, you can't do shit to me, even with my eyes closed." They thought they could intimidate me into an apology, believing my age made me more naive to their reluctance to attack me in my home village.
But honestly, I didn't think I needed any back up, I could handle these scrubs on my own.
Hearing them fume the whole time I didn't look at them, I opened my eyes to see their swords now slightly drawn.
Oh, I wished they would.
"Just you five against me?" I pumped out some Earth Chakra and held my bones at the ready, "you do know that there are easier ways to kill yourselves, right?"
I could see it on their faces, their pride was demanding they did something. That such disrespect could not go unanswered.
"I believe it would be best if you walked away now, samurai, and thought over today's meeting," a dark-skinned woman stood at the building's entrance, a clipboard in hand and frown on her face as she focused on the samurai. "Before we need to have your bodies sent back to Lord Mifune."
She didn't flinch at the harsh looks they sent her. "Tch," giving me one last sneer, they chose to follow her advice and trudged off. Even while standing further down the steps, it was clear they thought us beneath them.
"Must I muzzle you, Itsuki?" Kimora, the Raikage's curly red-haired assistant, turned to me with a stern look once they had left. "Tell me exactly why you felt the need to poke at a foreign power?"
I shrugged at her, "they looked at me funny."
Kimora deadpanned at that before sighing, "just get inside. Remind me to never include you in negotiations." Kimora began leading me towards the head office.
I began to follow behind her, "how did the talks with the samurai go? They all looked grumpy when they walked out."
An unpleasant thought must've entered her mind from her expression, "the Land of Iron delegates remain…" Kimora's face scrunched up, "stubborn."
The Land of Iron is a unique place. It wasn't a single village, but an entire country established and united centuries before the very idea of a ninja village came to be. They're also the only country to not have a Daimyo, instead having a General, who acted as both leader of the Samurai and Shogun of its people.
They did not base their economy around taking missions like we did, as they receive far less than villages from other countries, and most of that income comes from the long-held tradition of Samurai being the go-to guards to hire by Daimyo worldwide.
No, at their hearts, they were blacksmiths. Blacksmiths of the highest level, with the world's best resources that their country's deposits hold. And the Cloud and Mist were their biggest buyers, making up the majority of their income. The keyword being "were".
"Makes sense for a bunch of guys who refuse to learn ninjutsu." I shook my head, amused by the dumbassery I was hearing, "men and their swords, am I right?"
The small smirk she gave showed her opinion on that, "hmph. Nail on the head." We began walking up the long spiralling stairs to reach the top floor. "We even offered to teach them basic ninjutsu that all villages know, as a sign of good faith to help them find more clients. Their head negotiator had the nerve to look at me like I slapped him!"
"You should slap him. We're running a ninja village here, not a charity. It's their own problem to deal with."
At the beginning of this war, much like in the first shinobi war, Iron Country was making a killing off of selling weapons. By staying neutral, they could enjoy the higher demand at no extra cost to themselves. They had been on the rise economically since the Warring Clans era, as villages of today could afford their extortionate prices, whereas in the past most could not.
It was why they had built such a great rapport with Kumo (and had tried to with Kiri but didn't get very far), sometimes even hosting promising Cloud shinobi in their capitol for instruction on some of their ancient Kenjutsu arts.
So, knowing that we knew they heavily relied on us and Kiri, once I started making weapons they took it as a great offence. It was something that could severely damage them in the long term, and now they demanded to be paid a percentage for every bone sword created to make up for this betrayal.
Clearly, Mifune never went to business school, because who the hell would agree to that?
She gave a soft chuckle at that, "I may just do so in the next meeting. Their veiled threats of joining the war will remain just that, and they know it."
While not weak, Iron country would be crushed by Kumo if they fought alone. But doing so now gives them the option of allying with Konoha however. It would be a costly war for us both, but one they ultimately could not win.
They quite literally had nobody who could kill the Raikage, and if the war grew dire enough, he would go out himself and level their entire country.
I had no clue how Konoha managed to kill him in cannon, but they must've pulled something out of their asses, because I doubt even the Hokage has anything to get through his armour.
So, it was a lose-lose situation for them to get into, not to mention the Daimyos themselves would be against it.
"Here we are," Kimora said as we reached Ay's office. Pushing open the doors, she announced, "Itsuki, Lord Raikage."
The burly leader was laid back on his bench, with Blue B lazily standing behind to spot him, but it was a clearly unnecessary job. My sensei and I nodded at each other.
Huh. He must be bench pressing at least-
'That weighs how many tons!? How the hell is that even possible!? What are those weights even made of!?'
"Thank you, Kimora," the Raikage grunted out, pushing the weight back onto the rack with Blue B's guidance.
Kimora must've found my expression amusing as she smiled when she walked out.
Standing up, Ay looked at me as he walked over to the front of his desk. "Itsuki, I gave you my word that once you were ready, you'd be free to leave the village like any other Genin." A complicated look came over his face, "and you proved just that the other day."
"Damn right I did." I still couldn't believe he ripped off my leg to test my healing in battle. I was lucky that I had figured out how to reduce the amount of adrenaline my body pumps into me to some extent, it would take more damage than the loss of a single limb to drive me into a complete battle craze.
"But let me make this absolutely clear." As he said that, I could've sworn I felt electricity in the very air, tickling at my skin. His eyes bored into mine as he spoke, "above all else, you are not to die. Even if it means abandoning a mission, it is far more important that you return to Kumo. Is that understood?"
I stared right back, unblinking as I gave a single nod, "yeah. I won't die. No matter what."
Ay didn't speak for a moment, searching for something in my gaze instead. When he found it, his expression eased, "good."
"They'd have a hell of a hard time trying to kill you anyway, Itsuki." Blue B gave a small smirk, but the worry was clear on his face. He had been much harder on me in sparring after his loss of control to Gyuki, trying to get me strong as fast as possible.
"They're definitely gonna have a hard time when I shove my bone in their face," I agreed with him.
The pair coughed at that. The doors opened once again, with the Raikage's assistant leading a group inside. "Dodai's unit, Lord Raikage."
"Yes. Right, thank you, Kimora," the Raikage cleared his throat. "Itsuki, you'll be joining Dodai's unit as they travel to the battlefront. They've been on temporary rest in the village, and will be setting back out at dawn tomorrow."
"Hey there Itsuki, nice to see you again." Dodai, a man much younger than the one I recalled from the war arc, reached down and offered a hand.
I shook it in greeting, "yeah, you too. That Lava release of yours was pretty cool."
"Ah, thank you. Though I can't say it's as cool as that Dead Bone Pulse of yours."
The Raikage continued, "you'll all be meeting up with my son's division on the central side of the Land of Hotsprings. Dodai," he reached behind him and grabbed a sealed note from his desk. "Give this to him when you arrive."
Grabbing it, Dodai accepted the order.
Ay turned back to me, "any supplies you need will need to be bought today. Make sure to stock up, only so many weapons get sent over on our supply lines."
Present
Some of the ninja stores in Kumo were state owned, selling items of the most basic quality and lowest price, which is also where people needed to go for any weapons that I produce. The most recent addition being bone shurikens and kunai, made with my improved control over my bloodline.
But for the fancy stuff, you needed to look elsewhere. The pricier items in a more premium stock are usually sold by family-owned businesses or travelling tradesmen.
A store much like the one I had currently found myself in, run by an old, retired fuinjutsu expert, who was snoring away behind his counter as he slept in his chair. I unslung the filled duffel bag from my shoulder as I stepped in.
While not as many as Konoha, each village does have some number of seal masters, it was necessary for village security and the sealing of Bijuu. And since the sacking of the Uzumaki's, our knowledge of the art reached all new heights.
I had very limited knowledge of seals, not yet finding any time to explore it, so the arrays of squiggles scattered around the store stacked on the shelves made little sense to me. But I hadn't come here for any of the advanced stuff.
Clearing my throat, the old man's eyes shot open, blinking their way into alertness. "Hn?!" Looking around his eyes landed on me, "Oh. What do you want, lad?"
As I came to the counter, he leaned his head forward and squinted at me, realization clear on his face, "you're that bone boy everyone's been talking about, aren't you?"
I nodded, "yep. The boniest of boys." I hefted up my duffle bag and plopped it on the counter. "And I'm here for storage seals and explosive tags."
"Alright," he grabbed a notepad and pen from beside him. "And just how many of each exactly?"
Unzipping the bag, stacks and stacks of ryo were revealed, a golden glow seemed to emerge from the inside and lit up his greedy looking face.
While we did have bank accounts, credit cards were not yet invented, so this was the cartoonish lengths I had to go through to buy anything expensive. Well, this or giving cheques. But where was the fun in that?
"All of them."
…
Jonin Ay, Land of Hotsprings
Inside the Medbay of Kumo's camp, Ay sat down and talked to the shinobi. While some remained light-hearted, only suffering minor injuries that would take them out of action for days, maybe weeks at worst, others were not so fortunate. Likely too crippled to continue on as ninja.
They were all under his command, and every single man, woman and child had fought bravely throughout the war, following his orders to the letter. He had learnt much in these past few years, just as his father had wanted.
The knowledge and experience he gained would be vital if he was to become the Raikage one day.
It was his duty to keep the spirits of his warriors high; they deserved no less for the bravery they'd shown. And he promised to himself that he'd slaughter 10 enemy nin for each one of the ninja he saw in this room.
A commotion could be heard outside, voices picking up in excitement. Looking out the window, he saw ninjas begin to gather around the northern entrance of the camp.
The quickened footsteps coming from outside the ward had him turn his head before the curtains flapped open. "Ha! There you are, Ay!" The grinning one-eyed face of his old friend entered the room. "Good to see you didn't lead everyone in a charge straight for the leaf village while I was gone."
He dapped up the Kumo strategist in greeting, smirking right back as he joked, "well you're just in time, we march on them tomorrow!" Dodai chuckled at that, "It's good to have you back, Dodai."
"Kumo needs me here," Dodai looked out of the window behind Ay. "And I've brought quite the celebrity with me it seems."
"And who exactly is that outside?" Ay was puzzled, he truly couldn't think of anyone who would give the ninjas such a reaction, aside from his father. Maybe Kasumi Nii for some, but he was busy leading his own division.
Dodai brought out a note from his pouch, "this will probably explain it." He said as he handed it to him.
Ay took it and recognised the handwriting as he begun reading, '...careful decision to allow Itsuki Kaguya into the war-'
'What!? Has he lost his mind!? The Kaguya boy is the future of the village! And he's also like 5!'
He continued reading. '...grown strong far quicker than I thought. He would easily best any Chuunin, even though he's only 7.'
At 7? Stronger than any Chuunin?
Ay had never met the Kaguya Clan head, but his strength was something known around the world. As hard to believe as it was, he supposed it was possible for Itsuki to reach that level so quickly. He chose to trust his father's judgement on the matter.
'...you understand how important he is to the Cloud. Make sure he grows, but his survival must be ensured above all else. I will trust you in judging what missions he is and isn't ready for.'
He could see the boy outside now, raised on the shoulders of one of the best Kenjutsu users in the entire camp.
Itsuki Kaguya. He had already done much for the Cloud in this war, many of the men and women here owed him their lives and he had never even stepped foot into battle.
Ay held a very high opinion of the boy, and this surprise about his prodigal talents being high enough that his father allowed him to go into such danger, only raised it even further. He looked forward to meeting with the kid.
He turned his attention to the final lines of the letter, '... this is a high priority, make sure that every single shinobi in your division is aware of it: if you are not able to capture them alive, bring back the bodies of any Uchiha or Hyuga that you can.'
AN: If I was doing arcs, that would be arc 1 done! Now I can really get into the story.
While I've mostly planned out the whole story, I'm not completely sure how long it will end up being once written. Not crazy long, but the idea of ninja politics is hilarious to me. So while not Game of Thrones levels of scheming, there will be scheming. Because everyone wants to one-up each other in this world.