Event The Winds of War [Calling All Sennin]

[Cloud Seer]

It was a oddly clear day for the high mountain tops of Kumo. The winter winds seemingly had passed and spring was fully starting to roll through despite seeming to be a few months late this year. The village above the land moved about their normal day as the weather finally allowed for trades that had been slowed due to the snow to pick back up. The Academy was running, slowly trying to churn out new members to fill the ranks of their missing, as the entire shinobi government burned on half-mast, so to speak, and yet they continued on seemingly without a hitch. Sadly, the beautiful calm morning was not made to last on this day as a young girl rushed down through the halls of the Torre as fast as her chakra gilded feet would carry. She was dressed in common Kumogakure shinobi gear despite not being a full fledged fighter. Her name was Miko, a simple woman of low chakra producing capabilities. She had enough strength to channel chakra to open coded letters and that was about it, however she was smart enough to turn that one skill into a career. Focusing her mental strength on learning all of Kumogakure’s coded system actually managed to propel her to be a leading figure of the Cipher Unit, and today her talents uncovered news that needed the Raikage to know, yesterday.

The Holy Republic of Tenouza had finally made a move. After recovering a code-breaker book from the church the Cipher team started to break into older messages sent by Tenouza carriers they had managed to intercept over the years, and it was all adding up to some bleak news. Yet, none of the coded messages ever revealed anything fully sinister until Miko was reading over one that had been caught a few days ago. It had taken some time to break through the coding on this one which meant it had to be important, and when the team finally did decipher the last sentence this morning they found not a coded message; but orders. Suddenly the messages to move company of Soldiers towards the outskirts of the country completely made sense; they were preparing to attack the farming villages. As Miko turned the last corner that lead to Kitsune’s office, another sudden thought crossed her mind - they hadn’t been able to get a hold of the Shogun.
This wasn’t entirely unusual, as the Shogun was a busy man with a country to rule and nobles to keep in line, but he had denied meetings with them for some time now. This last year Kumo really felt his cold shoulder, and now that the fringes of his lands were being attacked, Miko wondered if she should send a message to him or if it would even be worth the falcon. They probably already knew about the attacking Tenouza forces as even the most backwater farmer had a device to call for help if they needed the Samurai’s attention somewhere fast. Yet, something kept gnawing at her gut about the entire situation, and finally Miko resolved herself to add it to her report.

Finally turning the last corner she leaped into the air and dropped down on her feet at an angle to break her speed down enough to cause her body to stop right at the Raikage’s door. Gripping the steel, she simply threw it open completely rushing past the usual protocol they had followed since the Second Raikage: “Always knock first and announce yourself, you never know what the Raikage could be engaged in for the good of the people.” The main difference of today being that Kitsune was far less likely to be in a compromising situation in the middle of her ‘official’ job hours, unlike other certain hedonistic leaders of the past.

“Raikage-dono!” the agent cried out as soon as the door slammed open, “It’s horrible! We finally translated enough of the missives from Tenouza, and it appears to be making a move not against us, but against all of Lightning!”

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune had made herself a tad more comfortable during the days usual work by loosening her tie, undoing a few buttons of her shirt, and ditching her usual suit jacket. Well, not really ditching it, it was hanging over the back of her chair. Currently she was taking a break from filling out paperwork and relaxing with a cup of tea. As her door flung open, Kitsune put down her cup in a calm manner and looked at the woman had entered. She was clearly flustered and had a matter of great importance, as she ignored normal protocol.

Her first words upon entry was informing that the Tenouzans weren’t just moving against Cloud, but against the entirety of the country. That was the final straw. Kitsune rebuttoned her shirt, redid her tie, and slammed her fist against the tabletop in front of her, making the porcelain cup shift on its saucer. ”Bring me all the information we have decoded so far! Summon the Sennin!” she barked, yelling out her orders as she withdrew a small communicator, sending a message to Ryuu Rei, summoning her to the office immediately. She then hit a button on an intercom system to contact her secretary: ”Cancel my remaining appointments for today, ensure the Sennin know their presence is required immediately in my office.”

She grabbed the various files she already had and plonked them down on the larger meeting table located in her office, before grabbing her cup of tea, as well as the kettle containing the remaining tea. Clearly this was a situation that warranted a clear head, and this particular brew tended to calm the imbiber down, if only a little. Now began the waiting game for her Sennin and Rei to arrive before the meeting could begin.

 

[Toraono Michino]

The high mountain air breezed through the village with the nips of winter still on its edge. A woman in a skin-tight outfit with a pair of jeans and a jacket to cover what little organic parts of her body that could still felt the icy winds stood high on one the Gate of Kumogakure, looking out far beyond to the country below. Ryuu Rei was a woman mostly made of high-end ninjutsu science, rare wood, and upper-class steel, but her core remained human as ever; something inside of the cyborg’s stomach told her today was off. It made little sense as it was the most beautiful day she had seen in some weeks, but as she looked out down to the lands below, the human left in her wondered if everything was really okay. Her missions out into the lands lately had been met with suspicions. A Kumogakure shinobi was rarely trusted in Lightning, and for good reason to be quite frank, but never ostracized. They were a valuable part of the economy like anything else…and yet. Her mind thought back to the cold glances she had gotten in a mission not too long ago from just mentioning living in Kumo, let alone being a member of their military.

The sudden buzz of an emergency ring in her headset snapped Rei out of the thoughts. On reflex rather than thought did her arm snap up to press the ‘open channel’ button and query the message. Two affirmatives later she was darting across the top of the gates to leap out wards towards the Torre. Her knees opened up beneath the jeans and dropped down into her mechanical calves before giving her body a hydraulic boost along with the chakra in her toes to fire Rei out towards Kumo like a human missle. She held her hands out and pulled a switch inside with a chakra string to cause her arms to create a break to the sudden speed that allowed her to touch down about twenty yards away from the Torre with only a minor crater in the street; they could fix that later. Kumogakure had all sorts of emergency codes, but a “Code Alpha” meant there was something really big heading towards Kumogakure or the lands near by, and an emergency meeting was being called. Why she was being pulled into the strategic planning this early in a such a big code was unprecedented, but it no doubt had something to do with her ability to take apart situations like she could machines.

Rei lifted herself from the crater and darted up the stairs and into the building. She could have scaled the side of the building and broken into one of the windows on the Raikage’s level to make her entrance faster, but, that was a whole set of codes and alarms she doubt would be helpful in readily rallying the Raikage’s most trusted. A mere ten seconds passed and Rei was standing before Kitsune-dono’s office door without even a bead of sweat to show for her efforts. She noticed the door was already opened and quickly moved in to nearly bump into the aid who had brought in the original message as he was on her way out to send out other codes. The Jounin bore witness as the Raikage moved her famed kettle of tea from her desk to the big table in the office that was rarely used. Looked like whatever the code had been issued out for, she was the first one here. Moving in quickly she stood awkwardly, not certain where to seat herself as the table was traditionally set for the Raikage and their three Sennins. The engineer decided to move closer to Kitsune as there wasn’t anyone nearby and the guise of professionalism could be dropped for a second.

“Kitsune-dono, what’s going on? You never use the big table.”

 

[Midori Futotta]

Midori was in the middle of typing on some typewriter when she suddenly got news that all the sennin were being summoned. She was just starting her draft on what the kumogakure ambulance would look like when the giantess was summoned to the office of the Raikage and it sounded urgent though that was all she got from the person who delivered her the message. A simple ’The Raikage is requesting the presence of all the Sennin, this is an urgent matter.’ and it was left as simply that. Midori summoned her coach to give her a ride in a rather large victorian style carriage, so large in fact that it actually needed the strength of four horses than the standard two to pull it at a speed more appropriate for travel.

Once she arrived at Torre Celeste, the vampire would duck her head so she could exit out of the black carriage so she could look up to admire the tower itself. It looked to be constructed from an intricately masoned onyx-like mineral and designed to reflect the multitude of stars at night and to stand prominently against the blue skies during the day. It was indeed an impressive looking building, Midori wished that she had all the time in the world to admire the architecture of the building but the Raikage was indeed waiting on her so after dismissing the coach; the giantess lumbered her way to the entrance of this tower and much to her surprise it was a lot easier to get inside of the building since the entrance had two doors that she could open. When she ducked her head in through the threshold she could find that the ceiling here was indeed giant vampire friendly because the ceiling were elevated in this tower allowing her to stand at her full height a bit more comfortably.

Walking over to the receptionist table, Midori looked down clasping her hands together at the lady at the front desk then smiled. "Good day to vu madam, I am Midori, Metical zennin of Kumokature.” she introduced herself in a rather courtly fashion. ”Zee Raikage has requested zee appearance of all zee Zennin - hoveffer zee fair lady has zefferal offices vizin zis building. Do vu by chance know vich office am I zuboze to be going to at zis moment?” she asked. From what the receptionist told Midori where the meeting would likely be held in and the giantess would thank the kind lady then went on her way to the office of the Raikage while occasionally ducking through small thresholds. When she finally came upon the office, Midori would then bend down to open both the doors so she could lumber herself inside of the office before standing up to her full height of 9’2 and looking down at the two people already within the office. One was a person whom she didn't know but the other was the raikage herself. Removing her rather large hat when looking down at the raikage, in which she was told it was respectful, Midori would bow. ”My lordschip, it is a honor to be meeting vith vu on zis glorious day." she said pulling out one of the seats so she would… carefully sit down so she didn’t like being that one person towering over the room while also holding in some of the questions she had until the last sennin was present within this meeting. Setting her hat upon her lap and crossing her legs while they waited.

 

[Kagami Miro]

Days in Kumo seemed to string together as if time were irrelevant. Based with the task to gather intel on the Tenouza church the ANBU branch struggled to gather more than a few nameless faces to know who is behind the uprising of this cult. Mirō loomed over a massive conference table that was outlined with documents and maps with various markings on them. Photos were strewn about, each face lead into different trails and offenders who had no correlation to the direct threat. Around the table were trusted elite ninja, discussing theories and current strategies while Mirō listened to each carefully. Suddenly an emergency radio single was sent to the secret channel on her headset.

“Damn it… this can’t be good.” Letting her hand fall back from her ear to the top of her chair she gripped her black cloak and threw it over her shoulders. A hand reached behind her lower back to appropriately adjust a few important scrolls and a golden dagger. “I’ll return shortly. Continue your research and I’ll inform the captains of the situation.” Mirō pointed over towards the ANBU, and with a salute to their Sennin Mirō turned and exited out the doorway and into her office. She proceeded with a long complex hand seal and at the end her entire body began to peel apart into sheets of paper that uniformly and precisely snaked their way through a hidden ventilation system that led to the Torre Celeste.

Atop the grand tower the sheets of paper flooded onto the floor of a discreet hallway on the Raikage's floor. Slowly Mirō reassembled from thousands of small sheets of paper into her original self. With a subtle gasp for air her breathing returned to normal. The edges of the shadows concealed her up until the double wide doors of the Raikages’ office. Before entry she removed her hood to give the guards a full look of who was entering. Recognizing her face they let her in without a word.

As she entered she noticed her new friend Midori and in front of her were the Raikage herself and another strange face. The purple haired one she had never seen before and already they have gained the Raikage’s trust. “Forgive my lateness. I got here as fast as I could.” Hands clasped together to perform a proper bow to her Raikage. “I already have a bad hunch about why us Sennin were called here so randomly.” Red hues cut over to look at the woman who was a leader in the decipher team for the Raikage. Trading intel with that department occasionally.

[Topic Entered]
[WC:435]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune nodded ”That’s correct. Except when something big is going down and I need all my sennin.” she stated flatly and motioned for Rei to sit down on her right. It was ordinarily a seat reserved for a sennin, and Rei certainly wasn’t one, but that’d change soon enough. Kitsune had recently been forced to allow the former main branch sennin Kashino Yuu to step down. This left Kitsune with an incomplete set of branch leaders; and she knew what Rei was capable of. With her scientific approach to things, and logic-based decision making skills, she’d be the obvious choice for the position.

Only a short while later, the second invitee would show up. This time it was the medical sennin Midori. She was quite the unusual one, but highly skilled in terms of medicine and general medical skill, which is why Kitsune made her the medical sennin. ”Not as glorious as you’d think, dear Midori-chan. I wish it was under happier circumstances that I call this meeting. Oh yes, I should introduce you. Midori-chan, this is Rei, a close friend and highly skilled scientist.” she said, gesturing to Rei sitting beside her. She still wasn’t going to reveal her plans for Rei just yet, as Miro was still missing.

After she had offered tea to the Medical Sennin, Kitsune leaned back in her chair, knowing Miro would not be far away at this point, only to have her enter the room right then and there. ”No, you’re right on time, Miro-chan.” Kitsune said and gestured for Miro to take a seat as well ”And I’m sure your hunch will match up with the actual reason. It’s not so random, really. But before I get to that I have an announcement to make.” she continued and leaned forward in her chair.

”I’ve accepted a request for retirement from our Main Branch sennin Kashino Yuu. He wanted to resume Jounin duties and train to become stronger, as such, our numbers aren’t complete. This means I’ve been pouring over personnel files to rectify this. And in the end, I’ve opted to promote Ryuu Rei here to the position of Main Branch Sennin. This is also why she’s present at this meeting.” Kitsune said in a no-nonsense manner, definitely not taking no for an answer. ”Now, for the main matter at hand. Our codebreakers have cracked an encoded missive from the Tenouzans. They’re making their move. But not against us. Against all of Lightning Country. We need to prevent this, for obvious reasons.”

 

[Toraono Michino]

What a wild rush this all was for the cyborg. Had she not had Kitsune build in special filters to keep her brain from overloading on the technology that ran her body in the first place, she might have fizzled out trying to keep up.

When offered the seat, Rei hesitated. She knew that the chair being offered, the one to Kitsune’s right, was the Main Branch Sennin’s seat. Rei looked at it as if it was a trap, wondering what exactly Kitsune had in mind while questioning wholesale why Yuu wasn’t here themselves. Yet, Rei took the chair next to Kitsune and placed her hands into a steeple while she worked out exactly what this was about. Before she could, however, a literal giantess ducked in through the entrance and walked forward with far more grace and elegance than her appearance warranted. This, was the leader of the Medical Branch, a woman she had somehow never seen or even heard of before and figured that Midori must have been a more recent appointment; though Rei herself hadn’t needed the Medical Branch in quite some time. The cyborg watched in anticipation as the large woman seated herself carefully and couldn’t help but finding herself thinking about the structural integrity of the room itself, some floors up from a base that could hold the giantess’ size. Thankfully, aside from loud creaking complaints given by the chairs themselves, the room seemed stable. It didn’t ‘shake’ with her movements so much as it did ‘rumble’. For not the first time in her life, Rei wondered just who the hell built the Torre.

The second Sennin, and final person needed to start the meeting, was the one that threw Rei the hardest. Yes, even more confusing than seeing a giant overweight vampire queen, the cyborg very nearly voiced a complaint that surely Kitsune hadn’t literally appointed a child to run the Black Ops. Miro appeared and Rei’s expression changed from one of wonder to one of, ‘really?’ It wasn’t that the cyborg wasn’t aware of the very children that roamed the Academy and other ranks, and had worked with a number of teenagers who could claim their Jounin titles honestly, before she had even entered the field herself. Yet she couldn’t recall a single one actually owning a position that took the responsibility of fully grown adults into the hands of a angsty brat. As far as first appearances went, she was not impressed with the Sennin of ANBU, but this was their first time meeting after all. Perhaps the girl had a far straighter head on her shoulders than her image belied, but Rei wasn’t going to hold her breath. She did, however, give the Raikage a proper bow and took her seat with the professionalism the cyborg expected of higher ups, but proper etiquette alone isn’t enough to run a branch. Needless to say the shifting colors of Rei’s eyes would be hawking at Miro to see her reactions to whatever this meeting was about.

Of course, once everyone was seated and ready, is when the metaphorical bombs were dropped. Just as soon as Rei thought she was ready to proceed, Kitsune promoted her into a position she had never once dreamed of achieving. The mechanical woman had been a weird exception to the rules. A scientist that had experimented a little too far and had managed to turn themselves into a weapon for their country. She had never went through the proper channels to advance in rank, and for the longest time just remained a secret weapon that mostly ran solos. Now she was being placed in the head of a department that oversaw the majority of Kumogakure’s army. Every Genin, Chuunin, Jounin and Student that wasn’t part of Medical or ANBU now had to come to her for their leadership; beyond the Raikage, anyways.
To be quite honest she was flustered and didn’t know what to say at first. The responsibilities poured onto her lap like the hot tea that was about to be served made her quickly think back into everything leading up to this, and couldn’t help but wonder if this was the Academy’s way of trying to oust her. Her classes were, ‘exceptional’, in that some Students had recently died trying to complete the work she had given them. Death in the Academy wasn’t unusual but it also hadn’t happened in some time. She pushed those thoughts back and filed them into a mental cabinet called “Conspiracy Theories”, and finally reacted to the promotion she was given,

“I…thank you, Raikage-dono. I promise I will fulfill this task as I do everything you give me to work on - with mechanical precision,” she stated, really unsure how to accept the promotion otherwise. Her mind was already turning wheels on the things she needed to get underway in getting their branch in order. And, in no short time either, as it was announced that the Church of Tenouza was on the move. To be honest, as a person outside the loop that was between the Raikage and ANBU Sennin, Rei actually had to think for a moment to remember who the Tenouzans were,
“You mean that tiny republic in the South? How? I’ve heard we’re not to trust anyone from Tenouza due to some suspicious activities on their part, but as I recall, we also didn’t have anything on them to make a move either without sparking a war between ourselves, Tenouza, and the Shogun. You mean to say that little piece of ‘holy land’ is really challenging the entirety of Lightning? What about the Shogun and his Samurai? I know we haven’t been in open connection with them in some time, but surely they haven’t cut us off completely,” Rei’s eyes turned to Miro in question considering that her branch would probably be the one to answer if the Raikage didn’t herself. It was no secret that the Shogun hadn’t spoken to Kumogakure publicly in some time, but that was also in consideration to the fact he tried to keep the two powers separate in the eyes of the public.

Gods knew what the Nobles would have done otherwise.

 

[Midori Futotta]

When Midori first greeted Kitsune, she seemed a bit more grim than the giantess actually would have expected. Looking down towards Rei, the vampire would tip her hat to the fellow scientist since anyone lucky enough to be good friends with the Raikage was indeed a friend of Midori's. After she sat down, carefully, Kitsune offered the giantess some tea which she graciously took without a second thought. Bringing the cup to her mouth she blew on the tea to cool it down a bit before taking a sip from it, that was when Mirō came in who Midori greeted by wiggling her fingers in some unique sort of wave. The medical sennin believed that she was carrying herself well, though the look on the woman's face showed a bit of shock that the Anbu Sennin was a teenager however believing that Mirō would be able to hold herself within the meeting the giantess would look towards Kitsune whom had a little announcement to make.

When she got started it was revealed that the main branch sennin Yuu was retired which was unfortunate but not as grave as she originally thought. With that Sennin position now up for grabs, the Raikage made the decision to make Rei Ryuu (the stranger in the room that wasn't a sennin) into the new Main Branch Sennin. Midori would then look towards Rei then smile sweetly at the newly appointed sennin. "Congratulazions zen, Lady Ryuu." she said briefly since Kitsune did have more to say, plus her tea was starting to get a little cooler which allowed the giantess to take in a mouthful of the tea before the Raikage hit them the news that the Tenouzans making their move. But not against Kumogakure. Against all of Lightning Country.

That right there caused Midori to spit her tea in an unexpected spray at the news. "Bleeeeeh~ Py Count Dracula's cape! Hov dreadful!" she gasped, bringing a hand up to hold her chest in shock that these cultists were starting to make a move against the entire country. What could have emboldened them to think that they could attack the county!? What kind of devilish plan do they have for the civilians of lighting country as well as the Shinobi who live within these walls.

While Rei was trying to get more information or at least trying to take a more diplomatic approach. The only thing she could think of was destroying that dirty rock that those bloody savage cultists called home. It really should've been done a long time ago and not let this cancer infest but again that was kind of unproductive. After taking a moment, she set down the tea cup then began to think. "I zink vat ve schould really be talking apout is vich barts of zee country do zey haffe zee most influence in. Zis vay ve could figure out vere to begin zending a few zoldiers along vith myzelf to liberate zome of zee countrymen from zeir grasp und to pozzibly capdure zome of zeir bazes." Midori suggested "If your codebreakers knov more, like vere are certain combounds zat actually vould hurt zeir plans I'll zee to zee liperazion und treatment of zee tovnsbeople. As Zennin I zink ve all haffe zee pover to create a few cracks here und zere before smasching zeze zavages to piece's." after saying that she began to think about a strategy to better overthrow the place to save the townspeople under the rule of the cult but all her plans were extreme with the possibility of a lot of collateral damage. Midori could just utilize her immortality to her advantage but that was unproductive. Being reckless would get her hearts destroyed so she needed to take a non direct approach since brute force was a losing battle for her if she wanted to salvage anything out of this.

 

[Kagami Miro]

Rising up from her bow, Mirō moved gracefully to an open seat. She sat across the table from Midori who, if she needed, could have a more form fitting chair if she asked and at the head of the table sat the Raikage. Mirō’s hands shifted to move to fan away the Raikage’s new maid just before she spoke up. Appointing the maid to become the new head of the Main Branch.

The Main Branch. To the ANBU Sennin they were merely trumped up police who can run up walls. Most of the real work fell onto her own lap and it was carried out swiftly and with precision. Not only that, none of those dogs attempted to help defend the gates or stop the missing ninja from fleeing the village, and they have yet to face the threat of the Tenouzan face to face. Hell, the medical team were assigned joint op missions with the ANBU before a Main Brancher even showed up. Prior to Rei getting the position, the Main Branch Sennin was absent for most of their career. If it were up to Mirō, the main branch would be led under the direct control of the Raikage without the need of a Sennin. There was chatter of a new Sennin taking control of the branch, but you would believe the Raikage would choose someone who at least was known by the civilian population. ‘And she keeps looking over at you.’ Naibu whispered into her mind. The golden dagger on her lower back shook lightly with annoyance.

Arms folded underneath her bust, ignoring the new Sennin’s recent achievement. The Raikage really does have a thing for patients she’s worked on to be in power, aside from Midori. ‘As far as I know.’ Her calm demeanor was rudely interrupted when the Raikage informed everyone of the Tenouzans movements. What came fast was the sudden rainstorm of tea from Midori. Quickly her arm rose up over her head and face to shield herself from the tsunami.

In disbelief Mirō rolled her eyes over to the Raikage at the new sennin's lack of information while her arm lowered back down. She was irritated at her lack of knowledge. Mirō’s annoyed gaze fell back onto the new Sennin. Those intense red hues dug deep into the Sennins own. Her gaze went back to the Raikage. The talk of the shogun and samurai primarily fell onto Kitsune’s lap. Being the ANBU Sennin meant Mirō could or could not have the details of what the Shogun and his samurai were doing but she most certainly wasn’t going to open that can of worms to a new fish. Especially one she had never seen or heard from. The only one to trust in the room was the Raikage. Even if Mirō and Midori were friendsly with each other. Gaining Mirō’s trust was an uphill battle that most ninjas never attempted to climb.

Her attention fell onto Midori. “We should investigate in our lords silence. The threat of the Tenouzan church also affects how they operate. But if they’re willing to turn a blind eye to the situation then we might have to pay them a visit. This goes for the Shogun too.” She remembered that the Raikage vouched for the Shogun so in theory they should have communicated with her before the Tenouza were a threat. Mirō let out an expressive sigh, as much as she was for saving those who were innocent within the church... Another part of her thought it would be easier to find out where they’re located and just level the crap hole.

 

[Cloud Seer]

Before Kitsune or any one else in the room could get a say in on who, what, when or how, a bright light filled the room immediately. It wasn’t so much that the light was pouring in through a window, but that the energy of whatever had caused the light in the first place was so massive that it filled the sight and hearing of everyone in Kumogakure as if a nuclear weapon had just been detonated right next to them. Sound was replaced by muffled silence of panic before there was finally an eardrum shattering ‘bang’ directly to the North. The light faded after the sound as a long, Kumogakure-wide, beam of light tore through the sky just above them and into the side of the mountain that protected their walls. Whole chunks of mountain exploded off the cliff-face and fell towards the shinobi village that were stopped only just so by ninja with expertise in Earth Ninjutsu as row after row of stone hands erupted out of the side of the mountain to catch most of the falling debris.

Fifty kilometers North of Kumo was a strong looking wagon carrying a strange, large device that appeared to be a satellite dish. A group of Knights, fully plated armor and riding large muscular horses had to suddenly stop on their mission to destroy the shinobi village as the man in the seat of the weapon’s trigger had become a smoking corpse after accidentally pulling the trigger.
“GODS DAMMIT YU, I TOLD YOU IAOTO HAD AN ITCHY FINGER!” the largest of the company of militants screamed at the others, “Now we’ve just lost our element of surprise. We’ll have to ride the horses to death to get to our location now and pray that the heathens will be too busy scrambling to send anything our way! Koichi, you’re up. Get on the seat and DO. NOT. PULL. THE. TRIGGER.”
The Knight named nodded solemnly and dismounted his horse before saddling himself into the chair behind the weapon. The other Knights took his horse and hitched it up to help pull the wagon. They began their drive once more towards Kumo at twice the speed now as they now knew the company only had minutes to get to location, set up, and fire again before a retaliation would be down their throats. The largest of them didn’t seem like he was overly bothered by the idea of a repraisal and more on the up of getting his job done. The beam of light that had been fired out would of been more than enough to remove the Village from the war had only Iaoto not reached to grab the trigger when the cart bounced over that rock…

Back in the Torre, everyone except the three Sennin and the Raikage were running around like a bed of angry ants. Back into the meeting chamber once more did Miko, head of Cipher, burst in. Her hair was even more frazzled than the last time she had come in, barely minutes ago. In her arms was scroll, after scroll, after scroll, all carrier hawk sized, and filling up both arms. She quickly darted to the table while dumping the scrolls down to scatter across its length. Hands on the smooth wood she looked up at the Raikage directly into her eyes,
“We’re already under attack. The Tenouzans are not playing games today. That…light, was their goddamn weapon! We had a a report come in moments before the weapon was fired from our watchtowers facing North. A Baykugan gifted shinobi was able to report a company of fully plated men riding on the backs of large horses are heading our way. With them is some kind of…dish-like device being hauled in a wagon. Before his report cut out mid sentence, he said it looked like it was fired by accident when the cart hit a boulder. I hate being a doomsayer, but, if they set up and actually fire that thing on us instead of the mountains, we’re dead.
“Top that off,” she continued waving her hands at the scrolls before picking one up and flicking it at Kitsune, “These are all from the surrounding country. From the Nobles. Not from the Shogun, not from the Capital, but from the Nobles that rely on them asking us for help. All reports say that…that the capital is silent…”

With that heavy news on the table, the particular scroll that was flicked the Raikage’s way wasn’t just another plea for help. It was from one of her own provinces in the country, her people from Kitsune’s calling as one of those same Nobles. Within, the retainers that she had left to run things explained that despite the Tenouzan’s overwhelming strength and sudden attack, they were still holding out. The letter was also written in a code that Kitsune would be able to break just at a glance, turning from just a ‘we’re okay don’t worry,’ letter, to a missive full of information on their enemy. Within was a coded message that Miko had missed, describing the strengths and weakness of the Soldiers and Knights.

Spoiler

“My lady Kitsune, I hope that this message finds you in good safety and health. We are under siege by an unknown force of militants, but considering their victory cry of “Glory, for Tenouza”, we can only assume that they are indeed from the Southern republic. The neighboring lands have already sent up beacons of warning that we’ve seen be snuffed out barely moments after they are activated, and still no word from the Shogun either by carrier or Samurai. However, as lands owned by you, we have never needed the policing hand of the Samurai and have managed to fend off most of the assault to your lands through just the shinobi posted here. That said, within this letter pleading for ‘help’ is the actual strength and weakness we’ve determined from our continued conflicts.
“For starters, there seems to be two classifications of the soldiers attacking. The first, aptly called just “Soldiers”, appear to be your file-and-rank Tenouzan militant. However we have noticed that, usually on a command from a higher rank, they will activate some kind of cursed seal that explodes their fighting power by three-fold, at the very least. We’ve witnessed a few of our Genin-Ranked Shinobi suddenly falling to a single Soldier where before they could take on multiples. On the positive, though, it appears that activating those seals has a massive backlash, as we have seen far more people spontaneously combust than one would hope for in their lifetime.
“The others, which we have been calling “Knights” due to every last one being in full platemail, are the really terrifying ones. My Lady, I don’t know how to describe them properly without making them appear to be monsters. They move at supernatural speeds for the armor they wear, not a single Shinobi has fought one and lived, but most terrifyingly, they seem to have an open control over the 5 Elements. I have seen a single man flick his wrist and ice suddenly appear in the size of small glaciers. We don’t know how they have this power and why it is only a select few that can control it, but we suspect it might have something to do with the same cursed seals the Soldiers have. Perhaps, they can control the power?
“We know that with your position as Raikage you can’t send troops to us before the others, but have no fear, we are doing far better than the rest! Our only concern is that as the Tenouzans are pushing against our forces…they slowly creep ever closer to your prized tea garden.”
Ever standing vigilant,
Retainer, Utuko."

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Blinding lights erupted everywhere, as the entire mountain on which Kumogakure was founded shook violently. Even the bedrock deep below had creaked and yawned from the massive explosions. When Miko burst into the room once more, dumping files and scrolls onto the large table, Kitsune slammed her fist on the tabletop and exclaimed ”By the muscular golden arse of Raiden, what was that?!”, to which Miko replied flusteredly that the light was caused by what Kitsune would later describe as a large siege weapon, controlled by the Tenouzans, and aimed at Kumogakure. It would seem that shit had indeed hit the fan, and they’d now need to plan a counter-move.

Then, Miko flicked a scroll at Kitsune after explaining about literally nobody had heard from the capital, so they’d all turned to us. Kitsune caught the scroll and read it, raising an eyebrow at the contents. Maybe the pay raise the codebreakers were to get wasn’t to be quite as large as Kitsune had planned. ”Well. This is quite interesting. It’d appear that the code used by my provinces to communicate went past the noses of the Codebreakers. Either way. We now have some intel on the enemy, thanks to one of my retainers.” Kitsune said and began explaining.

”The enemy are indeed Tenouzans. It appears there’s two types of troops attacking. First, the Soldiers, which appears to have some kind of cursed seal that’ll vastly enhance their fighting power, but with the potential for massive backlash that seems to take out a vast amount of them. The ones that survive would appear to be called Knights, is what I gather from this. They’re clad in full platemail, and move at supernatural speeds despite their armored state. They apparently also have full control over the five elements and it seems to also have something to do with the cursed seals.”

She looked up at her Sennin. ”This is where we come up with a plan of attack and figure out how to wipe the Tenouzans from the face of the country. And figure out why the hell our capital isn’t responding to messages. I’m authorizing the usage of lethal weaponry if it furthers our end goal of exterminating the Tenouzans from our country. At the very least we need to beat them back to their city state, and keep them contained. If we don’t pull a Maru, of course, and cause their armaments to overload and cause a catastrophic chain reaction which would level their cathedrals and churches to the ground. Ashes to ashes, indeed.” she stated wryly.

 

[Toraono Michino]

Rei was processing information quickly. The rain of tea wastefully spat everywhere seemed to avoid the cyborg completely without her needing to move, but that didn’t stop the scowl that curled up the mechanical woman’s lips at the waste of such a precious commodity. Midori was shocked at the current state of affairs but quickly retorted with a resounding bloodlust that Rei thought was a little weird considering this woman was the head of Medical. The other Sennin took the information in stride vocally, but the looks on her face regarding the scientist’s promotion and the attack of Tenouzans was anything but kind; this, however, is what Rei expected of the ANBU leadership. Her retort to the problem at hand was far more direct and along the lines of what Rei had mentioned earlier, checking on the capital and the Shogun. It seemed that the situation was laid out now, all the leaders of their military had to do was decided who got what part of this well sliced war cake. Repel the invaders, send a small force to check on the Shogun and his military, and set up a pre-defense in Kumo in case it all went to shit. Rei was already calculating the numbers she had filed away in her brain on the current state of the branch she had been handed and how to best use her limited resources to shore up the defensive. Then there was overwhelming light.

As the light poured in Rei could feel her body freeze up. The sheer amount of energy exploding off the wave of energy shot at their village seemed to tug at the very makings of her body, and immediately she felt mechanical bits that replaced major organs going into failure. With a flick of her pinky she created, attached, and pulled a chakra string to a very special paper seal tag on a device right below her heart. It kicked started and drove a massive shock into her system that kick started back on those failing parts with a surge of chakra, allowing her frozen body to move again. When it did she breathed in a gasp of air and sat back up, slapped on a pair of shades and moved her body between the powerful light and the Raikage; of course by the time she did this the light had already faded and Kitsune was reading her scroll.

“Excuse me,” Rei coughed once before climbing off the table, careful to not kick over the tea pot or slip on any of the tiny scrolls that had suddenly filled the table between the light and the codebreaker that was once more at the table. She hadn’t even so much as heard the boom that shook the Torre or heard the mountain falling apart. All-in-All, it was a pretty embarrassing moment for the cyborg who had just been promoted, only to have her body fail so suddenly…but there was something off about that light. It didn’t take the cyborg long at all to catch back up as Kitsune explained the military might of the Tenouzans. The supposed strength they wielded almost sounded like it would solve itself after too long, but then all they’d need to do is wield such a strength long enough to destroy Kumogakure. There was no way the Capital was prepared for such an attack, Samurai or not.
“So, three problems, then. One far more dire than we had expected too, if the Tenouzans are already pushing in. We’ll need to take immediate responses to both the Tenouza and the Weapon, but we also cannot feign ignorance and hope that the Shogun is on our side or that the Capital can handle this rush of invaders. If the information about the Knights is to be believed then a handful of them could successfully take out the entire Samurai force. Also…I find it concerning that I do see the Shogun’s Stamp on any of these,” Rei mused as her eyes quickly scanned through each kanji, connecting noble name to lands, “…not a single one…” she sighed and closed her eyes for a moment to work on a quick strategy they could all adhere to and still put a personal touch on. She knew very little of each Sennin, personally, especially the ANBU leader as they were a mysterious figure to start with, but used the base-line ideal of each branch to formulate her plan.

“Here is what I propose,” Rei said after the moment had passed, “Medical and the majority of Main Branch will take the fight to the Tenouzans on the field. We have a lot of new recruits fresh out of the Academy, but very little leadership where as I believe Medical is a bit of the reverse; more veterans, less pawns. This, however, increases our chances of victory in my opinion. It doesn’t seem like Tenouza has anything going for them as far as a defensive plan. This is a blitz rush to take advantage of a shortage of military that can oppose them, and I say lets make the best of that situation,” Rei brushed aside the scrolls to reveal the sections of map that related closest to Kumogakure and the land surrounding, “Here, and then here in this Southern mountain valley with one of the secret paths that leads into Kumo. We strike at the nearest village in point A, defeat the troops, and evacuate the survivors South towards this valley. While retreating we also pull out quick enough to make it look like we’re in a rush because of our low numbers. When the Tenouzan’s go for the easy bait, swing down towards this valley and set up a defense. It’s positioned between three other farming provinces and can allow for Main Branch to strike out from there, hit Tenouza, and retreat back to the valley with any survivors. Every time Tenouza attempts to attack the valley we can defend near infinitum against their displayed tactics. Without any healers on their side they’ll just wage a losing war bashing their heads against these rocks and our shinobi while we use the secret passage to slowly move refugees back towards Kumo where they’ll be guaranteed safety.

“Secondly, I will take the other half of Main Branch and one ANBU squad to stop the Weapon. I already have in mind a few picks of talent from the Academy along with a few good Chuunin my eyes have been on. The ANBU squad will be the icing on top, combining their guerrilla tactics with my open front warfare. Once the weapon is destroyed or taken, I can then send my half of MB as a back up for the ones sheltering down in the valley and push whatever is left of the Tenouzans back into their godforsaken hole; if all goes well on that front anyways. War is tricky…and speaking of, that leaves just Capital and the Shogun. We need to know what is going on down there, because if we can get the aid of the Samurai then we won’t even need to use a defensive tactic. A regiment of Samurai to back up Midori and the MBs I’m sending out that way should be enough to chase them out all together. However, that’s if the Shogun is unaware. Worst case scenario he’s allied with Tenouza or, the gods forbid, dead, to which then we have to be very careful to not leave any finger pints from our side in finding out. At the end of all this, if the Shogun was found complacent in Tenouza’s War, then I doubt he’ll be able to hold the reigns of leadership and we’ll have another Succession War on top of everything else. We can play ignorant and cater to whichever noble ends up in the high chair, but if they knew that we knew and didn’t do anything then its going to be even worse off for us in this country. Thoughts?”

Rei looked up to Miro even though the question was left open to the whole room. Midori she had no doubt would play right along with the strategy laid out as the vampire queen clearly already had a bloodlust. That paired with highly trained medical professionals would probably be enough on its own sans the half of MB she intended to send out; but they made for good insurance. There was no doubt that there were still things left to discover about Tenouza’s Soldiers or Knights, but if their only strategy was a blitz, then Kumogakure had more than enough defensive options for them to shatter their opponent’s spear upon. Kitsune might also have a few weapons projects herself that needed a good testing; war was good for that. Miro, on the other hand, probably had the most to add, with a number of goals and ideas completely unknown to Rei that would assist in her plans. So she deferred to the Sennin with the deadliest shinobi in Kumogakure to choose when and where her power would be used.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Midori listened gravely to what the young Sennin had to say. Mirō's plan of action made sense to her but the vampire had some reservations about taking that kind of approach. The codebreakers did the hard work of figuring out what kind of mischief they were planning– written by the hand of their mad priest who dares challenge the arms of the mighty Kumogakure shinobi. A plan of attack is what Midori was expecting to hear but nonetheless; it could help gather more intelligence if they were to investigate the church further. Perhaps they could have separate teams where one team is working on the frontlines while the other team is doing the cloak and dagger work. After all, stealth isn't really a strength of Midori's since the Sennin's skills lay mostly in tearing things apart and fixing people who are damaged. Can't really hide being a giant woman now can she?

Before anyone got a word out, a bright light flooded the room making the vampire sennin hiss as she used her large hands to try to block out the unbearable light before an eardrum shattering bang resounded through the building and this very room. The little was similar to taking direct sunlight only so much worse, making her feel a bit weaker and a bit woozy. Of course, when the blast ended Midori felt fine, feeling her vampiric strength come back to her as though she were more athletic while also making her joints feel less stiff like a corpse. Once she started to feel okay, she looked around for a moment. "Drac, is zere anozer schtupid jinchuriki trying to destroy zee village gates a-gain!?" Midori yelled, checking everyone to see if anyone else had been injured. Luckily no one was hurt here, everyone with the exception of Rei seemed to be fine at the moment; however, the vampire quickly got up to move over to the window. The muffled screams of panic can be heard from below even before the medical sennin leaned down to open the window so she could stick her head out of the window so she could get a look down at the panic going on down in the streets and then looked towards the dust cloud developing above blowing in from the north in which the vampire already has made her decision to go there to treat.

Leaning out from the window, Midori looked at the group gravely; closing the window behind her so the ruckus from the outside didn't hamper her ability to pay attention to what madam Raikage was saying. All while wondering if she could do something to treat Rei, who seemed fine at the moment but Midori kept an eye on Mirō in case the blast affected her too. After all Midori and Rei were affected by the light so it must have some sort of chakra disruptive capabilities too. Indeed, Kitsune thought that now was the time to come up with a plan of attack since war was here. If the Tenouzan's were striking now and had these dish-like devices capable of producing a beam that could very much destroy the village. Regardless, the main goal now was to wipe these wrenches off the face of this country. When Rei got on the table, Midori looked at the newly appointed sennin gravely. "Madam Zennin Rei, schould vu be up zere? Zee blast zeemingly had affecded vu in zome vay in vich I do not understand yet. Pleaze– takee care of how vu move at zis moment." that was the best advice that she could give the newly appointed sennin before Rei began to lay out a detailed plan of attack.

Midori had to admit, the plan indeed sounded great to the vampire; especially the part where she and the main branch will be working together to take the fight to the Tenouzan's. A little grin came to her at the idea of how many hearts she can devour as payment for this mischief and use their bodies for as her mindless puppets after she drained them of their life's blood. Looking down at the map that was laid out to them, Rei began to lay out a plan of where they would be taking the fight to the Tenouzan's on their own grounds. Rescuing the survivors before feinting a retreat so they can continue to beat them back to their own grounds. Once the plan was laid out, the floor was open for any questions. "Zis plan in vich vu discribe to us zounds gooood.. Zough vat happens if ve prove ourzelves too much for zeze Tenousan's to handle? Do ve just go accorting to plan, retreat vile ve could eleminate zen take zeir baze from zem vhen zee opportunity comes?" Midori asked though gravely she had to be that person to ask the next thing. "Zere is alzo ein chance zat zey too vould pe too much to handle. Vat if one of zeze bazes doesn't host any zurvivors at all? Zat zee Tenouzan's have orchestrated zheir of ovn trap und ve run into a army of zem instead of zurvivors? Vill vu be villing to, zay, uze a more aggressive approach for zee zake of zee mission if zings go in our favor or if ve zomehow end up lozing our advantage?" the giantess looked down at the cyborg, knowing the in a perfect world where everything goes as plan this would flawless but this plan didn't take in account if they were REALLY successful or if they were playing into the hand of the Tenouzan. While Plan-A looks fine, they need to come up with a few backups in case the others fail. Plus this allows her to know what she would actually be able to do since she could be putting her people in danger if she acted recklessly.

 

[Kagami Miro]

Tick… tok… tick… tok… Each passing moment during the council's discussion drew the march of the Tenouza troops closer and closer. From the day her squadron left the compound Mirō knew these lunatics would build themselves up stronger. It was only natural. It was what she and many other shinobi and kunoichi did, the same mentally for man itself. To be stronger than your enemy so you can continue living in this image of peace that your ancestors have created for the new generations to come. Though it was never easy and sacrifices were made each day, the pursuit of tranquility and peace always left a trail of blood in its wake. Unfortunately, ideals collided between Tenouza and Kumo. ‘And our drive and strength is superior to-’

Pale ears twitched at the sound of a faint whistle coming from outside. Red hues turned, a horrible mistake. Just then a flash of white filled the sky, painting Mirō’s face in a bright luminescence. Since awakening her Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan her eyes constantly kept the base version of her sharingan active. The burning white light sent a shock of pain through her retinas and down her optic nerves. Her arm moved quickly to press the bend in her arm against her eyes. A shriek of pain cried out from her, anxiety piling into her stomach, already worried if she was blind. Through pain Mirō moved her arm away from her eyes that soothed some of the pain she felt. Squinting through tears she could barely make out the features of Midori’s face through tears and blurred vision.

Her gut then flipped on her when the idea of another Jinchuuriki. It would be different this time, it needed to be. ‘What the hell is going on? Are you okay?’ The concern from her summon finally struck her brain. ‘I don’t know but that light and shockwave… affected my chakra... if only for a moment…’ Her body felt heavy, returning to normal as the code breaker and the Raikage spoke up.

Cursed seals and mastery of the five elements? We’re these lunatics even true to their own beliefs anymore. Binding their vessels with cursed seals is manipulating chakras from the user to the target, even drawing out the target's own chakra. The details didn’t add up. That’s when the newly appointed maid voiced a strategy that left Mirō with a disgruntled look on her face for a moment. Before Rei even finished Mirō had another strategy that ventured further away from consolidated teamwork between the branches of Kumogakure. Her inner consciousness checked her beliefs at the door to this solo playing field she devised.

If this was war Mirō was the least experienced one in the room. The backgrounds of Rei and Midori were fuzzy but Kitsune on the other hand was different. She had experienced atrocities like this beforehand, and to hear her input would help solidify Rei’s statement and stop herself from taking the entire ANBU branch and devising her own plan. That mindset was selfish, and no matter how far she had gotten, only a few times did she travel the road fully alone. At the current moment, working simultaneously with the Raikage and other branches favored a more successful outcome in this war.

However, she wasn’t just going to let some new fish order around her squadron of elite ninja. The ANBU squad she would appoint had a few different faces in mind, seeing if they wanted to assist… These damn retirees seem to forget their roots, if not she would take her finest captains and herself to destroy the weapon. But from the sound of the impact and the blinding shockwave of light the weapons strength will come in handy if taken into Kumo custody, more so ANBU. “I’m on board with your strategy. I’ll personally lead the ANBU squadron to attack the weapon while the main branch stops the reinforcements from surrounding the weapon. While the main branch and medical protect the city and assist in evac, I suggest main branch and ANBU nin protect our flanks.” Her eyes remained shut to stop the burning sensation she felt in her retinas, a finger moved up to her ear piece, “Status report.” A moment went by as an ANBU Op responded. “Remain vigilant.” Continuing her commands Mirō issued another squad to remain on standby as scouts to Kumo’s more vulnerable flanks.

“We are already in position to defend Kumo.” Her hand fell back to cover her sensitive eyes from the light inside the office, peeking out occasionally to assess the damage. “I’ll have another squadron begin the attack on supply lines. If their armor still works like it did at the compound, the Dimiterium will erupt at the presence of chakra. Sending chakra bombs in without engaging to have their platoons detonate like bombs wipes them out. Another thing, Kitsune is closely tied with the Shogun. It would be easier to locate and coordinate with the Shogun if she were to search for him. With an escort of ANBU operative of course.” Mirō said, finally pulling her hand away from her eyes. As much as she believed in Kitsune’s combat power, even though she herself had never seen her in action, travelling with ANBU made the worry in her gut dissipate.

“Destroying the weapon is the true goal. After that we can communicate through our headsets to carry the next plan.” Mirō looked at the Raikage then at the two sennins. Time was of the essence, once everyone agreed they would set off to execute the plan. Red hues glanced over at the newly appointed sennin of the maid branch. “Gather your best up quickly, we will stay in touch while your forces eliminate the threat around the weapon.” Times like these made Maru’s plan of wiping out the Tenouza forces with a massive attack seem easier and more logical.

[WC:981]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune nodded at the plan Rei had laid out, and that Midori had agreed with. ”We’ll go with that plan Rei-chan. It seems like a good way to handle it. I’ll take a small squadron and go seek out the Shogun and figure out what’s going on there.” she stated simply, ensuring everyone was on the same page. ”Now then. Miro-chan, I’m putting you on the task of getting that weapon. Intact if possible, if not, then make sure any debris from it is sealed into a summoning scroll, and sent to my lab, and ensure no one gets their hands on it. If I can study it, we might have another weapon against the cultists on our hands.“

She narrowed her eyes and slammed her fist against the table ”Rei, you’re field commander for this operation. Your strategic capabilities will be invaluable for this fight. Midori, ensure our forces suffer as few casualties as absolutely possible. Miro, run covert strikes within the plan parameters, and don’t put forces in against the bigger clusters of enemy forces.” she commanded and brought out a map of the country, unfurling it on the tabletop and putting pins in known hotspots. ”Miro-chan, pick out an operative to go with me to the capitol. Rei-chan, same thing.”

It was very much Kitsunes intention to figure out what the heck was going on at the capital, because it was clear a unified front had to be made against the Tenouzans. If anything, the army and navy might have to be brought into play, alongside her shinobi forces. There’d also be a need to conduct a lot of research on not just the Tenouzan armaments, but also their ground troops.

 

[Toraono Michino]

Rei listened intently to the responses of her peers as she continued to calculate possibilities of failures and success. There was too much unknown, and Midori made a firm point about defending the Village itself, as well as a mirror of thought in that they still didn’t know enough. Someone was going to need to stay behind and control the field as reports came in. Originally she had intended to take on the Weapon herself and let the ANBU Sennin take care of the Shogun while the Raikage played field commander from a safe post within the walls of the mountains. However, an unknown piece of information subtly shifted roles around as Kitsune gave out final orders. She personally had an in with the Shogun, something that Rei had previously no clue of, and it gave her the best opportunity to get into the Capital and see what was wrong. Sending out ANBU to investigate, while possibly safer, would send the wrong messages and it seemed she had miscalculated that branche’s strength vs their stealth skills. Looking at the fury on Miro’s face made Rei wonder briefly if she had a personal problem with giant beams of light only to be reminded by Midori’s outburst that the Sennin of ANBU had already died once trying to protect her village’s honor. The drive the girl had to have for making up for that mistake had to be strong…perhaps putting her in charge of taking out the Weapon would be more favorable…

Reaching up to her own communicator, Rei double tapped the receiver button and demanded that the entirety of Main Branch and the highest ranking Academy Students be gathered together and prepared for battle. She would give out orders when the meeting was over and she could get to the command post the Main Branch would be gathering at. At the time being, she had to wrap her head around the order of being Field Commander. In a war this size, it was almost comparable to being suddenly entitled with the Raikage position, and though she kept her shock well off her face, Rei was quietly panicking. When the cyborg woke up today, she had not expected war, a sudden increase in responsibility, and to be fit into the role of commanding their side of the battle. Yet she wouldn’t let it overtake her. This is what the scientist had always wanted while she had been a researcher in the Puppet Weapons department; now was her chance to shine. With a deep breath the woman nodded to her peers and placed a hand on the unfurled map to start pointing out positions,

“Naturally, I would like all of you to react on instinct. War is a fickle beast and the tides can change for no reason due to lack of information, weather, and sudden disease from the massive amounts of death. When I send out orders, take them with a grain of salt and compare them to your current situation. If what I ask of you is too much or too little, I implore you to follow your hearts and send back a message with your current strategy so I can recalculate my plan. If you need to act without my word, do so. We don’t have the luxury of time so far, but if you can afford it I would like to keep abroad the plans of actions from all three party.
“Miro, in your task I would like you to capture the Weapon if at all possible. I know that’s asking a lot, but if we can capture their technology as opposed to outright destroying it, and see what makes it tick, we might be able to use it against our opponent in the final battle. Getting our hands on such a device would no doubt swing the war completely in our favor; unless they’re hiding god-like powers.
“Midori, in your task I would ask that you start with the Heartlands and swing through the swamps there to attack Limbus Terra from the East. From there you should be able to hit the valley I spoke of easily no matter how heavy the resistance is. Rescue as many as you can, and if you can spare the man power, send a group to the Tenebrous Coast where a lot of our countries noble families will be vacationing this time of year; I pray the harsh winter kept them closer to their homesteads. If we win this war but have no more nobles to lead the country, Tenouza might as well have won anyways.
“Finally, Kitsune, your group will potentially be in the hardest situation. Once your in the Capital, contact will inevitably be cut off. There has been no word from Raiden’s Eye in some time so I can only assume that whatever agents we had placed there years ago are either dead or no longer on our side. Once the Capital has been liberated and brought into the war, we should be able to completely move South and crush Tenouza, once and for all. With that, I would like to adjourn this meeting and get moving. Our window for counter attack is small and closing fast, it’s time to take the fight to them. For Kumogakure, and the Lightning Country,” Rei said, finishing with her hand clenched into the Kumogakure military salute. She would let the others say their peace, take note, and then leave the office.

The counter attack was about to begin.

[Topic Left unless Stopped]

 

[Kagami Miro]

Two names popped up in her head to escort the Raikage. One being a new guy who she herself put a bit of faith into. Another… Well, she’d be lying if she mentioned that he’d fully cooperate. If he ever believes she never respected him, he’s as much a fool as he is old. Time would tell, and thankfully there were radios around to get his attention within time. “Of course Raikage, I’ll send them here immediately.”

Tasked with stealing their weapon was a heavy burden to bear. A few ideas were concocted already, but some of them held greater risks than the others. Mirō rubbed her chin in heavy contemplation of her plans. From her chin her hand curled into a fist that fell into her open palm. “Alright. It’s settled then. I’ll form my team and send an experienced op to rendezvous with Kitsune. Best of luck to the rest of you.” A look of hope painted her face, looking each member at the table to incite hope into their own. Her chair scooched back, allowing her to rise up. Black tresses of hair fell forwards as she gave everyone a proper bow. With haste she exited towards the door and out the room. As soon as it shut her voice was lowered to a whisper. Mirō changed the radio frequency to voice her commands to special operatives to take position in the designated areas while she rounded up her team.

[Topic Left unless stopped]

 

[Midori Futotta]

All came up with a proper plan of attack, now it was time to act and eradicate the Tenouzans from the lightning country! Each person had their own thoughts, different ideas and goals. Mirō wanted to have the weapon destroyed with her squadron being the ones attacking the supply lines, though her majesty Kitsune wanted to at least save some parts of the weapon for research. Rei acted as the field commander, calling shots in the battlefield since they did seem okay with battle strategy but nonetheless it was a good choice since Midori will be making sure that their forces do not suffer any casualties; after all the code one in the medical nin rulebook was that a loss of life is permissible, failure to fight the loss of life is not. So what kind of medical nin would she be if she accepted that there will be casualties of their own people rather than fighting to keep everyone alive?

With a courtly nod towards her majesty Kitsune, the giantess replied. "Very vell, my dearest. I vill fight to zee to it zat ve zuffer no cazualties at all. Yes, I knov zat this vould be a lot to expect but ve all must haffe hope for zee best… but prepare for zee vorze." While Midori did have high expectations for herself, internally she knew that there would be people who would surely meet a tragic end on the battlefield but one could only hope that her immorality, enhanced durability and some of the healing that she was capable of doing would give her an edge in this battle. Looking down as Rei called her, the cyborg would then tell the giantess her role to play and where they would be taking the fight on the Tenouzan's own grounds. Midori is grimiest at the thought of traveling through a swampland (mostly due to the bugs and the mud) but hopefully with the cold that soil should be hard. Still she didn't like the idea of ruining a pair of expensive heels and a dress made for her size only.

Pushing the thought aside, Midori focused back on the task. "Very vell zen, I vill zee to it zat zoze civilians are rescued und zee nobels are protected... Arh ! Hoveffer I zink ve need to conziter protecding our ovn grounds– after all ve know not vom in zee country ve can trust zince to zoze beople ve all are devil's." she stares blankly at Rei, while some of the county's noble-men could be useful to them the vampire had a sneaking suspicion that someone of higher standing might be FUNDING the war. ""Civilians can be controlled, ruled offer effen but I zink ve schould zee if zee ozer nobles are innocent first before ve protect zem blindly. Zomeone is funding zat vreched church und until certain members of nobility zey are cleared– I may be a bit hezidant in protecding zem… Good day…." With that, Midori left the office without another word…….

[Left Unless stopped]