Chapter 57: The War Begins
In a secret cave near the Grass-Rain border, Dana was waiting for another guest.
By his calculations, Hanzo of the Salamander should have already dealt with the trouble in his village and be on his way back.
"My lord," a ninja reported, returning from outside, "the tracks have been laid."
Dana nodded, toying with a Healing Talisman. The talisman had been developed six months ago, a product of a fortuitous combination of the Uzumaki sealing jutsu the Cloud had collected over the years and old man Yoshitoki's medical ninjutsu. The batch he was holding was the first-generation prototype, with a fatal flaw: it couldn't be transported in a sealing scroll, and if two of them were kept too close, they would interfere with each other. They were supposed to be destroyed, but they made for perfect bait. Because they couldn't be stored in bulk, it was impossible for someone to just pack them all in a box and hide them away. And they were encrypted, so there was no fear of the production method being reverse-engineered.
The Sand had discovered Hanzo's departure on their own. And their decision to attack the Hidden Rain was a highly probable outcome, given the long-simmering tensions. Of course, if the Sand hadn't made a move, Dana had a backup plan. He would have, as promised, given the carts of books and Healing Talismans to Hanzo to take back with him. But that would have been a different story.
Everything was going according to plan.
The weather here was truly miserable. A drizzling rain, like a leaky faucet, had been falling all day.
After what felt like an eternity, Darui approached. "My lord," he said, "they are five kilometers out. There are no Byakugan users with them."
Dana nodded. He casually tossed aside the Healing Talisman, which to any outsider would have been a priceless treasure, and put his mask back on.
"Get the talismans ready," he ordered.
His men quickly began to take the talismans, which had been separated by books, and stack them in bundles. A few fell to the ground, but no one bothered to pick them up.
"Reinforce the genjutsu on those two."
One of his men went over and cast another illusion on their two "comrades."
With everything in place, the Cloud ninja stood in silence, waiting. A short while later, several figures appeared outside the cave, all of them dressed in combat gear and wearing white animal masks. They stood silently on the rain-slicked branches of the trees, a palpable sense of pressure emanating from them.
After dealing with the attack on his village, Hanzo had immediately led his men back to the Grass-Rain border to complete the handover. The immense value of the Healing Talismans had been proven. The surprise attack had been devastating, but with the talismans he had brought back, they had managed to save many of the wounded, turning a catastrophic loss into an acceptable one.
There were still nearly a thousand more talismans in the cave. To Hanzo, it was no different from a few cartloads of gold.
But when he arrived, his heart sank.
The area around the cave was a scene of destruction. Trees were uprooted, and the cave itself had collapsed. Hanzo immediately began to examine the tracks. It seemed a group had come from the direction of the Land of Rain and attacked the Cloud ninja in the cave, while another group had come from the direction of the Land of Fire, trapping them in a pincer attack. The Cloud had been overwhelmed.
The carts were all destroyed. A dozen or so Healing Talismans were scattered on the ground. It looked like the Cloud had tried to destroy the talismans, but had been unsuccessful, only managing to destroy a portion of them. They had lost two men, and the rest had fled. The attackers had then left in the direction of the Land of Fire. They hadn't gotten far.
Hanzo was furious.
"Secure the two bodies," he roared. "After them!"
Even in his rage, he had to consider the Cloud's reaction. The two bodies might lessen the pressure on him later.
He eventually caught up with the attackers. From their attire, they were Konoha ANBU, and they were carrying a large number of the Healing Talismans. But it seemed they didn't know that the talismans couldn't be stored together; they were carrying them in bundles.
Hanzo had been running and fighting for forty straight hours. He fought desperately, but a few of them still managed to escape. He only managed to recover about two hundred of the talismans. The rest were taken by the Konoha ANBU.
Helpless, he returned to his village. As expected, two days later, he received an angry letter from the Cloud.
His old friend wrote that the Land of Rain had been infiltrated so thoroughly it was like a sieve. Anyone who was paying attention could have tracked Hanzo and known something important was happening. This was the reason for the disaster. Not only had his own village been attacked by the Sand, but Konoha spies had also found the cave after he had left, called for reinforcements from the Land of Fire, and launched a pincer attack, catching the Cloud team completely by surprise. They had lost two of their finest ninja.
A large quantity of the supplies had been stolen by Konoha, the very village the Cloud least wanted to have the Healing Talismans. Even the young genius, Mada, had nearly been killed. The incident had caused a huge backlash in the Cloud. Many were questioning the wisdom of supporting the Hidden Rain at such a high cost. His friend was doing his best to suppress the dissent, but it would be difficult to send any more aid in the near future.
Hanzo's heart ached. He had no one to blame but himself. He had to admit that it was true: his country was like a sieve.
A week later, the Sand sent an envoy, demanding that Hanzo hand over all information about the healing talismans. Hanzo, of course, had no patience for people who attacked his village one day and then came demanding favors the next. He gave the envoy a beating and sent him packing.
A week after that, the Hidden Sand declared war on the Hidden Rain, citing the Rain's repeated interference with their missions as the reason. A large force was mobilized towards the Land of Rain. The next day, the Hidden Rain responded in kind. Hanzo personally led his forces to the Rain-Wind border and successfully repelled the Sand's advance team, further cementing his reputation as a "demigod."
Just as he was beginning to think the crisis was over, the Hidden Stone declared war on the Land of Rain. With the Rain's forces concentrated on the western front, they marched into the country unopposed. But their target was not the Hidden Rain Village. They were using the Land of Rain as a corridor to advance towards the Land of Fire.
The Hidden Stone set up a garrison on the Rain-Fire border, their intentions clear. Konoha was forced into a standoff.
Almost simultaneously, the Hidden Stone and the Hidden Sand both declared war on Konoha. Konoha responded, declaring war on both nations. Hanzo had now lost control of most of his country and was forced to consolidate his forces around his village.
The small Land of Rain had become a battlefield for three great nations. The country was thrown into chaos. And the war was not confined to the Land of Rain. Conflicts and standoffs were breaking out on all fronts.
The war that would go down in history as the "Second Great Ninja War" had officially begun.
As the shadow of war fell over the ninja world, Dana had already returned to the Hidden Cloud. But not for long. He soon left for the Land of Hot Water. There, Kitanouji had already purchased one of the country's finest hot spring inns. Half of it would operate as a normal business, while the other half would serve as a temporary base for the "Special Strategy Division."
The Hidden Cloud was too far from the center of the continent, making it difficult to mobilize forces and react quickly.
Dana and his "Special Strategy Division" would be staying here for a long time.