Naruto: Tango with Death

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[Sukaina's POV]

Directly stepping into the tent, it took a couple of seconds for everyone inside to actually spot me. Seconds I used to look around the room.

Here were gathered the leaders of this army, that is our Jonins and the leading Benders, generals of the regular army.

I didn't know them, but everyone in this room looked relatively worn out. The battle mustn't have been easy, but at least no one I knew had died. This was a relief.

On a side, Kakashi and Guy were next to each other, with Kakashi sitting down, and his one eye drooping down. However, he still was one of the first ones to notice my presence.

Next to him, Guy, despite managing to stand, was leaning against Kakashi's chair, and his body was covered in bruises, undoubtedly a result of overuse of the Eight Gates technique.

On the other side of the table was Fugaku Uchiha, along with his wife and my friend, Mikoto Uchiha. The two also looked exhausted, but other than that not too exhausted. They must have exhausted their chakra reserves to protect themselves from the Jinton, or Particle Style, of the Tsuchikage.

Only one person looked at their peak in the room, and that was Shisui, who had arrived after the fight. However, while it wasn't something anyone else could see, his eyes were a little more turbid than before. I could see it because of how often I interacted with him. I had seen him use the Susanoo, and considering he didn't have the Eternal Mangekyou, this could only mean one thing. It didn't look bad already, he had barely used the Susanoo after all, but there definitely was a change.

I tried not to worry about this though as when everyone's attention was on me, I said, "I was sent here to reinforce you."

I wasn't familiar with everyone in the room, but it seemed that everyone in the room understood who I was as I saw a few happy faces, even from people I did not know. Guy looked ready to jump at me, but was stopped by Kakashi.

Fugaku made a small smile, something which was rare, according to Itachi and Shisui, and said, "Welcome to our camp, glad to have you with us."

I nodded, and saw a much larger smile on Mikoto's face. She approached me and said to the rest of the tent, "I will be explaining the situation to her, continue without us."

She got a few nods, but didn't even bother to acknowledge them as she pulled me out of the tent. The way the stationed guards panicked seeing someone they didn't see enter come out of the tent was very funny to see.

As we got out, she passed her arm over my shoulders and said, "My fearsome little friend, I heard you scared an entire country! That's something worth celebrating."

I smiled and replied, "Celebrate when I'm only at one? We can do that when the whole world becomes afraid of me."

Mikoto chuckled, "My oh my, I should have known you would be that ambitious. You think we should send a letter of your arrival to Iwa, for fairness?"

"A blood letter maybe."

Mikoto said, "Maybe you will make that old geezer pop a vein and die of anger. That certainly would be an original way to kill a Kage."

I chuckled, and said, "Would be a sad end for someone like him. How was it, fighting him?"

Mikoto shrugged and replied, "Annoying, I guess. He can fly, and getting hit by him means death. Besides, all of the top fights were mostly probing. Well, except for that poor Two Tails Jinchuriki."

I rolled my eyes and said, "She was the one to start, with her damned Tailed Beast Bomb. She shouldn't go around throwing these."

As I said that, we had arrived at a more secluded side of the camp, where there wouldn't be anyone eavesdropping on us, so I asked, "Anything I should know?"

Mikoto let go of me and replied, "For now, things are under control, but honestly, we are on the loosing end, and it could turn worse."

Curious, I asked, "How so?"

Mikoto answered, "The Land of Jungles has been allowing the Iwa army to pass through their country, and even use their hidden village as a base. And although they haven't joined the war effort yet, we think it may only be a matter of time."

I frowned and said, "So we could have another Jinchuriki against us, that would be problematic. Moreover, it is the Seven Tails, who can fly. They could be terrible to our army."

Unlike at the end of Shippuden, it wasn't common for people to fly. In this world, as far as I know, there is only Onoki, the Tsuchikage, as well as the Seven Tails, who can fly. Probably Pain too.

A Tailed Beast on the ground was terrifying to face because they can dish out absurdly strong attacks while keeping a very strong defence. But one that can fly can not only move faster, it can also become pretty much invulnerable if it flew high enough.

However, Mikoto said, "Seven Tails isn't an unstoppable menace. We have means to stop it, or its Jinchuriki. However, Takigakure, and the whole Land of Jungles, could be a problem."

"How so?"

Mikoto explained, "They have something they call Hero Water."

I tilted my head and said, "What is that supposed to be?"

Mikoto sighed and replied, "Something supposed to be capable of strengthening the chakra of whoever drinks it by ten times."

My eyes widened in surprise as I exclaimed, "That can't be?! There has to be a catch, right? Or they wouldn't be stuck at this level of power."

Mikoto nodded, "We don't know how long, but we know it takes at least several dozens of years to make for even one portion. And we believe that while it would grant a very strong power for a time, it would result in the drinker's death after usage."

Despite hearing this, my frown did not go away.

"That is still problematic. If someone like Onoki or anyone at his level were to drink this…"

Mikoto nodded, "Indeed. Maybe it wouldn't strengthen someone of his level as much as it would affect an average soldier, but we can't know for sure, and while we don't, we have to consider it as the worst thing it could be."

I scratched my head, and said, "Well, I think I know what I should begin with then."

Mikoto sighed, and said, "Well, we still need to tell the others about it, but I don't think there is any reason to stop you, so… be careful, will you?"

I smiled and lightly hugged her as I replied, "Those kinds of missions are what I excel at. Moreover, I managed to bring a country to its knees without making my presence ever known, nor without using strength at any time. In comparison to the mission in the Land of Forests, this is child's play."

Mikoto smiled, and together we headed back for the main tent. There, they were still discussing their plans.

They stopped with our arrival. Looking around the room, I asked, "How long until our troops are ready to fight?"

One of the generals of the Benders' army replied, "For most of our troops, they have already rested enough. For the officers in here… between a day and a week."

I nodded, and said, "Good. I will be heading to Takigakure to investigate on that Hero Water, and their intention regarding to the war. Do we know of any bases they set up I could take care of on my way there?"

They looked at me strangely, remaining silent for a moment, before one of the younger officers said, "There is one, but it is a little close to Takigakure, and there are several hundred men there…"

I cut him off, "Show me on the map."

The younger officer looked at the others, and after getting a nod from one of the generals, he finally showed me.

With everything I wanted to know, learned, I nodded at my friends, before walking out.