Chapter 44 — The Battle Begins
Woooo—!
The shrill alarm blared across the Sound Military Fortress.
After being pressured, cornered, and publicly shamed by Oda Nobunaga's tactics and propaganda, Dodai had no choice but to swallow his disgust and lead Kumogakure's army straight to the gates of the Fortress.
He had intended to bypass the fortress and strike directly at Azuchi Castle…
But a sudden emergency order from the Raikage, Fourth Raikage A, arrived from the rear—
Cloud must appear at the Military Fortress.
Not because Raikage A suddenly cared about strategy.
No—what forced his hand was public opinion.
Even if A himself didn't give a damn about "public sentiment" or "international perception," the smarter heads in Kumogakure—like Mabui—did.
They could not allow Kumogakure's already crumbling reputation to sink to the bottom of the continent.
The whole world had watched Cloud shinobi pillage the Moon and Hot Water countries for supplies.
With Nobunaga fanning the flames and all the daimyo gleefully adding fuel to the fire…
The entire continent was denouncing Kumogakure.
Worse—other great villages, especially Konoha and Iwagakure, seized the chance to stomp on Cloud's face.
Every headline, every rumor, every conversation became another knife stabbing Kumogakure's image.
Under the pressure of Mabui and the other strategists, the conclusion was obvious:
If the Cloud army caused too much destruction in the Land of Fields… the Fourth Great Ninja War might erupt immediately.
Cloud wasn't afraid of war—far from it.
But becoming the enemy of every village under a unified moral banner?
Unacceptable.
"Damn that brat Nobunaga… damn Konoha… damn Iwa…"
Now forced to stand at the base of Military Fortress—the "national gate" Nobunaga spoke of—Dodai glared up at the mountain fortress, still grinding his teeth.
"Lord Dodai, there was no helping it," a jonin beside him tried to soothe.
"Of course Iwagakure would seize this chance—they're our old enemies.
And Konoha… they've always feared Cloud's strength. They'll never waste a chance to smear us."
"You know nothing!"
Dodai snapped like a whip.
Yes, he understood their reasoning—the issue was deeper.
Cloud's invasion of the Land of Fields had originally been meant as a defense of all shinobi—a demonstration of shinobi supremacy, a warning to the daimyo not to overstep.
But instead of rallying behind Cloud, the other villages watched Cloud burn and even threw stones.
Their petty ambitions blinded them.
They wanted the benefits of Cloud's aggression, but none of the responsibility.
"Those spineless traitors!"
Dodai spat toward the ground.
But words were useless now.
He turned away from the fortress, scanning his own troops—tens of thousands of Cloud shinobi burning with battle lust.
After a long moment, he spoke again:
"…and what of the Grass ninja?"
After all, officially Kumogakure was fighting to avenge the "murdered" Grass jonin.
Grass and Cloud were supposedly marching together.
Yet not a single Grass shinobi had been seen.
"Grass-nin… won't be coming."
The atmosphere shifted.
Every jonin looked around awkwardly until their gazes landed on the same unlucky man—the one who'd been scolded earlier.
He swallowed and began reporting the bad news.
"Takigakure has blocked the Grass forces at the border of the Land of Waterfalls.
They claim they must 'protect their citizens from Grass-nin kidnapping attempts.'
They refuse to allow Grass forces to pass, no matter what."
"…What?"
Dodai stared blankly.
Another village had openly sided with Nobunaga and barred Cloud's ally from marching?
And why had this information only just reached him?
Had no one intended to tell him unless he asked?!
Seeing Dodai's murderous stare, the unlucky jonin stammered on.
"We… we questioned Takigakure together with Grass-nin, but Takigakure never replied.
Instead… instead…"
He hesitated, trembling.
"Speak."
Dodai's voice dropped to a freezing growl.
The jonin braced himself.
"Takigakure… published a statement.
They announced that—
'The Land of Fields' daimyo Oda Nobunaga has bravely stood up for justice and for the safety of all common people.
Takigakure supports his efforts to restrain violent shinobi behavior.'"
Silence.
Dead silence.
Even the wind dared not blow.
Dodai's eyelid twitched.
Takigakure—
a minor village that normally grovelled to avoid being crushed by larger powers—
had publicly condemned Kumogakure…
and openly praised Oda Nobunaga.
The nightmare had begun.
The words squeezed out from between Dodai's teeth came burning hot, as though flames were about to burst from his eyes.
"According to our scouts," the jonin continued nervously, "Takigakure's conduct has received unanimous praise from the people.
The citizens of the Land of Waterfalls practically treat the Takigakure ninja as heroes."
"The Fields Neww and Voice of the Fields in the Land of Fields are also loudly praising Takigakure's 'righteous stand.'"
"Across the entire continent, all those ignorant commoners are cheering for them. The daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls even announced he will increase Takigakure's budget, to reward them for 'fulfilling their duty to protect the people.'"
"With praise and budget both rising, Takigakure's shinobi are practically floating when they walk."
The jonin swallowed.
"And the day before yesterday, they clashed with the Grass shinobi who tried to force their way through…"
"A bunch of bastards," Dodai spat.
Now he understood why the Grass situation had been kept from him—
it was simply too humiliating.
He forced down his rage with several deep breaths, face dark as iron.
Grass-nin not arriving didn't matter.
The world's hostility toward Cloud? —he would endure it.
But Nobunaga must not think this means Cloud has lost its edge.
A tiny, insignificant "Sound village"?
Did they really think they could withstand the might of Kumogakure?
Just wait.
Dodai vowed silently.
Soon, he would stand before Nobunaga himself and ask him—
"Do you regret it now?"
And as the commander finally gave the long-awaited order to advance, the Cloud shinobi—who had been simmering with resentment the entire march—exploded into action.
Per standard formation protocol, the main force held position.
The vanguard shot forward, leaping between ridges as they surged toward the front gate of Military Fortress.
Every one of them believed, with absolute confidence, that the vanguard alone could crush the defenders—no need for the main force to intervene.
Meanwhile, on the defenders' side—
---
Inside Military Fortress
"Enemy sighted in Southern Sector Three.
Engagement underway in East Sector Six between our forward guards and Cloud shinobi."
"Reserve Unit Twelve and Medical Unit Seven moving to Area Forty-Five."
"Shadow-Wild Squad and Edge-Cutter Squad, report to Passage Thirty-Eight for deployment."
"Ninth Logistics Company, complete loading and launch immediately."
"This is Supplementary Unit Thirty-Six. Preparations complete. Requesting permission to sortie."
"Copy. Central Command authorizes deployment. May fortune favor you all."
"Medical team escort duty assigned to Unit Three."
Inside the central command room of Military Fortress, the Sound Division of the Land of Fields carried out their battle plan with perfect order.
Even though they faced one of the mightiest forces on the continent—Kumogakure—
not a single officer, whether shinobi or civilian-appointed strategist, showed fear.
Their calm spread through the entire fortress.
Morale soared.
Especially because the daimyo, Oda Nobunaga, sat among them—
choosing to stand and fall together with his people.
The effect was electrifying.
---
"Kimimaro Unit—Deploy!"
Among the armored Sound shinobi, Kimimaro—wearing the modified chakra armor supplied by the Land of Snow—slowly opened his eyes as he heard the sortie order.
He rose without a word.
The battle of Military Fortress…
had finally begun.
---