To read up to 15 chapters ahead: https://www.patréon.com/SlyOW

-------------

[C's POV]

"C, I want the attack to be swift and deadly."

I lightly brushed my golden hair aside as I replied, "Lord Raikage, the Arehateta Fortress won't be easy to push through, even with our forces."

Lord Raikage frowned and said, "Konoha will only be able to use so many of their men if they want to defend against all three fronts. Moreover, the fortress itself is closer to us, so by the time you arrive, the Land of Fire's regular troops won't have the time to arrive, and you will only be facing the troops of Konoha itself."

I nodded slightly, ninjas were very important for their capacity to move across countries in a matter of hours, but in a frontal fight an army of Benders is scarier than ninjas.

Still, I had my reservations about this. The Arehateta Fortress had held strong for many decades now, and although it wasn't armed right now, Konoha would only need a fraction of our forces to defend the fortress.

Lord Raikage probably saw my hesitation as he signed toward one of the other people in room, and said, "In case something happens, you will have Yugito there to help you."

I frowned as I sent a look at the blond woman, our second Jinchuriki. She was a fearsome Jonin of our village, who almost mastered her Tailed Beast.

Although she hadn't reached the level of Lord Killer Bee, she was still able to turn into the Two Tails, and unleash devastating attacks.

My problem wasn't with her power level, but how she was used. I turned back to the Raikage, and said, "Lord Raikage, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but can you spare Yugito? You will be facing the Yellow Flash and a nearly perfect Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails. Gyuki warned us of her power."

The Raikage grinned and said, "You don't have to worry about us, we have a way to deal with those two by ourselves. I wouldn't be sending Yugito to you otherwise, because if we get defeated by those two, then no number could resist those two, and it would be the end of Kumo."

I nodded, those were exactly my worries. The Yellow Flash was already fearsome in his twenties, so much that he became feared worldwide, so I could only imagine how strong he had become after more than ten years of training.

There is also his wife, the Uzumaki, who has managed to harness the power of the Nine Tails. I had already witnessed the power of the Eight Tails by myself, and he was the one who warned us that the Nine Tails was not someone we should underestimate, by any means.

But if the Raikage was confident, then…

I finally smiled as I nodded, "Thank you, Lord Raikage. We shall prevail."

Lord Raikage nodded, and I left the room, followed by Yugito.

As we headed for the Southern Gate, Yugito suddenly said, "Your worries were not misplaced, C."

I looked at her in surprise, and she explained with a serious face, "Most people think Nibi's only capacity is to manipulate Blue Flames, but she also has one more, less known power."

As she said that, she looked into distant mountains as she said, "Nibi is also capable of sensing danger, something that saved my life more than once in the past."

I frowned and asked, "And you feel danger now?"

Yugito nodded slightly, before adding, "One day, Bee attacked me as a test, with the power of the Eight Tails. It felt like a giant monster was chasing after me, one capable of laying ruin to the world."

I asked, "And what do you feel now? Could it be the Yellow Flash? Or the Nine Tails?"

Yugito shook her head and replied, "The Nine Tails would feel like Bee, and the Yellow Flash I already felt in the past, it felt like a hurricane."

I followed her gaze to the mountain, and asked, apprehensive, "So, what do you feel?"

Yugito shivered beside me as she replied, "I feel like a bloodthirsty demon is waiting for us in the mountains. It doesn't feel very strong, but for some reason it is sending chills down my spine."

I looked back at the Raikage's Tower and asked, "Didn't you tell Lord Raikage?"

Yugito nodded and replied, "I did, I have felt like this for several hours already. But he insisted we attack. As I said, it doesn't feel overwhelmingly stronger, it isn't an unstoppable force. It only feels… scary."

I pondered for a moment, before saying, "Keep me informed if the situation evolves. I will be searching for chakra signatures as we march."

I was a sensor, and even if my detection couldn't span over the entirety of the army, I should be able to feel most attack.

We quickly reached the gates, and led the army away from the village.

I initially intended to lead the army in the front, but after Yugito's warning, I decided to move to the middle of our formation, so that I may move to any part of our formation, were we to get attacked.

"It's here."

Barely half an hour into our march, Yugito suddenly sent me a warning. I immediately focused on my sensor abilities, searching for any abnormal chakra signatures.

I didn't feel anything at first, but after a few seconds I felt an unfamiliar one in the front of our army. At the same time, everyone in front gradually stopped.

Yugito and I looked at each other, and quickly moved toward the front of the army.

We reached them in mere seconds, and one of our generals, an older man who had worked for the Daimyo for many years, said, "Is this one of your people?"

Looking at the lone figure standing across from us, I shook my head. They were short, and going by the hair, probably female. I immediately recognized them as an Anbu from Konoha, one with an owl mask.

I turned to look at Yugito, and was surprised to see dark blue chakra seep out of her, she was ready to engage.

Everyone around her, including myself, understood that the one in front of us was an enemy, one we shouldn't underestimate, but as I prepared myself to give the order to attack, Yugito's pupils suddenly enlarged, and she yelled, "Dodge!"

I felt my heartbeat accelerate as a foreboding feeling of danger finally reached me, and without even sending a glance toward the lone figure, I immediately jumped.

Looking down, I saw a beam of water move horizontally, and to my shock, it was cutting through our soldiers easily.

It barely lasted for a second, but as I landed back on the ground, I was horrified to find that I was surrounded by bodies cut in half. Some had tried to put up a defence, but the attack had been too sudden.

With a quick look, I estimated that around 200 of our men had been killed by that attack. And only Yugito and I had reacted quick enough to dodge the attack in the front, meaning that most of our officers had just been killed…

I hurriedly looked toward the Owl masked figure, but found them to have disappeared. Even as I spread my chakra senses, I didn't pick up any signature.