WAB: Chapter 4

I had, almost as soon as Kiba and I had split up, immediately ducked into an alleyway. I was willing to bet that Castle Troops would be coming out of the Castle Grounds momentarily to search for us, and I needed the cover of the alleyway to flash through a quartet of hand seals, beginning and ending in the Tiger Seal. As I felt the Meisaigakure no Jutsu (Hiding With Camouflage Technique) take hold, turning me invisible to the naked eye, the shrill notes of tin whistles echoed through the night, proving me correct. Shouting followed as sergeants and officers badgered squads of Castle Troops, with their revolvers and katana, through the streets of Tetsumizu.

As a pair of troops came barreling through the alleyway, I flattened myself against the wall of one of the buildings, waiting for them to pass me by. As they did so, I silently hoped that my cousin had done the same thing as me and gotten out of dodge. Knowing Kiba, though, I doubted it. He didn't have it in him to back down like that when he didn't think he had to. As the pair of castle troops hustled through the alleyway, disappearing around the corner of the other end of the alley from where I had entered, I heard the unmistakable sound of revolvers discharging shots. It seemed I was right on the money once again.

Thankfully, Kiba and Akamaru should be beyond something like bullets right now. Sure, they'd hurt, but they wouldn't kill them if properly defended against. Not unless they got hit in a vital spot, anyway. I seriously doubted that the Castle Troops of Kobayakawa Castle were good enough shots to put a bullet in my Cousin's eye while he was moving at super speed, though. He and Akamaru should be all right. That meant, however, that they were providing a hell of a distraction, and it would be rude of me not to take advantage of it.

I slipped out of the alley and headed for the private dockyard that was attached to Kobayakawa Castle under the cover of my Jutsu. The only real flaws that the Meisaigakure no Jutsu had for this sort of infiltration work were that sound still travels, and you still leave tracks, both of which could be mitigated against by being careful with your movement. Aside from those, Dojutsu Users and Fuuinjutsu Wards could detect you, but that was true of just about anything. Regardless, I very much doubted that the Castle Troops of Kobayakawa Castle had access to either Dojutsu or Fuuinjutsu Wards, although I couldn't be certain about the latter. Clearly, Hrothgar had learned Fuuinjutsu from someone, even if he had to get someone else to charge his seals. The question of who was one that would need to be pondered later, though. Right now, I had a job to do.

That being so, I made my way carefully through the streets of Tetsumizu City, dodging patrols of Kobayakawa Castle Troops and being careful not to make too much noise or step in anything that would leave conspicuous tracks. It was a lot slower going than I would have liked, but thankfully, my Cousin was proving to be one Hell of a distraction. Everyone's attention was being drawn to the other side of the city thanks to him and Akamaru actually staying to fight it out. I could afford to do it this way to ensure nobody was alerted to my presence unduly.

Ordinarily, I would be a lot less circumspect, just like my cousin was being, but Lord Kobayakawa's Private Dock was close enough to the castle that he could very well just order the Steam Cannons to bombard the private dock if he felt it was a loss. I may be a Tokubetsu Jonin, but that didn't mean that a concentrated bombardment from Steam Cannons wouldn't ruin my day. It's not like I was an Elite like Gai-Sensei or Kakashi, after all. Plus, with Fuuinjutsu in play, I was willing to bet that even an Elite might have trouble if they were bombarded by a bunch of Seal-Scribed Steam Cannons. An S-Ranked Shinobi could just shrug that off, but there were precious few of those in the whole world, and I wasn't one of them.

So I snuck my way through the checkpoints, past Guards posted at the docks, and over the wall of Jinmaku in Red and Blue bearing the Water Lily Mon of the Kobayakawa Clan. As I made my way onto the private docks, where the Small Squadron of Sekibune and Kobaya that Lord Kobayakawa was allowed to maintain as a warfleet was docked. As a Churo, said warfleet wasn't very large, only two Sekibune and six Kobaya. Large was relative, though, since the smallest Kobaya came with fifty-five oars and seemed to be one-hundred-ten Shaku long, which was just about one-hundred-ten feet, or thirty-three and a half meters long in Earth Terms.

Regardless, those were what I was here for, and I made my way over to the large, covered dock where a large amount of steel and other materials lay piled up in crates, ready to be brought inside and used. It was there that I would find my target, the Mizutani-No-Ou (King of the Lake), and could try to sabotage it. Unfortunately, I wouldn't get to do that without a fight. Oh, certainly, I managed to slip past the guards milling about around the entrance easily enough, but I must have underestimated the Polar People's Technology because no sooner had I stepped inside and stopped to gawk at the titan of blue and red-painted steel, brass fittings, and Fuuinjutsu-scribed guns, than I suddenly found myself having to dodge an attack from Kurosawa.

The Samurai, the lenses of his facemask glowing with golden-orange light, had stepped out from behind a pile of crates, drawn his Katana, and lashed out with his blade, flinging a cut of pure Chakra at me. I just barely managed to use the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Replacement Technique) to avoid being cleaved in half by the Issen (Flash) of the Samurai's Blade. Instead, a crate took the hit for me, exploding into a ball of flame and Iron Shards as it did so, revealing itself to have contained ammunition for the Cannons of the Mizutani-No-Ou. I was forced to channel chakra into a Doton: Doroku Gaeshi (Earth Release: Earth Shore Return) to avoid being burned by the sudden explosion or pelted by shrapnel. Of course, no sooner had I done that than there was a crack of thunder, and I was forced to throw myself to the side as the pillar of earth I raised with the Doroku Gaeshi was blasted through as lightning and metal crumbled it into rubble and whizzed over my head.

I skipped to my feet in time to see that not only was I facing off against Kurosawa, but I was also fighting Hrothgar of the Polar People, his revolver glowing with the energy of active Fuuinjutsu. I summoned my Chakra, engaging the Kōton: Kōtetsu no Tai (Steel Release: Body of Steel) and the Oni no Karada no Jutsu (Ogre Body Technique), skin reddening and body bulking out before turning steely and gray. That I managed just in the nick of time, as Kurosawa flashed forward, blade already striking for my neck. I put my arms up to block, and his Chakra Metal blade struck sparks off my steel forearms.

With a snarl, I lashed out with a kick, but he danced backward out of range, Chakra drawn into his blade as he struck out with another Issen even as he dodged. I found myself forced to duck under the wave of Chakra as it cut through a metal crane meant for loading and unloading ships with a screech of tortured metal. The crane collapsed off its base, landing on the deck of the Mizutani-No-Ou with a crunch of metal striking metal, forming an impromptu ramp up onto the deck. I leaped up onto it, using it to try and board the ship even as I swayed aside from another Issen, this one a diagonal cut, from Kurosawa. Unfortunately, there was a roar of thunder, and I felt something slam into my chest, bruising my ribs even through the multiple Nintaijutsu techniques I had up and blasting me back off the crane ramp.

I landed with a rush of expelled breath on my back on the stone pier, almost immediately having to roll to the side to avoid another blast of thunder, which slammed into the stone where I'd landed, cratering it. I skipped to my feet only to be forced to draw the Blade of Inoshishi-No-Kami from out of a Storage Scroll and parry an incoming slash of Kurosawa's Blade, even as it was charged with Futon (Wind Release) Chakra. Fortunately, the metal of the divine relic I had for a sword withstood the super-sharp, Futon-enhanced edge of Kurosawa's Blade. I parried and slammed a knee strike into Kurosawa's torso, the metal of his armor denting, but holding. He was, however, forced back away from me. Unfortunately, before I could follow up, I was forced to dodge another blast of Thunder from Hrothgar, this time using the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to get extra space.

I looked over at Hrothgar, frowning. The Polar Person Mechanist had a grin on his face as he cocked his fuuinjutsu-scribed revolver once again, pointing it at me. He fired and I dodged again, this time leaping straight up, flipping around to kick off the roof of the covered dock and impart more velocity to myself as I did so. Hrotghar resorted to fanning his revolver in order to keep up, but that was an inaccurate technique in the best of circumstances. Most of his shots missed me, though one smashed into my shoulder, bruising my collarbone with a crack of thunder and sending me flying into one of the brass smokestacks of the Mizutani-No-Ou, crumpling the metal in half around me before falling to the deck.

"So this is a Shinobi of the Elemental Nations? I must say, you are surprisingly hard to kill." Mused Hrothgar.

"You don't know the half of it." I grunted, struggling to my feet.

"He'll go down all the same." Insisted Kurosawa, clambering up onto the deck.

"Still, I wonder what makes you different from the last of you Elementals to give us problems?" Questioned Hrothgar.

"There were others?" I queried, stalling for time.

"Just one. A Priest of Your Hachiman, I believe. He had some power that he could use to draw in energy from the air and convert it into power to use with his Bow and Arrows. It didn't help him, though. The Bow is obsolete when compared with the Pistol." Smirked Hrothgar.

I looked over at Kurosawa, who seemed uncomfortable at the mention of the death of a Priest. Hachiman was the Patron God of Samurai in the Religion of Fire, River, Grass, Rice, Iron, and Rain Countries, too, which probably didn't say good things for Kurosawa when it came time to meet his ancestors. I might be able to use that to turn this into a two-on-one scenario in my favor. I just had to try and play on those emotions.

"And you were all right with this, Kurosawa-dono? The slaying of a Priest of the Kami of Samurai strikes you as a reason to follow Hrothgar?" I asked.

"It was not what I would have chosen, but the Priest would have spoken out about My Lord's flouting of the Convention of Iron." Ground out Kurosawa.

"Do you truly think a man such as this, who has slain a Holy Man, cares about your Lord as anything more than a means to an end? I would not put your faith in such a man, Kurosawa-Dono, you are likely to find yourself betrayed in short order. After all, if he is willing to kill a priest for his ambitions, what else is he willing to do?" I questioned, pressing the issue.

"You can't be taking this seriously, Kurosawa, can you?" Queried Hrothgar with a scoff, there was a genuine concern under the smarm, though, I could feel it.

"He makes salient points. After all, what assurances have you given against such betrayal?" Mused Kurosawa, clearly seeing the hesitation in Hrothgar as well.

"You want assurances, do you?" Asked Hrothgar.

"Indeed. I want assurances that you will follow through with your promises to my Lord." Nodded Kurosawa.

"Oh, believe me, your Lord will get exactly what is coming to him." Smirked Hrothgar.

Then, almost predictably, he drew his revolver and fired three shots into Kurosawa so swiftly that I almost didn't have time to react to the action. Kurosawa fell as I blurred forward, lashing out with the Blade of Inoshishi-No-Kami for Hrothgar's torso with a Konoha-Ryu: Yūgure (Leaf-Style: Dusk). My vertical vacuum cut, however, was dodged by the simple expedient of Hrothgar rolling forward in a tumble, avoiding my cut and rolling over Kurosawa's Bloody form, adding insult to injury.

"I knew you were no good!" I snarled.

"Me? Oh, but it was the vile Shinobi who struck noble Kurosawa down. Their sort so often engages in assassination, or so I am told." Grinned Hrothgar as his tumble came to a halt, with him on one knee.

"Liar!" I shouted, pressing forward, blade of Inoshisi-no-Kami striking out in a thrust. Hrothgar turned and thrust his revolver forward, ready to fire as the pair of us paused. His revolver's muzzle was pressed up against my shoulder, while my blade point was at his chest. Unlike some people in this position, though, he didn't stop to banter, nor did I. Instead, we both pressed our attacks. I struck out with a kick that smashed into his chest, bowling him over, even as he fired his revolver, which thundered across the side of my head, putting a crease into my steel forehead as the thundering bullet skipped across my brow. Both of us fell to the deck, neither was out of the fight just yet, the technology in Hrothgar's Armored Greatcoat and my Nintaijutsu keeping us both going for now.

I rolled to my feet, launching a crackling arc of Electricity with the Raiken: Michishio (Lightning Blade: High Tide) at Hrothgar even as he got to his feet himself, fanning his revolver. My attack hit on target, frying whatever wiring allowed his greatcoat to give him the power to move at speeds where he could hit me. At the same time, two of his five shots smashed into my ribs, breaking one of them even through my Nintaijutsu. I pushed the pain aside, however, and lurched forward, cutting out at him. This time, he couldn't dodge, and my blade claimed his head.

I staggered to a halt, cutting off my Nintaijutsu as I did so. Almost immediately, my forehead began to gush blood from the crease his revolver had put into it, and the aches and pains of two bruised ribs and one broken one hit me with a vengeance. Fortunately, I had a fix for that, reaching into my storage scroll and pulling out a Soldier pill, I popped it into my mouth and sighed as my broken rib and forehead healed, though I still had one bruised rib and one tender one. It was enough, however, and I managed to make my way down into the bowels of the Mizutani-No-Ou, making my way through the decks and into the engine room.

Here, I found the boiler, with its complex array of Fuuinjutsu helping to add to its power. I frowned as I looked at the seals. Parts of them looked like Uzumaki-style work, but most of it seemed to be Fuuinjutsu from one of the older Suna Schools of Fuuinjutsu, the one founded by Chikamatsu Monzaemon for use with his Puppets. I don't think anyone has used this style of Fuuinjutsu for decades. It was the Uzumaki bits that threw me off, though. It was all so complex that even with as good as I was with Fuuinjutsu, I couldn't really make heads or tails of most of it. Ultimately, though, I didn't need to. I just needed to know enough to cause a fatal chain reaction, which I definitely did.

A few moments with chakra ink and a brush later, I had effectively turned the boiler into a bomb with a three-minute timer. For a Shinobi like myself, that was plenty of time to escape. One last application of the Meisaigakure no Jutsu, and I was able to slip out of the covered Dock, past the milling guards, and make it out of the Private Dockyard with fifteen seconds to spare, ducking into an alleyway, I counted down, holding my breath as I did so. The second the countdown hit zero, a massive explosion rocked the Waterfront, one which broke windows and took out not only the Mizutani-No-Ou, but also the entire covered dock, the Guards milling about out front, and one of the Sekibune, capsizing the larger, hundred-oared Warship.

Suddenly, everyone's attention was on the fire that was raging across the docks, and nobody had time to chase down a Shinobi on the orders of a Gaijin like Hrothgar anymore. I was able to make my way out of Tetsumizu City and to the rendezvous point on the road east of the City with minimal hassle. Fortunately, it seemed that both Kiba and Akamaru were able to do the same, though my cousin seemed to be favoring his ribs just a bit.

"Trouble?" I questioned.

"I handled it." Huffed Kiba.

"You sure?" I queried.

"Yeah, those Polar People Revolvers are no joke, but it wasn't anything we couldn't deal with, right, Akamaru?" Asked Kiba, getting an affirmative yip from Akamaru.

"Good. I handled things on my end, too." I nodded.

"Yeah, we saw. I think half of Fire Country did too." Smirked Kiba.

"That being the case, we should leave." I intoned.

"Yeah, sure thing, Cuz." Agreed Kiba, Akamaru baying his agreement.

And with that, our adventure in Tetsumizu City came to a close. We mostly stuck to the road for the rest of the trip back to Konoha, not going into a City and risking getting involved in further shenanigans. By the time we returned and gave our report to the Hokage, Lady Tsunade awarded us both pay for an S-Rank Mission, said she would think about Lady Kobayakawa's request, and then ordered us not to speak of what we saw in Tetsumizu City to anyone. I'd also been asked to draw what I recalled of the Boiler Seals from memory, the drawing of which was quickly snatched up by Lord Third, who said he'd use a summoned Monkey to pass it along to Jiraiya. Lady Tsunade reiterated that we were to mention this to no one, then kicked us out of her office.

So, you know, pretty par for the course for how my life tended to go. What with secrets I couldn't speak about on pain of a gruesome death. It wouldn't even be the first or second time for that, either. Honestly, though? I didn't much care about that, I was just glad to be home.

I'd missed Konoha while I'd been away. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. It turns out that the Polar People having schizo-tech Powered Armor Technology means that, between that and the Fuuinjutsu that Hrothgar had worked into his coat, he was able to keep up with Choji in terms of speed, at least enough to be in the ballpark. His pistol did the rest, as it's literally as fast as a bullet with the fuuinjutsu giving it extra punch. Kurosawa, meanwhile, was able to use basic Chakra along with Chi Techniques and Schizo-tech power armor to go blow for blow with Choji while he was in his Steel and Ogre Body Form.

Both of them were Tokubetsu Jonin-caliber opponents when all their stuff was taken into account. That would be on the higher end for Polar People Mechanists, but Samurai go a lot farther on the power ladder. It's the differences between largely relying on technology versus relying on power that you have yourself. While the Polar People can get a lot more Mechanists up to that level in a shorter time than most Shinobi or Samurai, the Shinobi and Samurai have a higher ceiling.

At any rate, the next chapter will be Choji back in Konoha, as he'll run into various folks and see how they've changed over the timeskip. I'll also have some Ninja Info Cards out before then for Shikamaru and Ino.

Stay tuned. . .