CHAPTER : 12 : DISCUSSION AMONG THE VILLAGES :
Location : Iwagakure No Sato :
The Iwagakure No Sato / the village hidden by the Rocks as one of the five major villages stands as one of the major centers of power in the Land of Earth .
For generations since the time of the first Tsuchikage to now the third Tsuchikage Onoki the village with it's strong foundation stood strong and is often considered the second or third strongest village among the five great villages .
Right now since the beginning of the third great shinobi war the village was fighting on different fronts stretching their resources a lot .
At this moment a general meeting was being held at the Tsuchikage office to discuss about the future direction of their strategy .
Location : Inside Tsuchikage Office :
Currently inside the Tsuchikage's office a number of people from all divisions of Iwagakure forces were seated in a huge meeting table .
The meeting was being led by the third Tsuchikage Onoki himself , who at this moment was listening to the report brought by the head of the financial department of the village .
" Lord Tsuchikage according to our latest estimation our financial situation is still sturdy and we can keep up our current rate of operational spending for another four months without facing difficulties . " - said the head of the financial department of the village .
" Hmm ! Excellent keep it up we need to use of our financial capabilities as much as possible . "
" After all in this kind of long shinobi conflicts various resources play just as much as critical role as shinobi strength on the ground . " - said the third Tsuchikage to which everyone nodded in agreement .
The people present in the room were all experienced and understood that strength and power comes from various ways not just on ninjutsu .
After the head of the financial department sat down Onoki silently looked towards another person in the room who quickly understood his gesture and stood up to give his report .
" Lord Third ! I have talked with the Daimyo and he is very pleased with our progress in the land of grass so far and he has also approved of new financial help for our village and it will be delivered to us in one or two months of time . "
Hearing this a smile appeared on Onoki's old face as he nodded in aproval .
The relationship between the Dyamyo of the land of Earth and Tsuchikage is quite good and friendly allowing them to work together in such times .
While the world of Naruto is focused on the shinobi aspect of the world where the real power is often situated with the shinobi villages it does not mean that the Daimyo of the land where the shinobi villages exist are not important .
Infact they are far more important than many people believe them to be .
While the shinobi villages hold the military power of the kingdoms with them that alone is not the only factor at play as other things especially resources plays a critical factor .
After all even for a village like Konoha they would need money and resources to continue their day to day activities .
And this is where the Dyamyo of the kingdom comes in as they are the main financial backers of the shinobi villages .
In fact various decisions like the annual budget and other privileges granted to the shinobi villages are done by each respected Daimyo of their kingdoms .
And even when new kage of the village is chosen , this too must go through the Daimyo of the kingdom even if it is just for formality .
The situation where the relationship between the Dyamio and shinobi village becomes sour can be very well understood by the situation faced by Sunagakure No Sato after the third great shinobi war .
By that time the divide between the Dyamio and Kazekage became so much that the former started to outsource the kingdoms missions previously given to Sunagakure to other villages perticularly to Konoha .
This forced the Forth Kazekage Rasa to start selling gold dust to try and make up for the losses in funding .
However that too failed to adequately meet their demands .
And it was at such a time that Orochimaru came to Sunagakure with the offer to join forces against Konoha during the chunin exams .
This is why all major shinobi villages keep good relationship with the Daimyo of the land because a land broken from inside is an attraction for outsiders .
" So is there anything other information that that you would like to bring to my notice today in this meeting . " - asked Onoki.
At this moment a young women who was the head of the intelligence branch of the village stood up .
" Lord Onoki I would like to bring a matter to your attention . " - she said and waited for Onoki's approval to speak further .
" Go ahead and speak . " - said Onoki .
" Just two days ago there was a incident near a river crossing camp in the Kusagakure battlefield . While the incident was small and we did not suffer much losses the nature of the incident makes it important for us to look into it seriously . " - she reported attracting everyone's attention in the room who all started murmuring among themselves .
" Oh ! Has any significant change occurred . " - Onoki asked raising his hands to signal everyone in the room to be quiet .
" Lord Onoki and all respected individuals present here as you would all remember just a few days ago we had a major battle near a river crossing in the land of Kusagakure No Sato after which we decided to make some fortifications and camps around the river side . " - hearing this everyone in the room nodded in agreement as all of them were also present when the decision about their strategy was taken .
" Recently just 2 days ago one of those camps which was nearest to the river side was targeted by a single unknown assailant leading to our loss of around 12 genins one chunin and the Jonin comander himself . "
" Moreover we also lost a lot of scrolls and other resources that was in that camp which was apparently taken by the unknown assailant before reinforcements could arrive . " - she continue to say with a grim expression .
" And it is not even the start because the very next day the Konohagakure forces used the opportunity of chaos among our ranks in the area to launch a surprise offensive which managed to not only capture that camp but 7 other camps in the area as well . " - at this point everyone listening become more and more serious .
" In total we lost 30 genins 6 chinins and 2 Jonins . " - after hearing everyone in the room looked very grim because while they had a 2 to 1 numerical advantage against their enemies that does not mean losses such as these can be easily taken .
" It must be those Konoha Anbus ! " - said a young shinobi in the room slamming the table in anger .
" While that is possible indeed but according to what we know the mask and the techniques used by the unknown assailant doesn't match anything we know about Konoha Anbu including their root shinobies under Shimura Danzo. " - she replied .
Hearing this everyone in the room frowned as this made the situation even more complicated .
As one of the 5 great shinobi villages Iwagakure has a strong intelligence network focusing on information on other villages especially Konohagakure and Kirigakure who are its two of the most prime rivals .
So they have done a lot of research on the forces used by these two villages especially their special operations unit .
If the assailant was from Konoha then it would be similar as they are already fighting them but if another force is silently acting against them no matter small or big could create future problems at times when they might not have enough time and resources to pay them any attention .
" How did this happen ? What were our other units in the area doing when this attack was going on . " - asked an angry advisor .
To the village leaders the fact that one of their base was gone is not the major issue because after all this was a small base and carried for less importance if put in the bigger strategic picture .
But it was the nature of the incident that made the them uneasy .
If the attack was carried out by a group of elite shinobies then it would not be the problem because that is something they expected from the beginning .
But the fact that one man alone defeated one of their Jonin comander even if he was the most inexperienced one .
Because exactly individuals like this who can turn the tide of the battle despite their numerical advantage .
" Do you think it's him . " - at this moment a young jonin in the room spoke .
" Recently we have gotten a report that a particular shinobi from Konoha known as Namikaze Minato is making a quiet name for himself especially known for his speed and great tactical mind . " - said the young shinobi .
" Yes ! we have heard of him before but our latest intelligence suggested that he had just fought the son of the third Raikage so he shouldn't be deployed in this front of the battlefield so soon . " - said an old advisor who was sitting beside Onoki replied with a frown .
With that another round of back and forth debate started .
" Enough ! All of you listen to the entire report first . " - Onoki who finally had enough of listening to these people talking with no progress decided to intervene .
" Is there any other information we know on this unknown assailant . " - asked Onoki to the intelligence branch shinobi again .
" Yes ! My lord according to what we managed to find from the surviving genins who witnessed the battle the enemy was quite fast even by the standards of a seasoned Jonin but what particularly stood out was that this person was quite skilled in kenjutsu , managing to take down all of our shinobis including the jonin without using any ninjutsu . " - at this words the air in the room became very thick with tension .
While extremely rare it is not the first time when someone like this has emerged in the shinobi world who can dominate the battlefield with kenjutsu alone .
Just a few years ago during the Second Great Shinobi War a person from konha who became known as the Konoha No Shiroi Kiba / White Fang of the Leaf demonstrated what a person with kenjutsu can do .
The veterans who faced him still remembered those days .
And now suddenly another unknown person like that has emerged with no known allegiance .
This is a headache that no one wants , especially at a time like this .
At this time moment Onoki stood up from his chair and said to everyone in the room .
" Everyone from here onwards increase the safety of our camps and bases near the frontline and try to get any information about this unknown assailant as soon as possible . " - he ordered and everyone nodded seriously .
" At this moment we are at a starting point from where they may not be a easy way to return , so we must not make such mistakes in the future . " - he ordered firmly .
" AM I CLEAR . "
" Yes Sir !!!! . "
Everyone in the room answered in unison and then left the room to do their assigned task leaving Onoki silently sitting there pondering to himself .
' A new factor I don't know about . This world is truly vast and filled with unknown . ' - he thought to himself as he looked at the empty room .
" I wonder how all this would turn out in the end . "
At this moment when the meeting was going on the Iwagakure's side another meeting just like this was also happening around the same time in Konoha all focused on the same incident .
However unlike Iwagakure this was not the first time they have encountered an incident like this .
The moment the started to discuss on the matter they instantly rememberd the incident reported by Namikaze Minato where he and his genin team clashed against a mysterious opponent .
And now with this new report a uneasy idea started to form that there maybe a hidden group or perhaps some individuals who are trying to catch fish in the muddy water while they and other villages fought .
This became a unpleasant feeling for both of the villages leadership however the ongoing battles and new upcoming challenges meant they could not divert any resources or attention towards this new problem .
Location Change : Nami No Kuni / Land of Waves :
At this moment our dear main character of this story , because of whom all these chaos has started outside was smiling as he looked in front of him at the two blue crystals kept side by side .
" So beautiful ! I wonder what I will get after I complete this quest . " - he thought to himself because there is only one crystal left to find after which the quest will be completed and he will gain another reward .
" But before that let's see what I have gained this time . " - then he opened his system panel where a mission completion notification was already there .
" "
Ding ! System Notification :
Side Quest ( Completed ) : Have your summoned character defeat at least 10 Genins and one Jonin level combatants .
Reward Given : A random character template .
Would you like to Open it - Yes / No .
" "
Itwas10 days ago that he got information that another blue crystal might be in one of Iwagakure camps in Kusagakure No Sato and so he send Yuta to look for it .
But it took him more than a week to locate the exact location of the camp where the possibility of getting the crystal was highest .
And at the same time this side quest also appeared so the timing coincided with each other .
To be honest he did not think that not only would Yuta get the blue crystal but complete the side quest as well and he would get double rewards .
But this reward came at a opportune time because just 4 days ago he had reached hundred percent mastery in Kaiou Kaku character template and was about to reach the same for his other character tamplate of Kagetane Hiruko .
Now that he can gain another character template his personal strength is bound to increase.
" Alright let's see what character template I get this time . I hope I get his strong one. "
To Be Continued .