Naruto: Uchiha no Densetsu

Chapter 31: Konoha's Strategy

"Raiton: Kaiten" Hinata said hurriedly. As she started spinning with arms stretched out wide, a blue colored spherical dome made purely of chakra began to materialize all around her. And with the raiton chakra rushing through each of her tenketsu, it added a sparkling cerulean hue to the protective barrier.

Several gasps could be heard from the crowd, especially from the area where the Hyuga clan members sat, since most of them had turned on their byakugan to see within the mist. Whereas the others among the crowd could only speculate as to how Hinata countered the attack. The elders of the Hyuga Clan as well as Hiashi and Hizashi widened their eyes upon the sight in the arena. Meanwhile, Hanabi gripped her dress tightly in anticipation. Unknown to the rest of the clan, she had often accompanied Hinata when she trained alone. And during one of those times, she had also happened to come across her sister practicing to add raiton element to the Kaiten. Earlier, it had certainly come as a shock to her that the defensive properties of the Kaiten could be enhanced further. But actually, seeing the completed technique was absolutely mesmerizing in her eyes.

'To think, she would be able to even add elemental manipulation to the jutsu…' Hiashi thought proudly, as he leaned a little forward. On seeing the subtle smile on his brother's face, Hizashi couldn't help but smile himself. He had seen the tension etched on Hiashi's face these past few weeks because of the looming war. And to see him forget about the invasion, even if it is for a moment, is indeed a relief to him.

"She's become quite the kunoichi, hasn't she?" Hizashi spoke, turning his gaze back towards the match.

"Indeed, she has." Hiashi replied, with a slight nod.

Back in the arena, the moment Samui's jutsu entered the mist, the entire arena began sparkling in a brilliant show of lightning flowing everywhere through the mist. For about half a minute, it looked as if a small storm had formed in the arena. Despite the high luminosity and random sparks of lightning being shot, Samui maintained her focus and kept her chakra output stable. Although, soon enough, she began to grit her teeth in slight agitation, as the jutsu began to take a toll on her. While she had mastered performing the jutsu, she still had trouble maintaining it for prolonged period of time. Meanwhile, inside the electrified mist, Hinata had created a pocked of vacuum inside the barrier formed by her Kaiten. Few beads of sweat began to roll down her forehead as she grew a bit tired of the constant rotation. Maybe if she had more time to better her elemental manipulation, the jutsu would not have made her grow so tired. But, as it stood, Hinata guessed she could probably keep this up for another minute or so. As a few more seconds quickly ticked by, the Hyuga heiress began to notice the instability in the chakra of Samui's jutsu.

'So, she's starting to lose focus. This is my chance…' Hinata thought, waiting for the right moment.

Up on the walls, Samui had to finally let go of her jutsu, as she could not maintain the chakra in her attack for too long. Moreover, she did not want to deplete herself of chakra for the next matches. Looking down at the arena momentarily, Samui smiled inwardly, thinking that Hinata would be out of it by now or at least severely weakened the Hyuga heiress. Unbeknown to Samui, in the cover of the mist, Hinata promptly stopped her rotation the moment Samui's jutsu ended. She saw the Kumo kunoichi run along the wall while still trying to pinpoint her exact location.

'I certainly used more chakra than I had thought. But, if this attack works, I should be able to end things quickly…' Hinata thought as she made a single kage bunshin, which made a beeline dash for Samui, while the original began doing a long set of hand seals.

It had been a little over twenty seconds since Samui let go of her jutsu and began circling the wall. While the mist was beginning to clear up, the vision was still hazy at best. Suddenly, Hinata jumped out of the mist and onto the wall. Before Samui could get over the shock of Hinata being harmless, she had to quickly duck under a palm thrust. Just as Samui went for a leg sweep, Hinata flipped over her and threw several kunai towards the Kumo kunoichi. Samui took out her tanto and expertly deflected all of the kunai, before blurring towards Hinata yet again. This time, Hinata had to take out a kunai in each of her hand to block the oncoming attack from Samui. The moment the two kunoichi made contact again, Samui noticed how she was able to overpower Hinata quite easily.

'Something isn't right. Her strength felt far stronger at the beginning of the match. That could only mean…' Just as the look of realization dawned on Samui, the Hinata in front of her dispersed into a cloud of smoke. She only had enough time to turn her gaze to the now clear arena.

"Raiton: Rairyudan no jutsu" (Lightning style: Lightning Dragon Jutsu) Hinata stated, as a large dragon made of lightning about twenty feet long, formed around her. The pale bluish-yellow dragon with glowing yellow eyes gave a loud roar and flew straight towards Samui. The jutsu engulfed her whole body and pushed her roughly against the walls of the arena. She tried to resist the lightening and even attempted to move her hands to form a hand sign for substitution jutsu, but the strength behind jutsu was far too strong. Her entire body felt numb and paralyzed from the whole experience. After a few seconds, Samui began to lose consciousness and fell to the grounds of the arena, seemingly unconscious. Seeing that her opponent was knocked out, Hinata stopped her jutsu and took a deep breath. As the adrenaline rush came to a halt, the fatigue of the match began to catch up with her, making her fall to the ground in exhaustion. Even the crowd turned completely silent as the match came to an end.

'I can't believe I actually won the match. But I've depleted a good amount of my chakra.' Hinata thought tiredly, as she gingerly sat back up. Although, her attention was immediately casted away from herself as she heard the loud cheers from the crowd. Looking around herself, she was wide eyed at the reaction from the people. Turning her gaze towards her family, a content smile took shape on her lips, as she saw the proud look on her father's eyes and the joyous look on her mother's. In the stands, all of the Konoha citizens sang loud praises for the wonderful match they spectated. Among them, Sakura was the loudest, who was ecstatic that Hinata won, as she had hoped. Even Asuma gave a low whistle at how amazing the two kunoichi in the arena were.

"Well, I'm half-way done with the bet, Asuma. Hope you're carrying much gold, huh?" Kakashi remarked with a smirk, while his eyes were devouring the orange-colored book.

Kage Booth, Arena

The Raikage's face showed the clear disappointment etched on it, at the outcome of the match. He was certain that Samui would have been able to bag the win for Kumogakure. However, he calmed a bit as he realized she had put a great fight despite the loss.

"That was not what I had expected. I did not think members from the Hyuga Clan used elemental manipulation. I expected more of a taijutsu fight from that Konoha kunoichi." Raikage grumbled, folding his hands over his chest. Darui, too was in a similar state of mind. Having taught that particular Ranton jutsu to Samui, he knew how powerful that attack can really become. Minato chuckled lightly at Raikage and Darui's reaction.

"I can see why you had such faith in Samui from the beginning. She put up quite a great fight and used good strategies. If she had experience fighting someone with a byakugan, the events could have certainly ended up differently." Minato said, in response to the Raikage's grumblings.

"That may be true. It looks like she still has a lot to learn." The Raikage stated, as he finally settled down on his seat. Meanwhile, the disguised Kazekage hungrily stared at the arena, prominently at the two kunoichis.

'Such wonderful talent. Ranton and the byakugan kekkei genkai. If only I ever get a chance to run some tests on that Kumo kunoichi.' Orochimaru thought in glee. His glance then moved towards the younger Namikaze, who quietly stood beside Minato. Personally, he would want nothing more than to conduct experiments on the brat and find out the secrets behind his strength. He was genuinely curious what made Naruto's chakra and strength so strong and unique. Through all of his life's data, there were only a few exceptional shinobi he had come across whose strength could not be classified as human, namely- Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Raikage, Minato Namikaze, Naruto Namikaze and finally Pein. There were several other interesting shinobi whose secrets he'd like to learn, but those eight were definitely the cream of the crop.

"In my opinion, Samui is definitely chunin material. She showed some very applicable and sound strategies, which would have worked great against a shinobi without doujutsu. But gaining some experience through missions should remedy that weakness of hers. And Hinata Hyuga has proved to everyone that she is worthy of being chunin. We'll certainly get to observe more of the young Hyuga heiress's matches " The Kazekage added, wisely. The other two kages gave a nod, on hearing Kazekage's words.

Down in the arena, Genma had already announced Hinata as the winner of the first match and called forth Shikamaru and Temari for the second one. As Hinata was being taken to the infirmary to get some rest, Naruto tapped his father's shoulder lightly and looked at him pleadingly. Minato simply nodded, and soon enough Naruto had shunshined from the Kage box to the infirmary.

'To be young in love… Kushina would kill me for letting Naruto be in a relationship so early.' Minato thought, with an awkward chuckle.

Within Konoha

When the Kumogakure entourage had arrived in Konoha, A, Darui, C and Samui had immediately gone towards the Konoha Arena, while Bee being immersed in his world of music had separated from the group and wandered off. Since the two villages were technically on neutral terms, A had let him be too as the Raikage was sure, his brother could handle most threats my himself.

While the matches were underway in the Konoha Arena Stadium, C had spent a good ten minutes searching for the Hachibi jinchuriki. Luckily for the fair skinned Kumo shinobi, he found the eccentric Killer Bee to be aimlessly walking towards the Konoha hot springs, while scribbling down notes in his small book. Having known about Bee's less than cordial behavior towards the other sex often times, C did not want him to get in any unnecessary trouble. Plus, he also had to report to the Hokage's office with Bee, where the two of them could be debriefed entirely on the invasion. With that in mind, he doubled his pace, to quickly catch up to Bee.

"Bee-sama, please wait!" C yelled a bit loudly, as he got within a few feet of Bee. Hearing the familiar voice, Bee suddenly halted mid step and turned around on his spot, as he shut his small writing pad. Like most Kumo shinobi, he had a dark skin with a muscular build as well as white hair and a goatee. On his right shoulder, he had a tattoo of the kanji for "iron", which signifies the Iron Amour Seal used to seal the Hachibi within him. And on his left, he had a tattoo of a bulls horn. Supposedly, the Hachibi has horn like bulls- hence, the significance. He wore an oval shaped sunglass, a white-colored forehead protector, Kumo's standard flak jacket, a white scarf around his neck and a long, red rope belt tied around his waist.

"What gives, you fool? You just made me lose my beat and that ain't cool." Bee rhymed, while trying to rap. C, momentarily gave him a quizzical look, but reminded himself of the reason he came in search him.

"The Hokage has informed us that Konoha will be invaded today, sometime during the chunin finals. And A-sama has agreed to help out Konoha in an attempt to better the relationship between the two villages. We both need to head to the Hokage's office, so we can be debriefed on the situation. " C said, in a matter of urgency, but still low enough that anyone else passing by won't be able to eavesdrop. Bee's facial expression grew serious for a moment as he heard those words.

"Brother agreed? Then it is go time, ya fool. Let's go to the Hokage tower, bakayaro konoyaro! Wee!" Bee exclaimed, with his left hand pumped up. This time, C simply shook his head at Bee's antics and the two Kumo shinobi promptly took to the rooftops, and made their way towards the Hokage tower, which was further up ahead. Soon enough, the two reached their destination and entered through the front gates. To their surprise, none of the Konoha shinobi inside were alerted by their presence.

'They have probably already been advised that Kumo will be assisting Konoha with the invasion. Otherwise, I doubt, we would have been allowed inside the tower without another Konoha shinobi with us.' C thought sharply. As the two came to the base of a stairs, they were greeted below by none other than Itachi Uchiha.

"I shall be taking you to the Hokage's office. I assume you have been given the gist of the situation by Hokage-sama?" Itachi questioned, as he asked them the follow. As the group of three made their way upstairs, C was the one to answer the question.

"Yes, Raikage-sama, Darui and I were given a bit of details about the invasion in the kage Box, but he couldn't give us all the information over there. So, since when has Konoha known about the invasion? Had we known about this earlier, we could have taken preemptive measures ourselves and come prepared." C stated with a mild glare while also scrutinizing Konoha's intent. Itachi's eyes darted towards C and Killer Bee momentarily. It may not have been a direct question, but he could sense the hostility behind the question asked.

"I must ask you to forgive Konoha in this regard. We could not be sure whose side you'd end up taking when the question would eventually be proposed to Kumo. Had we asked you earlier and if the Raikage decided to side with Iwagakure, Orochimaru and Danzo, it would have been quite the situation for us to handle. That's why we had to tread carefully. Also, I'm sure there are things that Kumo doesn't want the world to know as of yet." Itachi replied smoothly, glancing towards the Hachibi jinchuriki. By now, the three of them had reached the second floor. Upon walking around the corner, they finally reached the doors to the Hokage's office. Killer Bee and C exchanged a knowing look between themselves as if wondering if Konoha knew about their loss of Yugito, the Nibi jinchuriki. Yugito's loss was still a sore subject with those of her friends. Nevertheless, none of them replied to Itachi comment.

Before he opened the door, however, Itachi turned to face the two of them. C, was especially relieved to see an amused smile on the Uchiha's face. "Do not worry. We have not given any information regarding any of your jinchuriki to anyone that would cause them harm. Not that we had much to begin with. Although, that might be a moot point for the Nibi jinchuriki. But I would like to state that Konoha will remember Kumogakure's help in this invasion and let us hope to mend the broken past between our two nations." He stated as a matter of fact.

"We believe you, ya fool. Brother wouldn't agree to help out Konoha if he didn't trust Minato. We good now, yo! Let's combine our two villages strength and defeat these fools." Bee stated, surprisingly calmly. Itachi graciously acknowledged them with a nod and opened the doors to the office. Once inside, the two were quickly familiarized with Shisui who was sitting on the sofa with a dossier of documents in hand, while several more lay sprawled beside him. With the greetings out of the way, the two Uchihas got to work on briefing the Kumo shinobi about the measures that Konoha will be taking during the invasion.

C and Bee were then handed the dossiers on the primary targets- Ohnoki, Orochimaru, Danzo, Yondaime Kazekage, Akatsuchi, Kitsuchi, Kurotsuchi, Baki and Pakura. The dossiers contained extensive information about the known skill sets of each of these shinobi and clan. C was thoroughly impressed with the reconnaissance work done by the Konoha shinobi on these particular ninjas. Then again, he remembered that Jiraiya of the Sannin was their spy master. Meanwhile, Killer Bee was also skimming through the pages of the documents handed to him, similarly impressed with the work. Furthermore, Shisui went on to explain the tunnel of secret passageways leading through the Hokage Monument, which would be used as an evacuation point for the civilians and dignitaries of Fire and Lightning Nation.

"Also, we'll need to be extra vigilant of Orochimaru this time around. During the battle of Takigakure, he had used the kinjutsu, Edo Tensei- that revives the dead through a living sacrifice. There is a good chance he may use that jutsu again. An Edo Tensei ninja cannot be killed through ordinary means, as they will simply regenerate in time. Their body needs to be sealed by these sealings tags." Shisui explained and showed a couple of sealing tags prepared by Jiraiya and Minato to the two Kumo shinobi. Learning about such a jutsu had shocked both C and Bee. A jutsu like that could essentially have untold casualties in a prolonged war and just now the real threat of the invasion dawned on them. Still, they kept their calm. Itachi noticed the grave look on their faces and knew that all of this new information was perhaps too startling.

Deciding to digress from the current subject, Itachi moved ahead and took out a map of the village from one of the dossiers and placed it on the table. He then proceeded to show the various places where the enemies will most likely strike from as well as the places where the damages must be kept to a minimum, if possible. "Also, Bee-san, I suggest you stick with the Raikage, since Naruto-kun will also be fighting beside Hokage-sama. Then, Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama's role will be to separate Ohnoki from his forces and fight him outside the village walls. Kakashi Hatake and Meito Gai will be fighting with the Yondaime Kazekage. Which would leave Shisui, C, Darui and I to deal with Danzo and the Root shinobi." Itachi explained while pointing towards several of the marked location on the map.

"Then that is how we'll roll. Mr. Nine and Mr. Eight killing it out in the front lines… oh yeaahh!" Bee replied in his usual manner. C felt like smacking his forehead, at the sudden reply by Killer Bee. He would have certainly preferred to have consulted with the Raikage first but realized they may not have enough time for that. He took a deep breath, to calm his nerves.

"Alright, let's do this." C added, showing his seriousness. Soon after that, Shisui shunshined to the Anbu headquarters to inform Shikaku of their meeting with C and Killer Bee, as well as asking his suggestion on which squad to place C with.

In the Anbu Headquarters, behind the Hokage Stone Faces

The moment Shisui appeared before the front doors of the headquarters, he immediately placed his palm on the large seal pattern that was drawn to the door's left.

The seal scans the shinobi's chakra and matches it with one of the stored chakra signatures. If a person tried to bypass the gates without verifying their chakra, a counter seal will appear the moment the intruder will step in through the doors that will paralyze the person through Nara clan's Kage Mahi no jutsu (Shadow Paralysis Jutsu). Furthermore, once the person is trapped within the Kage Mahi no jutsu, another seal appears on the ceiling that creates a cage of lightening around the intruder. This particular set up worked for the sole reason that, this door was the only entrance or exit from the HQ, since the entire workstation was located inside of a mountain. After Danzo's desertion from Konoha, Minato and Jiraiya had personally changed the protection seals in several of Konoha's high priority buildings.

When Shisui's chakra was recognized by the seal, a clicking sound was heard, followed by the large doors being lifted. As he was entering, he heard Itachi's voice from behind.

"Oh, good. I caught up to you. I have some information that might be useful. It's better if we both go in together." Itachi said. Looking at the seriousness, Shisui could tell that it was pertinent. He gave a nod, and two made their way through the long and dimly lit corridor. After a quiet three-minute walk, the two stepped into a small circular room, with a single ANBU operative idly sitting on his desks. As the two Uchihas came into view, the operative(or guard) promptly got up from his seat.

"Senpai, Shikaku-taicho asked me to inform you two to meet him as soon as you came. He says its urgent." Stated the shinobi duly.

"Did he give any details?" Itachi inquired as the shinobi made a few hand seals, and another door suddenly came into view.

"Intel has it that all of our posts at the north, northwest and western borders of Fire Nation have fallen. A messenger bird delivered a scroll with the info about twenty minutes ago." Stated the guard. Both the Uchihas were shocked upon learning this new information.

"That would mean the enemy has invaded from Kusagakure, Takigakure and the Hidden Sound Village. We must hurry." Itachi prodded. Shortly after that, Shisui and Itachi stepped through the door and appeared into a large hall where several groups of shinobi were working in setting up defenses for the villages.

There was the sensory division that had set up a sensory radar jutsu, covering the area of the village, that would help them in pinpointing the enemy's location with accuracy. Although this jutsu required constant updates from the shinobi in the field. The updates coming in from the Konoha posts at the borders of the Fire Nation were relayed in through a Yamanaka clan member via the Mind Transmission jutsu. These messages were received by the Communication division that was led by Inoichi Yamanaka. Thus, when the updates stopped coming in from the north, northwest and western posts, Shikaku grew suspicious of the enemy's advances. And he was proven right when three messenger birds arrived a while back with brief details of the attack on their posts.

Furthermore, there was the barrier division which monitored the barrier surrounding Konoha. This barrier was specifically designed to detect chakra signatures that were not registered with the Konoha ninja registry. Although, due to the festive mood of the Chunin exams, it had become practically impossible to scan each and every single person that was entering or leaving. Despite that, Minato and Shikaku were well aware that the enemy wouldn't simply walk through their front gates. The fact that Danzo was among the enemies had already lowered their defense, simply due to the fact, that the man had a lot of vital information regarding the village including most of Konoha's defense strategies.

On noticing Shikaku reading the contents of a scroll, the two Uchihas made their way towards him. As he heard the approaching footsteps, Shikaku glanced up and the worried look on his face became quite evident.

"We have lost about thirty shinobi in each of our posts located near the borders of Kusagakure, Takigakure, Kiba no Kuni (Land of Fangs) and Otogakure. According to the intel we received, the squad near Takigakure and Kiba no Kuni were taken out by the newly formed Explosion Corps, while the squad near Kusagakure put up a fight against Akatsuchi and Kitsuchi- they were eventually overwhelmed when Iwa reinforcements joined in. An estimated of around a hundred shinobi were witnessed as reinforcements to Akatsuchi and Kitsuchi's division." Shikaku debriefed them. The veteran Nara clenched his fists tightly at the situation they found themselves in.

"So, it is plausible to assume that reinforcements in similar numbers will be advancing from Takigakure as well as Kiba no Kuni. Moreover, we also have to consider the numbers that Sunagakure might be putting forward during this attack. So, that puts Iwa shinobi numbers roughly over three hundred. Danzo's forces should amount to somewhere close to two hundred trained operatives and…" Shisui summarized but was interrupted by Itachi.

"I don't think Danzo will bring that many Root shinobi with himself. His ideology has always been to watch Konoha stand atop everyone else, with him as the Hokage. Despite Danzo's treasonous acts, he's a shrewd ninja and knows about Konoha's intelligence gathering. Now, comes two possibilities. Either Danzo knows that Konoha is aware of the invasion or he doesn't. If he doesn't, then our plan of separating Ohnoki and Danzo to end the invasion with minimal casualty will most likely work. However, if Danzo knows that Konoha is aware of the invasion, then I doubt he would inform Ohnoki or Orochimaru about that fact. He is a sort of shinobi who makes allies out of necessity and kills them at moment's notice once his own purpose his fulfilled." Itachi explained with a thoughtful expression on his face.

By now, both Shikaku and Shisui had understood Itachi's line of thought. In essence, Itachi wished to take advantage of the betrayal by Danzo to clear out majority of the invading force before they even entered Konoha.

"That's a high gamble, Itachi. Have you thought this through?" Jiraiya questioned firmly, as he stepped out of the shadows. The Gama Sennin had walked into the HQ just moments ago, when he heard the three talking.

"Oh, Master Jiraiya, are you done placing your summoning seals throughout the village?" Shikaku asked.

"Yeah, I have asked the Toads to help us out and they have quite a few battle-size toads that'd be extremely helpful to fend off any enemy summons." Jiraiya proclaimed, then immediately turned his attention to the two Uchiha.

"This will be a dangerous mission, even for you two, should you go ahead with it. I won't be able to accompany you since I'm needed here for the summoning. And neither Minato nor Naruto will have the time to summon the large number of battle toads in the midst of the battle. Kakashi and Guy will immediately head to the eastern and southern gate once the attack breaks out inside the village. I'm asking again, are you sure?" Jiraiya asked with a battle-hardened look.

"This plan could backfire, indeed. That's why I think only Itachi and I should go outside the village to confront the enemy. Both of us can't use the full extent of our powers inside the village. But, outside the village walls, we can take care of the enemy as we see fit. I'm certain that the two of us will be able to dwindle down their numbers greatly. And even if we shall fall, there'll be Hokage-sama, Shikaku-taicho, Tsunade-sama, Kakashi-taicho, Yamato-taicho and you to look after the village. Moreover, I'm sure Naruto, Sasuke and the other genins wouldn't go down without a fight." Shisui said, earnestly. Itachi nodded, as he too had similar feelings. Shisui looked down at his feet and closed his eyes momentarily as if to steel his resolve. He breathed out calmly and looked up at meet Jiraiya's gaze. After Minato, the authority to take any militaristic decision came to Jiraiya or Shikaku, the Hokage's two most trusted aid.

Seeing the burning red eyes of the Uchihas before him, Both Shikaku and Jiraiya breathed out a tired sigh. Decisions like these were never easy. They could send Itachi and Shisui with a squad of at least a hundred shinobi each, to confront the enemy on the northern and western flank of Konoha, but that would leave Konoha's eastern and southern flank relatively thin. Or the other option being the one suggested by Shisui. Having made up his mind, Jiraiya too resolved himself.

"Okay, you two are to head outside Konoha immediately and confront the enemy. However, your mission is only to thin out their numbers, not fight them to the death. Remember, we are fighting to protect Konoha, not kill shinobi from other nations…" voiced the Gama Sennin authoritatively. Yet, both Itachi and Shisui understood the unsaid words if the worst came to pass. Immediately after, as the two Uchihas shunshined out of the area, Shikaku stumbled down onto his chair.

"This is so troublesome. I thought the third shinobi war would be the last time I might fight." He thought out loud, as he massaged his forehead.

"Have faith in them, Shikaku. Those two aren't kids anymore. You might very call one of them Hokage-sama in a few years' time." Jiraiya said jokingly. Several shinobi had to stifle their laughter. Shikaku himself chuckled lightly, as he welcomed Jiraiya's words that seemed to lighten the mood in the room somewhat. "And don't seem so downcast. I heard Kumo agreed to help us. That will be big boost to us." He added. Shikaku nodded as understood what the Sennin said was true. But he still couldn't help this wretched feeling that was developing inside of him. He shook his head as he just tried to shove those feelings aside and look ahead.

"Alright... Inoichi, convey the developments so far to Minato and Yamato." Shikaku stated. The Yamanaka Clan Head gave a nod, while the top of his head was covered with a helmet that connected to a large device behind him. This particular device- acted as chakra network that allowed Inoichi to pinpoint exactly whom to talk with via the Mind transmission jutsu.

Seeing everyone hard at work, with the sole purpose of protecting their village brought a smile to Jiraiya's face. Although, it was soon replaced by a grim expression when he thought about the two Uchiha who would be heading out to weaken the enemy numbers before they invaded Konoha. Just then, he remembered an Anbu operative of Naruto's age, who specialized in infiltration and utilized a rather unique jutsu based on ink.

"Shikaku, I'd like you to bring in Sai, right now. I think, I may have a way to increase Itachi and Shisui's chances of returning home. If I can, I'd like to save those two from rushing to their deaths." Jiraiya requested, as he thought of a plan.

Konoha Stadium

While the previous match displayed a variety of flashy jutsus and hand to hand combat, the second match was turning out to be a masterfully crafted puzzle for the strategic minds. Every move that Temari made was thoughtfully countered by Shikamaru with least effort. Due to the Nara Clan's ability to manipulate shadows, Temari had been hesitant getting into close quarters with him. Any kunai or shuriken she threw at him, Shikamaru's shadow effortlessly caught every single one of them. Although, every time Shikamaru tried connecting his shadow to Temari's, she somehow managed to elude by a nick.

"You're sure good on your feet… How long are you going to keep running like this?" Temari asked, as she finally unfurled the fan on her back. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and kept his hands on the Bird Seal.

'Troublesome… do I really need to win this match?' wondered Shikamaru as he promptly jumped from his spot upon seeing Temari flung her fan. A powerful gust of wind flew towards the Nara genin, but he was able to avoid it by jumping to his left. The first thing Shikamaru noticed that the damage caused by her attack was rather linear. As he landed back on the ground, he quickly glanced around himself and confirmed this fact. 'She doesn't seem to realize this. I could probably try to bend my shadow around her. But it's going to take a lot of effort… troublesome.' Thought Shikamaru, mildly annoyed, as he jumped yet again and landed a few feet back.

"If you lose this match, you're going to hear about it from your mother, Shikamaru! So, you better win it!" Ino yelled from the contestant's booth. Shikamaru couldn't help but groan on hearing that. That would be most troublesome thing indeed.

"I suppose I should stop running… huh." Shikamaru finally stated out loud, as he looked up at the sun that was almost at its peak. This little action did not go unnoticed by Temari. Despite the frustration of unable to catch the Konoha genin yet, she was certainly impressed with the way he fought and realized that this might actually be fun.

Back in the contestant's booth, Ino smirked on seeing her teammate get his focus back in the match. Shino gave no outward reaction and continued to observe the match, while being vigilant of his surroundings. Since morning, his insects had been acting rather strange, making him feel restless as a result. And he couldn't explain why. He assumed it may be the anticipation for the chunin finals, but he kept his guard up, nonetheless. While Ino and Fuu stood in the middle, leaning over the railing and Shino on the far right- Sasuke and Gaara stood quietly on the far left, near the entrance to the room's entrance.

Over the past few weeks, Sasuke and Gaara had come to an understanding amongst themselves. While Sasuke understood that the redhead needed time to assimilate to the big change in his life. Unlike him and Naruto, Gaara had never known what parental love felt like or what it meant to talk to a friend or confidant. Until now, his only purpose had been to kill people and serve Sunagakure. But, similar to him, meeting and talking to Naruto had changed Gaara. And Sasuke was truly willing to give him a chance.

Meanwhile, Gaara realized two significant details about Sasuke- he respected power and loyalty. Now that he knew there were people who were willing to accept him as he was, he wanted nothing more than to protect them. He couldn't precisely describe this overwhelming feeling within himself. He remembered feeling something akin to this when he was with Yashamaru and his hand shook a little. But he calmed himself promptly. Despite Temari and Kankuro not having him treated as a sibling, they still stuck by him as a team. He realized that, unknowingly, maybe there were trying to protect him. He wanted to mend that relationship among his siblings and wished for them to not die in the invasion. Hence, Gaara decided to confront his father when the attack broke out.

"Are you scared?" Asked Sasuke. He had noticed Gaara from the corner of his eyes. Despite knowing that Gaara turned over a new leaf, Sasuke still wanted to keep a close eye on him. He had resolved himself that he would protect his home today, no matter the cost. His ancestors created the settlement they stand on today, and he came to believe it was now also his duty to protect Konohagakure no Sato.

"That's not it. This power that Naruto talks about… that strange surge of power you feel that arises from the need to protect others. I think I want to understand it more." Gaara mentioned genuinely.

"He said that… did he? Hmph… He has a way with words." Sasuke replied. Gaara smiled slightly in return, knowing how true that was. Both of their attention was casted away from the conversation when they noticed that Shikamaru finally managed to stop Temari's movement by using his shadow.

"Amazing. He connected his own shadow to several kunai stuck on the ground and stretched it along the walls of the arena and sneaked in behind her." Sasuke commended. He was just now realizing the potential Shikamaru possessed as a tactician.

Down on the arena floor, Temari suddenly found herself unable to move. Looking down, she gasped as she saw that her shadow was stretching from behind. Glancing back, she was surprised to see a long strand of shadow stretching from behind her to all around the arena.

"Dammit!" She cursed, and tried to move her body, but it was to no avail. After about a minute of struggling, she finally gave it up with a tired sigh. Meanwhile, Shikamaru was standing down on one knee, opposite to the Suna kunoichi. Having to extend his shadow through only two kunai and extending it such a large distance had taken a lot out of him. To his surprise, Temari had responded well to several of his moves, which had forced him to think several moves ahead. He smirked in his mind, as he realized just how much one could learn and grow from just a single match, although Shikamaru was aware he still had ways to go.

"Well, what are you waiting for? You might as well end the match…" Temari said in a low voice, almost sounding defeated. She wouldn't admit it, but she was outclassed because she had underestimated her enemy.

"I concede. I don't have much chakra left to continue with more matches…" Shikamaru stated out loud. Suddenly everyone became quiet for a few seconds, but soon enough a large crowd of them erupted in chants of either 'boos!' or 'Woah! Did you see how great the match went?' Upon hearing that, Genma quickly made an appearance on the field and confirmed Shikamaru's decision yet again.

"Yeah, I'm done. I'm sure I've shown enough to guarantee myself a promotion to chunin. Plus, It'd be troublesome to fight Sasuke, Hinata or Gaara." Shikamaru explained with a shrug. After that, he undid the shadow paralysis jutsu on Temari and began to walk away. Still quite stunned at this turnaround, Temari had found herself unable to voice anything for a few seconds. But, as she watched his retreating back, heading towards the exit, she felt an irresistible urge to smack him on the head for handing her such a victory.

"How dare he? Stupid brat, thinks he's cool…" She mumbled to herself and turned around to walk towards the exit on her side.

In the Kage Box

The Raikage grunted on seeing the end of the match. While he certainly was impressed with how strategic the match turned out to be, he failed to see necessity with the Nara genin conceding the match.

"Uhm... I'm sure none of us expected that result. What are your thoughts?" Minato asked the other kages, rather unsure himself of what to say. Like others, even he was surprised by Shikamaru throwing away the match. 'Or it could mean…' Minato smirked as he guessed the reason why Shikamaru had conceded early on. 'Looks like Shikamaru is turning out to be just as smart.'

"Temari definitely needs to learn not to underestimate her opponents. She was lucky, that she came out of that match unscathed or even with her life." The Kazekage replied while resting his chin on his hands. If Minato expected the man to continue, he was disappointed since Rasa's attention appeared to be elsewhere. Turning to the Raikage, he wasn't surprised to see the bored look. A match without much taijutsu or ninjutsu would never warrant much of A's attention.

"The Nara shinobi looks promising. He has potential." A chipped in his thoughts, as he heard the names for the next match- Neji Hyuga vs Fuu. He leaned a little ahead in anticipation. If the first match was anything to go by, A hoped for this one to be quite a spectacle as well.

'Minato, can you hear me? It's Inoichi. I have urgent message regarding the attack.' Minato subtly casted his attention away from the Raikage as he heard the voice in his head.

'Yes, go ahead.'

Author Notes: I hope that everyone is doing okay in these trying times and taking care of themselves. It's important to keep a healthy mind to move ahead through difficult times!

(SPOILER!) There have been a lot of revelations about the Otsutsuki Clan and Jigen in general in the manga. Since I am portraying Jigen as a character in this story, he will come to play a heavy role later on. So, considering what happened to Jigen in Boruto chapter 47, I had re-think some parts of this invasion arc, which would shape Naruto and his friends. Since, everything Naruto and his friends will go through will eventually prepare them for that fight.

I don't want to give away too specifics about the next chapter, but the war is sure to commence in the next chapter!

Please do follow, favorite and review the story! I'm really delighted that people are still reading the story. And I'm definitely not giving up until I finish this one!

Until next time!