The cool breeze of the crisp air ruffled the trees as the morning mist began to part. Naruto stood on one of the trees that overlooked the coalition encampment. They were three hundred yards away more or less, but even from this distance he could tell that they were readying themselves to march again.
He felt the branch shift beneath him and turned his head to catch sight of Guan and Ginchiko. The Kiri ninja's missing eye was patched up nicely, only the faint edges of the scar Shizune's senbon had caused could be seen. And Ginchiko also looked well despite her all too recent injuries.
Naruto looked back to the camp. "I assume your men have been briefed."
The two Kiri jounin nodded before allowing their own gaze to travel to the camp just a stone's throw away.
Guan moved to speak, but Ginchiko beat him to it, surprising him slightly. "Lord...If we do not end this quickly…I fear Iwa, Kumo or Suna may take advantage and strike us from the rear." Both Guan and Naruto noticed her slight hesitation in calling him lord. To be expected the Jinchuuriki supposed.
He nodded. "Do not worry, I have already addressed the situation between Kumo and Iwa…it will hopefully keep them busy enough for us to finish this undisturbed."
Both Guan and Ginchiko exchanged glances before the larger man decided to voice their thoughts. "What do you mean sir?
A platoon of 30 Kumo Anbu leapt through the trees silently. Their forms mere blurs as they whipped past.
The leader, a man wearing a bear mask with a green cloak held up his hand, signaling them all to stop. "This is far enough." He yelled before he leapt down to the forest floor, the others following closely behind.
The leader reached for his mask and with a soft click, the strap was unbound and he slipped it off revealing-
"Ahh my youthful comrades! We have arrived in fire territory again, remove your facemasks and let our victory be heard!"
Such was the cry of one Maito Gai as he threw off his green cloak.
The rest of the ninja removed the forged Kumo Anbu masks and headbands, revealing Konoha jounin and chuunin hidden beneath. One grunted as he removed his mask and cloak, tossing them aside as he fixed his headband. "I gotta say…Hokage-sama's pretty smart, having us pit Kumo and Iwa against eachother."
Gai's expression didn't change as he thought. 'Already they acknowledge him as their Hokage…'
Still, even Gai had to admit the strategy was good. Have his squad pretend to be Kumo ninja, and attack Iwa, who had no doubt been planning to attack Konoha, thus putting their two greatest threats against one another, leaving him free to deal with this coalition.
"Gai-san." Another addressed him. "Do you believe Ibiki-san's and Anko-san's missions will proceed as planned?"
He smiled giving the man his nice guy pose. "Do not worry my youthful comrade, our friends Ibiki and Anko will succeed!"
Before the man could say anything further Gai turned on his heel. "Now! My youthful comrades onward, back to Konoha!"
A short pause…
"That's the direction of Kumo isn't it?" One ninja whispered to another.
"Yes…" He answered back.
Another short pause…
"How long do you think it'll take him to figure it out?"
"Its Gai…how long do you think?"
Yet another short pause…
"Fuck."
Meanwhile:
Ibiki and Anko were also leaping from tree to tree, their two contingents, numbering sixty men in total following closely.
Ibiki looked to the purple haired kunoichi as he spoke. "This is where we part ways, good luck Anko."
She grinned back at him. "Aww Ibiki-chan…you really do care!" She sniffed a few fake tears as he grunted in irritation. She giggled after a moment. "Don't worry, I don't need luck…I've got knives."
He nodded before he made a few hand signs to the men behind him and with a strong leap, swerved to the right, vanishing into the forest along with his men.
Anko smirked as she looked behind her to her own group of ninja. "Alright boys we gotta make good time so we can catch those grass idiots off guard! Pick it up!"
Two days later:
Naruto stood again at the top of a tree, the green leaves, shielding his form from the harsh sun and the eyes of the enemy who continued to approach…they were still just beyond his sights, just a few hundred yards.
Kimimaro suddenly appeared next to him, the last Kaguya stared impassively at his leader. "We are in position Naruto-sama. At your command…"
Naruto nodded. "I trust you know the plan…when I give the signal, pull back immediately."
Kimimaro nodded. "Yes…however, you have yet to tell us what the signal is Naruto-sama." He replied impassively.
"Do not worry Kimimaro, you will all know it when you see it." He replied somewhat cryptically before he looked to the former sound nin. "Now…go, rejoin your squad and wait for the enemy."
He bowed his head once before leaping to the tree tops.
Naruto looked back to the general area he could feel the enemy approaching from. "Kenpachi, Yoshino and Zaraki. The three of you have decided to shoulder a burden far to heavy for you to bear…I shall take that burden from you, together with your lives."
Yoshino sighed to herself as she sped through the forest floor, the rest of the ninja army moving swiftly at her side. The coming confrontation was not something she wanted and the more she ran it around in her head the less she wanted it. Still, just as lord Kenpachi said, they had to fight…as the leader of her village she had no choice but to fight and defend her lands now, no matter how much it pained her to do so.
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