Even in war, Shinobi fight battles using deception and intelligence over the other party and NOT an open ground while firing off Jutsus upon Jutsus— who would have thought?!

But this made Hizashi's presence much more critical as he claimed that his Byakugan had the perception close to the range of 5 kilometers if he focuses on it seriously and he can see through pretty much everything... lucky dog!

But this did give him an idea that he wanted to pursue later.

"There are 7 of them. Two Jonins and 5 Chunins based on their chakra reserves." The veins around Hizashi's eyes were bulging due to the increased blood flow into his eyes as his usually pupil-less eyes showed a cluster of concentrated irises that gave the likeness of pupils in his eyes. This is what an activated byakugan looks like.

"And what are they doing?" Orochimaru questioned.

"More than killing..." Hizashi's expression grew dark.

"Ah, this is why you ONLY kill. Remember everyone. There are professionals called whores and personal amusement known as mates to try these activities on. Move out. Jonin Yusuke, Log, and Utsu will form an encirclement around the villages to cut off any paths of retreat for Iwa-nins and civilians. Hizashi, incapacitate one of the chunins. Kai-kun, I'll evaluate your skills against a Jonin for future commands so you will follow me. Tsunade and Jiraiya, the two of you will take out the other Jonin."

With that, the group set out and it was quite a sight the village was in under Iwa's shinobi and it was clear the same thing could have happened in their group if Orochimaru didn't promptly execute the two men to set an example. The total number of shinobi that attacked the seven iwa-nins was exactly thrice in quantity!

The Jonins reacted quick enough as one of them evaded two snakes tearing from the ground in an effort to constrict him yet Kai cut off the path of retreat by jumping down on the main while stabbing forward with a kunai.

As the Iwa-Nin scoffed, dodging the Kunai midair by leaning away, he punched at Kai's head which promptly exploded in a gush of water while the kunai Transformed into the real Kai as he had only needed a single seal to form a C-rank Jutsu— Water Bullets.

A magazine of pressurized bullets struck the man who was again, quicker than most Kai had ever seen and crossed his arms in front of his chest and face to block the blow as it caused his arms to bleed... but not fracture as he shot into the ground where Orochimaru waited and he sliced the man in half with the sword on his back.

Quick and precise with not wanting their enemy to have enough time to turn the tables.

The seven Iwa Nins were taken care of with one burly youth, still naked and paralyzed captured by Hizashi who then killed the unfortunate and bleeding lass.

"Hmm, good job," Orochimaru smiled, "Jiraiya, contact Sensei and tell him that Chunin Kito and Jonin Utsu are going to be bringing a prisoner for information."

"Sure," Jiraiya sighed sullenly.

While Orochimaru questioned his mortality, Jiraiya was forced to choose between his loyalty and morals and until now, Loyalty kept winning.

"And it seems that we can make a perfect scouting party using Kai-kun and Hizashi-kun," Orochimaru directed everyone's attention as he commanded with a smile, "Until we receive the next batch of intel, you will act as our eyes. I want you to locate villages being occupied by shinobi. I assure you that for reasons related to war, not all shinobi would destroy the villages and would use the villagers in a more... lasting manner. It will be our job to liberate the villages but NOT kill them."

It was clear to Orochimaru that Hanzo would go bat shit crazy if they destroy the country without any regard so he didn't intend to demolish everything. Instead, he wanted to get a good measure of Amegakure— the second part of their mission. Gather enough intelligence and if possible, remove the threat known as Hanzo once and for all. That way, Amegakure would be up for grabs and that could divert the nature of war from devouring Konoha to get a piece of Ame. After all, the Land of Rain had no political umbrella known as the Daimyo and only had one Hanzo. His death would lead to a power vacuum and attract power-hungry flies.

The Iwa prisoner was soon taken away with Jiraiya sending the report to the Hokage with strange means of his own that amazed Kai.

---

Three more months have passed since Kai left the village. After the first month of skirmish and setting an outpost, it was just the act of finding their enemies sooner than they found them. The Land of Rain was only so big and it was becoming increasingly aware to Iwagakure-nins that their advance to the Konoha was being blocked by a rather advanced quality of shinobi and it was true, in some regards.

Well, those who survived the skirmishes aside from the three leaders numbered upto 14 with four more deaths during one siege against the Explosion Corp of Iwagakure. Many, including Kai, were injured in that battle, requiring them three days to heal themselves completely but that wasn't all. Jiraiya was forced to take the delivery mission of supplies to reinvigorate him. There was not a shred of doubt in Orochimaru's or Tsunade's mind about what kind of recovery method he would have but they only hoped the man would return quickly enough.

*Clang*

Kai kept a casual smile as his kunai was parried by a middle-aged man who was shocked by his appearance. They weren't in a village but close to one of the central outposts of Iwa as the man suddenly heard a snake's hiss around him and the next second, a giant snake tore through the tree behind him and constricted around him. A hint of panic flashed in the man's eyes but the world promptly shifted and he barely dodged Kai's kunai after being free of the genjutsu, his skin only scratched by the tip of the kunai, thankfully.

"It's a good day to not have any rain, right?" Kai smiled. Even with dark clouds hanging over Ame constantly, there wasn't any rain and the shinobi frowned at his words. Scoffing, his hands hurriedly weaved a few seals before coming to a stop as his body remained paralyzed and the next second Kai's kunai passed through the man's head.

"Phew..." Smilingly, Kai flickered away as three Iwa shinobi arrived at the location seven minutes later with a deep scowl.

"It's the fifth time already!" One of them balled their fists while the other sighed, "Retreat. We need to ask for immediate reinforcements."

"That's not possible, Ame-nins are beginning to act up now... we have to entirely retreat."

---

"I can't believe this!" Kai groaned out loud but others, including Hizashi, only smiled when they heard his energetic words, "Iwagakure was stocking on genin fodders right? We barely fought any! No kekkei genkais, too. And here I was thinking that there'd be a huge battle where my name would spread in the village as the youngest war hero! The youngest jonin!" Kai continued to play his part as he sensed everyone's mood-brightening.

Oh, all of them were now aware something was fundamentally screwed up about the boy but they accepted their comrade in his given condition because they felt if he wasn't here to liven others up, many would be executed to try and NOT kill someone. Not everyone was like Jiraiya, who was allowed to leave for three days and return refreshed!

"It's not a tale, Kai-kun," Orochimaru smirked as Tsunade huffed, "And you better get that attitude in check. Still, I didn't think Hanzo would close his borders this quickly."

"It's all to earn more. By closing the Iwa-Konoha front until one of the villages is ready to invade Ame in full force, the man is practically controlling the flow of war as Konoha can now focus on Suna and Kumo alone. The two villages would need to spend a fortune to make Hanzo open his borders once again," Jiraiya sighed while Kai felt quite amazed at this.

War really IS a profitable business.

Still, he was awaiting the rewards of his first war quest.

[War Quest: Amegakure Front

Summary: Follow the directive of the war council and accomplish the objectives laid by the platoon's commander to facilitate the success of one of the many skirmishes in war.

Rewards: 14 SP, New Title

Failure: Demotion]

Kai smirked, feeling quite happy with his efforts. Even when the grind was paused, his growth was stellar these three months.

---

Kushina's eyes darted around as she lay on the cold metallic table with the edge of her top pulled up as Mito stoically drew seals on Kushina's stomach while the nervous tomato could feel stares from every corner of the room in the form of masked men and women guarding the dim room with the only source of light being a lantern not far away from Kushina.

"Dear, do you remember everything I told you beforehand?" Mito inquired as Kushina steeled her nerves and nodded with a look of determination. As sad as she was... at the moment, she was even more scared. The seal on her navel began with a swirl reminiscent of the Uzumaki Clan's insignia with many scribbles placed tightly together in the form of a spider's web.

Mito smiled and sat beside Kushina as she pulled her clothes away without a hint of shame as her body was fully covered by seal marks. While she wore undergarments of the highest quality despite her aging figure, there was a big gaping wound in her stomach in the form of a perfect circle that led to nothingness.

Under the masked Anbu's nervous gaze, thick crimson chakra bubbled out from the wound in Mito's body and she sat down beside Kushina's legs and placed her hands on the girl's stomach. As if attracted to something, the chakra instantly coated Mito's body and began entering the seal mark on Kushina's stomach before her vision spun and she found herself in a world of golden glow.

There was no particular footing but she felt the 'ground' and looked in horror as a mass of chakra congealed before her violet pupils as a pair of menacing red eyes with vertical pupils locked onto her.

"I'LL TEAR YOU!!" The titanic dark-orange-furred fox lunged towards Kushina as her body froze yet before the claw nail dozens of times larger than her entire frame could crush her, an equally gigantic chain with a soft yellow glow shot through the beast's claw and pierced in from under the fox's neck before coiling around its face and yanking it down as if a rag doll. Kushina blinked into awakening and felt the thick chain's presence familiar to Mito's. Yet, despite its presence, it was waning.

Biting her lower lip, Kushina glared at the struggling fox as dozens of similar chains grew out from nowhere. They were barely 1/10th the size of the chain conjured by Mito on her last leg yet Kushina waved her hand and the chains shot forward instantly. The spear-tipped chains stabbed into all the nine giant fox tails of the beast before coiling around him as the beast's struggle intensified but Kushina roused the chakra in her palm and slapped her stomach before tugging on the seals of her stomach and moving them in the opposite direction of the swirl.

The seal marks around her body began to gradually close up as a form of large rock was conjured in what Kushina was sure happened to be mind space and it silently had the chains of her kekkei genkai linked into it.

"WAIT!" the fox roared the moment the thickest chain disappeared and realizing what it meant, Kushina wanted nothing to do with the fox as it continued, "THAT BITCH IS—"

A chain instantly tore out from behind the fox named Kyubi and coiled around his muzzle, shutting him before Kushina willed herself out of the mental space quickly and sat up with a gasp.

Yet, her expression froze as tears began to spill again while Mito lay over her lap with a peaceful smile on her face.

Mito Uzumaki passed away.

***

Shoutout to Shoutout to Thed Nillson-Strang and zac

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