Naruto: Tango with Death

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"Thank you all for coming on such short notice."

I nodded, along with everyone in the tent, to Fugaku. The Uchiha Clan Leader had a hand in his hair as he said, "We have found what Iwa has been planning, at the cost of several precious lives."

Fugaku placed a wooden figurine of a horse and moved it over the Narrow Sea up North, going past the Cones peninsula to reach the Land of Rice, which had a direct border with the Land of Fire.

He said, "The five tails, Han, has been leading a large host through the narrow sea to lead an attack up North. We have already set defences in the Land of Rice, but they won't hold against him."

He then grabbed the figurine of a monkey, as well as one of a torch, and slid them toward the border of the Land of Jungles.

"Roshi of the Four Tails will be leading another army through the Land of Jungles, along with the Explosion Corps."

Fugaku then grabbed two faceless figurines and moved them into the Land of Fields to say, "We also know about a trump card of Iwa situated within the Land of Fields, but that's all we know. They possibly have the Seven Tails Jinchuriki with them."

Silence reigned in the room, until Fugaku turned his gaze to Guy, who grinned and said, "Youth shall shine through the Land of Rice! I can't wait for a second round against Han!"

Fugaku nodded slowly, and Kakashi added, "I guess I could take the Jungles' battle against Roshi."

The two of them were among the more injured people, but they also dealt the most damage. Guy was simply a beast of power when he activated the 6th Gate, and the 7th Gate was even more absurd.

As for Kakashi, although he didn't have any hax, he was one of the most skilled Shinobi in the world.

However, Fugaku said, "No, Kakashi, I want you with me in the Land of Fields. Most of our army will either be going with us or Guy. Shimasa, your Inizuka Clan will be going with Guy."

Shimasa, the Inuzuka Clan Head, nodded, looking a little bored.

Then, Fugaku turned to look at me, and said, "The host moving through the Land of Jungles is the smallest, so I don't want to waste too many troops on them."

I tilted my head a little, and said, "Most of them shouldn't be too big of a problem, but Roshi can counter some of my techniques, he is not a very good opponent for me."

All of my powerful Jutsus were Suiton, and while water countered fire, magma was another matter entirely. If I really had to fight against him, and him alone, I probably could win, although I couldn't guarantee victory, but I would definitely be able to stop him.

However, it wasn't him I had to stop, it was the rest of the army, and to do so I would need Ninjutsu, if I wanted to be efficient. And if Roshi was left unchecked, he would be able to counter my jutsus pretty easily.

Fugaku nodded at my enquiry and revealed, "You will be going with Mikoto. She has a rather similar fighting style to you, so you should be able to work fine together."

I nodded, a smile gracing my lips as I saw Mikoto winking at me. It was a dangerous mission, but I was happy I was getting to spend time with my friend. Time spent killing people, but still time spent together.

I had to pull my attention back to Fugaku though as he asked, "Will the two of you be enough?"

I nodded and replied, "Definitely."

Fugaku nodded, and I could see what the other people in the room thought of the plan, and honestly, it was quite ambitious to defend against the Explosion Corps and the Four Tails Jinchuriki by the two of us, but I was confident.

Fugaku crossed his arms and looked at the Benders' general as he said, "General Tsubasa, as we've discussed, you should defend the Land of Fire with some of out troops, in case of a surprise attack."

General Tsubasa nodded, while I looked at him curiously. I never fought against a strong Bender, I wonder what that's like. I mean, I did fight some, but never one at Jonin level, so I can't help but wonder how I would fare against one.

Well, maybe I'll be lucky and I'll get one today, who knows.

Our directives given, we all exited the tent. Mikoto said a few words to Fugaku, followed by a kiss, before coming my way with a smile.

She ruffled my hair and said, "It is going to be very dangerous, maybe I should go alone. Sigh, I wouldn't feel good with myself taking a child with me."

I rolled my eyes at her and replied, "You'll be allowed to say that when your kill count surpasses mine."

Mikoto said, "What tells you it doesn't? I'll have you know I'm getting close to a thousand…"

I snorted and replied, "I'm already past two thousand."

"You're joking."

I shook my head and said, "I did quite some damage in Kumo. I think I may be getting close to three thousand actually, I'm not sure. I've been dealing with bigger and bigger crowds of people."

Mikoto shrugged and said, "Well, it's going to change today. They barely have 700 hundred men with them. However, they all will be relatively strong, even the regular soldiers."

I smiled and looked at her katana, which was in her back, and said, "How do you want to go about it then?"

Mikoto placed her hands on her hips and replied, "Well, there aren't a thousand ways to attack a bigger group, are there?"

I nodded, and said, "We are dealing with the Explosion Corps and Roshi, a Jinchuriki. Both specialize in attacks that span over a large area, so I suggest we fight in close quarters, to stop them from using those attacks."

Mikoto nodded back and added, "Same, this way they will do themselves more harm than us, and even if they insist on using those attacks, we can use their own men as shields. However, are you sure your sword will hold on?"

I sent a look at my katana, which rested at my hip, understanding what she meant. Mikoto and I had trained together a few times in the past month, mostly on Kenjutsu, something she happened to be better at than Shisui, and she had spotted the damage on my sword.

The sword I used was always the same, the one I had gotten all the way back when I was in the academy, so it wasn't of the best quality. I had been pushing it past its limits by using my strength and speed, but while the sword continued cutting people, it was taking much more damage than it should.

The logical thing would be to change sword, a sword breaking in the middle of a fight was never good, but I didn't want to. The sword had accompanied me for my entire journey, and I didn't want to just discard it like that.

So I forced a smile, one she couldn't see with the mask so it was more for me than for her, and said, "It's going to be fine, we should be to dance at least one more time…"

Mikoto remained silent for a moment as the mood went down, before eventually saying, "I heard the Samurai have special techniques to take care of their blades, maybe you should hire one someday."

I shook my head and replied, "It's fine, I'll manage. Come on, we should go."