143. A Clan’s Destruction

Early evening

The night was still...to an eerie degree

Under my orders, my squad hadn't uttered a single word. After being dispatched to the Hōzuki-jō1Demon Lantern Castleby Raikage-sama, we kept quiet and stealthily made our way through the lands

Our village's reputation still wasn't that great and others would frown upon the idea of a covert squad moving in the dark, with me, the infamous Jiton no Toroi2Toroi of the Magnet Styleat its head

After sailing along a northern shoreline at Ronri's behest, we arrived just west of Takigakure's3Hidden Waterfall Villageborder. Traveling downwards south, quickly making our way into Kusagakure4Hidden Grass Villageterritory

TAK! TAK!

Damn it. It's getting harder to see

The forest is getting more and more thick the further we venture into their lands. Makes sense how close Kusagakure is to the Land of Fire

An ambush would spell bad news as none of us are familiar with this territory. Osoi, being the well-educated man that he is, might know something...but his overall skill is still at Genin level

TAP!

"!" (Ronri & Funsui)

"Hm? What is it?" (Toroi)

"Over there" (Osoi)

"Over...oh" (Toroi)

Ah, there's the Tenchi-kyō5Heaven and Earth Bridge, right where Osoi said it'd be. I take it back, he's proving to be the most useful out of all of us

"Alright, we're in Kusagakure territory now. We can break the silence, but I still prefer the quiet. Let's pick up the pace!" (Toroi)

"Right!" (Everyone)

VWOOSH!

Almost there

♦♦♦

Kumogakure

Team Tango had just returned to village, heading straight for the "mission assignment desk" within the government office

"Well done on the mission, we left and returned in record time" (Tango)

"Not the challenge I was looking for, maybe I should've worn my training bracelets" (Rei)

"I thought the same" (Suzu)

"And I think you two are completely craz-" (Tai)

BUMP!

"O-Ooof! Ah, hey!" (Tai)

As the quartet arrived at the office, another shinobi bursting out of the office in a hurry, bumped into Tai

"Sorry about that!"

"Geez, where's the fire?" (Tai)

"...Let's get inside" (Tango)

"..." (Suzu)

CLINK!

"?!" (Tai & Suzu)

"What in the-?!" (Rei)

Upon opening the doors, the team was greeted with sight of every employee in a frenzy. Shouts, yells, along with all sorts of indistinct noises were all they could hear. Making it impossible to understand what anyone was saying

Tango tried to pry for answers when he was abruptly stopped by fellow Jonin, and letter-bearer, F

"I wouldn't advice doing that Tango, those desk-managers won't even bother to answer you unless it's relevant to their work now" (F)

"F-senpai, what in the world is going on? We just got back from a mission and-" (Tango)

"Do you have a report on paper?" (F)

"Um...yes?" (Tango)

"Then put in that box over there, and meet me outside so I can explain what's happened. It's best we don't get in someone's way" (F)

Without even a chance to respond, F had marched right out the building with the Genin in tow. Tango did as advised and quickly followed suit

CLINK!

"Alright, what's this about senpai?" (Tango)

"You guys just came from a mission right? And correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm willing to wager it was located near our south, maybe southeastern coastline? Perhaps dealing with some rogues, thieves, or other individuals of similar malcontent" (F)

"How'd you-?" (Tai)

"It's because various other teams, including mine have undergone, or are undergoing the same" (F)

"Where are these people coming from? How could so many criminals just show up in our country at the same time?" (Tango)

F's expression turned serious after sighing

"From what I've gathered, they all hail from the Land of Water" (F)

{The Land of...where Kirigakure6Hidden Mist Villageis? Oh. Oh no...I don't like where this going} (Rei)

"As for what's caused them to arrive here, it's due to a sudden increase in shinobi patrols within that isolated archipelago of a country. The Kiri-nin are moving about with a vengeance, hunting down any rogue criminal...or Kekkei Genkai7Bloodline Limituser they can find" (F)

"What?!" (Suzu)

"Hunting them down...I could understand the criminals but-!" (Tai)

{No. No. No. No. Please don't let this be what I think it is...!"} (Rei)

"Why hunt down people with special powers?! People like that are always huge assets to countries, and to just indiscriminately kill them...that's just crazy!" (Tango)

"I know, just the rumors of what's been going on make me to tremble. Though it's nickname hadn't circulated very far, it won't be long before most civilians start calling that village Chigiri no Sato8"Village of the Bloody Mist"" (F)

"I knew Kekkei Genkai users were already treated as second-class citizens in that country due to new prejudice after the last war...but to think they'd start purging them" (Tango)

{Discrimination and racism are the same no matter what world you're in...} (Rei)

"...Being treated terribly due to heritage" (Suzu)

{Suzu...} (Tai)

"..." (Tango)

"From what I've gathered, a clan with said Kekkei Genkai decided to rebel against Kirigakure. Obviously they were wiped out, and after that-" (F)

"The hunt for other potential threats began with a vengeance. Sigh. The only thing worse than being hunted by a shinobi village...is being hunted by an angry shinobi village" (Tango)

"Most thieves and criminals housed there quickly understood it wasn't safe to stay for the time being and fled. Looking to do their business elsewhere" (F)

"And with us being the closest neighbor, they've started arriving in mass on our shores. Fantastic" (Tai)

"We've already contacted that village and they've promised to pay reparations for their actions. Hence, the chaos going on in the office. On the bright side, the recent influx of missions will do us good" (F)

"On the bad side, our land now has more problems than ever" (Rei)

"H-Hehe...right" (F)

F awkwardly scratched his head when the cynic Rei pointed out the reality of the situation. The Land of Lightning, and its shinobi capital Kumogakure, now had a whole new slew of issues to deal with

And while these marauders could never threaten the village as a whole, the many small towns and people living within the country itself were now at risk

If the kumo-nin stretched themselves out too far, it could leave them vulnerable to other shinobi nations. Fighting another war was the last thing they wanted

"Those reparations better be good" (Suzu)

"From what I've heard, they are. Even if they know they're in the wrong, Kirigakure's being awfully generous...to a disturbing degree. I can't imagine another nation giving us that much money. The Mizukage's9Water Shadowbeen making some odd decisions ever since the end of the last war" (F)

{Because he's secretly under Akatsuki's...no, Tobi's control} (Rei)

"What's Raikage-sama's opinion?" (Suzu)

"Let me know when you find out, Raikage-sama has left the village on a diplomatic voyage with the Daimyō-sama" (F)

"?!" (Rei & Tai)

{Could this be what Osoi-sensei and Tango-sama were talking about?} (Suzu)

"Diplomatic voyage. To...Kiri?" (Tango)

"No, somewhere else. However, no one knows where. Dodai-sama might, but I'd doubt he'd tell you. Hell, he might not even be able to make time for you today. There was something important going on with Tenga-san he needed to oversee" (F)

{Dodai and Tenga, it must be-} (Tango)

{The "Network" project. The time has finally come, I need to call Tetsuo} (Rei)

"Whatever the reason, it must've been important as Raikage-sama's group is traveling along a Noble Road to arrive at their intended destination promptly" (F)

"Noble Road...!" (Suzu)

"Those...they remind me of the timesaver paths Shimogakure10Hidden Frost Villagemakes a profit on" (Tai)

So-called "Noble Roads" were travel routes all over the main continent for the exclusive use of Daimyō's. They pass through almost no checkpoints and are heavily guarded by soldiers not loyal to any shinobi nation

Trespassers among these routes are immediately met with lethal force and those lucky enough to get away are placed at the top of the Bingo Book. With bounties high enough to attract any and every soldier of fortune, not to mention the shinobi villages themselves

It's for this reason there are few foolish enough to illegally use these passages

"I've heard using those are quite expensive" (Rei)

"Yup, straight out the the Daimyō's pocket, so whatever they're doing is of the utmost importance" (F)

"So much going on all at once, and our leader's not even here" (Tango)

"It happened right after he left, talk about crappy timing" (F)

{Crappy timing. Maybe...} (Tango)

"In any case, I need to get back. My team's been called for another mission" (F)

"Ah! Before you go! Can you tell us which clan rebelled against Kirigakure?" (Rei)

"Rei?" (Suzu)

"Hmmm. If memory serves me right, I believe they were called...the Kaguya Clan" (F)

"..." (Rei)

"?" (F)

{SHIT!!} (Rei)