We returned to the village shortly before midnight, all of us tired. Aoba-sensei let us go home, delivering Hori and the report to the mission center by himself. What a good man he is. Thankfully, I was not questioned about the crystal I brought back; that would have been a very uncomfortable conversation.
The following weeks were spent on more C-rank missions, and fortunately for us, none of them posed any unforeseen challenges. By the end of February, however, something interesting happened.
Kumogakure would be sending a diplomatic envoy to us, and even the Raikage was supposed to be present. This did not bode well; I recalled that a significant incident was supposed to occur during the negotiations. I needed to be on guard and as observant as possible, there was no way I would let them take Hinata and kill Hizashi this time. Damn the consequences; this could not happen as it did in the original timeline.
The real question was how to handle the situation. Should I kill the kidnapper, capture him, or try to prevent the kidnapping altogether? Whatever path I chose, I had to keep my Observation Haki active at all times, always monitoring the Hyuga clan district.
It indeed did not take long, and at the beginning of March, the envoy arrived. When I saw that Ay, the Fourth Raikage, was in the village too, I felt more than a little scared to act. Fortunately for me, and probably everyone else, Ay mostly left the negotiations in the hands of his men, staying in the Hokage building to attend to his duties. I felt my thoughts lighten at this news; if anything happened, I should be able to act without his interference.
Unfortunately, the Genin teams were used to make Konoha look as good as possible, which meant taking an unreasonable number of D-rank missions every day for as long as the delegation was here. This made it difficult for me to track them effectively.
After a day filled with D-ranks and training, I stood near the Hyuga compound, my Observation Haki focused more than ever. Today was the last day of negotiations with Kumogakure. As night fell and the delegation returned to their hotel one last time, I spotted one of them heading my way. I watched him slowly inch past the compound wall and slip inside, unnoticed by anyone except me.
I kept my Haki active and continued to observe him. He was stronger than Aoba-sensei in terms of chakra reserves. If we were to fight, it would not be an easy victory, especially if I didn't use my Crystal Release. It didn't take long for me to see a figure fully clad in black, carrying a bag over his shoulder while limping slightly.
"Did someone hit him?" I thought, surprised. There was no alarm or movement from the Hyuga clan yet, and no guard would target his leg instead of his heart.
I could sense that Hinata was inside the bag, either drugged or unconscious. It was time to act, the Hyuga would soon notice that Hinata was missing. My first priority was to prevent a hostage situation, so the safest course of action was to remove the possible hostage from him.
I acted swiftly, summoning my sword and dashing towards the kidnapper. With a swoosh and a tear, I seized the bag, jumping away.
"A rather interesting souvenir you're trying to take home, don't you think?" I said, securing the bag on a thick tree branch, still angry about the whole situation. Seriously, kidnapping? Can't you just git gud instead of stealing bloodlines?
"Give her back, kid. Nothing bad has to happen to you," he barked, trying to sound threatening. Little did he know, I had stood before a slightly annoyed Kurama, and there was no way he could compare.
I looked at him, my eyes piercing his soul.
"I don't think so. I'm not the type to just watch when someone is in trouble," I replied, jumping off the tree and facing him with my sword in hand. If I wasn't using my Crystal Release, I would have to use my swordsmanship to its fullest.
He charged towards the tree branch at full speed, believing he could reach it fast enough. He was wrong. I jumped up, blocking his path and swinging my blade his way, pushing him back as he barely countered my slash with a kunai, landing roughly at his feet while still favoring his left leg.
"He had significantly strengthened himself." I thought, finally, I was up against someone skilled in close quarters.
I grinned, eager to test my abilities. I rushed at him before he could fully recuperate, targeting his torso with a stabbing motion to leverage my longer weapon. He parried my attack, spinning with the movement, and closed the distance again, unaware of the hand seal I had just made with my free hand. "Shiden!" Purple lightning illuminated the dark street, shocking him and sending him hurtling into a nearby tree. His upper left arm was steaming and severely damaged.
He formed a single hand seal, his left arm slowing him down considerably. "Lightning Release: False Darkness!" A large bolt of lightning shot from his mouth, heading straight towards me. I was ready and enveloped my sword in another Shiden.
"I can't do this for much longer. I have enough chakra for maybe three more Shiden strikes," I thought as I blocked the attack, nullifying it entirely. I looked directly into his eyes, activating my Sensory Input Confusion to make myself appear closer than I actually was. Our eye contact didn't last long, as he was already forming hand seals before we locked eyes.
"Storm Release: Thundercloud Inner Wave!" he exclaimed, the pain from his injuries evident in his voice.
A small storm cloud formed around him, buzzing with electricity eager to strike at me. Getting close would be challenging with a jutsu like that in play. I could still sense him within the storm cloud, nursing his wounds, possibly waiting for his comrades to arrive or stalling until he could perform another jutsu. The reason didn't matter right now; my goal was to ensure he couldn't escape. I aimed my empty right arm at him, pointing with my index and middle fingers.
Unleashing a weaker version of Shiden, designed for long-distance piercing I shouted,
"Byakurai!"
A loud buzzing noise filled the battlefield as a white bolt of lightning flew toward my target, ready to pierce him. Some of the charge in his storm clouds lashed out, canceling my attack. There was enough chakra left in the clouds to negate one, possibly two more jutsu. As I contemplated the best way to get past his defense, I noticed movement from the Hyuuga compound; they had finally realized that Hinata was missing and were starting to search. They would be here soon, so I had to act quickly.
My thoughts were interrupted by a lightning strike directly from the storm clouds, depleting their defensive power even further. I dodged just in time to avoid the bolt of lightning aimed at my head. Focusing on my sword, I infused it with as much lightning as I could manage.
"Shiden!" I swung the blade, sending an arc of purple lightning toward the clouds, dispelling them completely and forcing the ninja to dodge or risk further injury. Such lightshow would definitely alert the Hyuuga clan.
Once again, I concentrated, this time coating my sword in Armament Haki. There was no need to waste more chakra on ninjutsu; his perception should be thrown off considerably at this point.
He unsealed a katana from his glove, why hadn't he used it earlier? I couldn't say for sure; perhaps he was hoping for a one-shot kill with ninjutsu after our initial clash.
His sword glowed with blue electricity arcing along the edge as he charged at me, likely his last desperate attack, sensing that the Hyuuga clan members were already closing in.
I dashed at him, infusing Conqueror's Haki into my sword on top of the existing Armament coating.
The blade gleamed, almost impreceptible arcs of black lightning. It was dimmer than his, but I could clearly see small arcs of Haki traveling along the blade, indicating a rather weak, but successful Conqueror's coating. He swung his sword too early, not even threatening to cut me, but I decided to test my technique.
"Divine Departure!" I exclaimed as our blades met, my sword cutting cleanly through his, continuing its trajectory.
The night was pierced by a cry of pain as his entire right arm flew into the air, and his body crashed backward, crashing through a tree and shattering another. He fell, unconscious and gravely injured.
I ran up to him and began administering first aid. After all, a dead kidnapper can't confess to his crimes. I hadn't even fully patched the bleeding stump of his right arm before Hiashi and Hizashi arrived at the scene.
"A kid? No... A ninja. What is your name? Where is my daughter!?" Hiashi looked downright murderous, his eyes darting past me to the downed ninja.
"In order: Yes, I'm a kid and a ninja. My name is Ryuuzaki, and your daughter is up there in a bag." I said, pointing to the branch where I had secured her.
"We should probably notify Hokage-sama about this. I imagine he would want to know why a diplomatic envoy was attempting to kidnap a little girl." I continued, trying to prevent Hiashi from killing our only evidence of tonight's events.
"He took my daughter! Such action cannot be forgiven!" Hiashi spat, clearly intent on killing the man for his transgressions.
"Brother," Hizashi's voice stopped him.
"Hinata will be fine; she was fed a sleeping agent. She is unharmed." Hiashi looked at his brother, and then back at me as I tried to keep the Kumo ninja alive. He sighed, clearing his head, hopefully deciding against any rash actions.
"I will go notify the Anbu. You will meet with us at the Hokage's office first thing tomorrow," Hiashi commanded; it wasn't a request. He then jumped away, leaving me to continue my first aid attempts.
"I really need to learn at least some medical ninjutsu…" I mumbled. First aid without medical ninjutsu was tedious, especially when trying to stop the bleeding from a missing limb, not to mention addressing the broken bones from his intimate encounter with multiple trees.
It didn't take long before a squad of Anbu arrived, led by a man with gravity-defying silver hair. A smaller member with pitch-black hair stood to his right, while a slightly taller brown-haired member surveyed the area. Lastly, the member with light blond hair moved in to secure the Kumo ninja, using medical ninjutsu to stabilize him.
The leader finally glanced at me, breaking the silence.
"Prepare a written report about tonight's events. Tomorrow at six sharp, be present before Hokage-sama in his office to submit it and give a verbal report." He confirmed what Hiashi had already said.
I sighed; writing a detailed report would take at least a few more hours, and I just wanted to sleep, after all, it was almost two in the morning. "It will be done," I said, resigned.
Ultimately, it should be worth it. There was no way Hizashi would be given to Kumo if I caught the perpetrator. After the Kumo ninja was secured, I headed home, still reflecting on the fight.
It had been almost too easy. Itachi had said I was already stronger than most Jonin, but was that really all it took to defeat one? Just think about your next move, don't charge in blindly, and you win? It just didn't seem right, and yet, that was clearly how it had happened.
I was still tired as I made my way to the Hokage's office. I had finished my written report at four in the morning, so instead of getting some bad sleep, I decided to skip sleeping altogether. Not my brightest moment, but what can you do? I dragged myself to the office, barely awake and wishing I could be literally anywhere else.
To my surprise, the office was more crowded than I expected. The Third Hokage sat behind his desk, and beside him was Shikamaru's father, Shikaku, along with Uncle Inoichi. Hiashi was also there, sitting on a small sofa to the side and looking quite menacing.
I placed my written report on the table, facing the village leadership, and asked, "Do you want me to give a verbal report now, Hokage-sama?" I just wanted to get it over with so I could go to sleep.
"Quite right, Ryuuzaki-kun. Please tell us briefly what happened," he replied, looking more aged than usual, almost downtrodden. I took a moment to prepare myself, trying to appear as normal as possible.
"It started around midnight. During my nightly meditation before sleep, I noticed a chakra signature belonging to a Kumo ninja heading toward the Hyuuga district." I glanced around; everyone was listening intently.
"I made my way there too and found him sneaking inside. About an hour and half later, he limped out with a smaller chakra signature inside a bag over his shoulder." Hiruzen interrupted me with a hand gesture.
"I'm sorry, Ryuuzaki-kun. He limped out?" he asked, likely thinking the same thing I did when I first saw him.
"Yes, Hokage-sama. He favored his left leg while running," I confirmed, continuing my explanation.
"I removed the bag to ensure he didn't have a hostage and confronted him. He tried to reclaim Hinata, and I stopped him. After that, we fought, and I won." I concluded my brief verbal report.
"The detailed explanation of how the fight went is included in the written report, Hokage-sama," I added, awaiting their reaction.
"Would you mind confirming the battle report through a Yamanaka mind-walk?" Shikaku asked, curious about the fight.
"I don't mind letting Uncle Inoichi into my head for a little while, Shikaku-san," I replied. There was no lie to uncover, anyway. I made sure my account of the fight was accurate. Inoichi approached me and placed his right arm on my forehead.
"Focus on the memory of the battle," he instructed, forming hand seals with his left hand. In an instant, the entire fight replayed in my mind, as if I were experiencing it all over again. The adrenaline surged back, waking me up a little.
I shook my head a few times, trying to snap back to reality.
"Ouch, that isn't very comfortable, Uncle Inoichi," I complained, feeling even more tired as the adrenaline wore off again.
Inoichi looked at me, surprised and a little apologetic.
"The fight was very impressive, Ryuu," he said, sounding like a proud uncle.
Hiruzen then broke the short silence with his voice, "I believe you can go home and sleep now. We have seen everything we needed, Ryuuzaki-kun." I felt a sense of relief wash over me; it was finally over, and I could finally get some much-deserved rest.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," I replied, bowing slightly before leaving the office.
I woke up in the afternoon, well-rested and ready to train again. I headed to the training ground that Itachi and I used, eager to blow off some steam. I was still angry about the recent kidnapping attempt.
The Haki inside me hummed with newly gained power, something I had long wanted to achieve. At last, I could reliably coat myself in both Armament and Conqueror's Haki at the same time.
Before the day ended, my training was interrupted by a haggard-looking Itachi. He appeared as if he had just returned from a prolonged stint in the trenches of Verdun.
"What happened to you? You look like you've just returned from war!" I exclaimed as I saw him approach; he looked just as tired as I had felt that morning.
"Bad news, Ryuu, really bad news," he said solemnly, sitting down with his back against a tree.
"Is it about the Kumo ninja? I take it the Raikage didn't take it well..." I trailed off, expecting some trouble, but given Itachi's disheveled appearance, it had to be something serious.
"Hokage-sama refused to give up a member of the Hyuuga clan to Kumo in exchange for the maiming of his ninja," Itachi explained. So far, it all made sense, just as I had expected. But then Itachi continued,
It ended with the Raikage attacking Hokage-sama, and his ninja fought our Anbu squad." This was unexpected, was Ay suicidal? Attacking a kage in his own village was never a good idea.
"The fight didn't end well either, I take it," I said, now contemplating what would happen next. Itachi actually laughed, but his laughter was hollow, devoid of any joy.
"An understatement of the century, Ryuu," he replied, falling silent for a moment. Then, he delivered the last thing I wanted to hear: "We are heading to war."
Those five words echoed in my mind. I had saved Hizashi's life, but now it had led us to an all-out war.
"What have I done..."