Naruto: Chronicles of a Fire Ninja-Chapter 356 - 352: Response

(Konoha)

The Barrier Corps' night shifts were typically uneventful, but tonight was different. Maki Yamanaka, who was on the surveillance post tonight, caught it first—a crimson flare in the tags placed in the room.

All of them were connected to various outposts of Konoha, with each flare having different meanings, and out of all, the crimson flare was the most ominous one. It meant that the outpost was attacked by a force they couldn't handle on their own. Maki checked the tag to find out the source of the signal; it was from the Sunagakure border outpost.

Without wasting a second, she disappeared from her position, appearing in front of the second most powerful person's office in Konoha, the Jonin Commander of Konoha.

slam

"Sir! We got a distress signal from the Sunagakure outpost, it was code red!" she blurted out in one breath, not daring to waste a single second.

Shikaku, who was annoyed by someone entering his office just before he could have left for his home, became tense. Suna Outpost didn't have the reinforcements like those at Kumo and Iwa's side.

If someone attacked them, there was a high chance that they would be completely annihilated. He nodded at the report and called a few ANBU ninja.

"Arrange a force of 100 ninjas, all of them should be above Chunin rank. I am going to get permission from Lord Third. This is code red, and I am using my right as Jonin Commander of Konoha," Shikaku said, and then he turned toward Maki. "Send a signal to all of the outposts near the Suna outpost, ask them to increase their surveillance and remain vigilant."

The ANBU ninjas and Maki could only nod because if Shikaku was using this process, that meant the condition was very dire for Konoha.

They swiftly left to carry out the orders while Shikaku made his way toward Hiruzen's office.

"Hokage-sama, I have something important to report," he too entered the office without knocking, because it was not time for formalities.

Hiruzen, who was having a meeting with civilian council members of Konoha, could only sigh.

"We will continue this meeting some other time."

"But Hokage-sama—"

"Leave or I will throw you out!" Shikaku almost shouted. The village was under attack, and these fools wanted to still think about their profits.

The civilian council members had power through their connections, but in front of a seasoned Jonin, and that too one with experience like Shikaku, they were as powerless as lambs in a slaughterhouse.

They could only curse inside their hearts and leave.

"What happened?" Hiruzen asked. By now, he had already guessed that something really urgent had happened for Shikaku to behave like this.

"Our Sunagakure outpost, outpost number 4, is being attacked. It is code red. I have asked a team of 100 ANBU ninja to be ready and want your permission to deploy them."

"Send my words; they have to deploy now," Hiruzen said, but these words were not aimed at Shikaku. As soon as Hiruzen gave his order, two shadows flickered from the room.

"Did they really target one of our outposts, and that too at the Sunagakure side?" Hiruzen asked.

"We have been expecting that, but we didn't have so many ninja to increase the security of every outpost. They chose one of the weakest ones, sadly," Shikaku said.

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"They really are trying to start a ninja war," Hiruzen said.

"They can do this because they know no one is ready for the war yet, especially us who would have to fight three out of five great ninja villages alone," Shikaku said.

Hiruzen took out his pipe and then went for his tobacco stash but paused midway and took out another herb from his cabinet, its smell much more potent than his normal stuff.

POOF

"But they are forgetting that they are not ready as well," Hiruzen said, taking a big puff from his pipe.

"Yes, I expected some retaliation from their side, but destroying an outpost, and that too in peace time, is way too much. We can't let this go."

"Once this problem is settled, we will work toward that. For now, make sure our losses are as few as they can be," Hiruzen said.

Both of them were not understanding the gravity of the situation because according to them, the barrier at the outpost should hold on for half an hour at the very least, being able to tank the hit of a Kage level ninja. It was the source of their confidence.

After that, they were discussing various possible scenarios when, after 10 minutes, another ninja based inside the office once again appeared.

"Sir, we got a messenger hawk from the Sunagakure Outpost," he said, huffing and puffing as he presented a message carried by the hawk to Hiruzen and Shikaku, and then took his leave.

"What is it, Lord Third?" Shikaku asked.

Hiruzen, without saying anything, passed the letter to Shikaku.

"Is Jiraiya-sama still in the village?" Shikaku asked, calming down his increasing heartbeat.

"It will take too much time to call him and explain everything to him," Hiruzen said and stood up. Shikaku understood what he was trying to say and followed Hiruzen to Jiraiya's house.

"Jiraiya, wake up."

Yawn

"Sensei, it is 1:00 PM. I really don't want to take any mission related to any stuck-up noble at this moment."

"Our outpost has been attacked. They had to blow up their barrier to give their ninja a chance to escape. The enemy forces which they have been able to sense is eighty-plus. Even if we take a conservative guess, they have to be hundred-plus ninja attacking our base. With that big of a force, it will not be impossible for them to target more than one outpost. That's why I want you to take care of this."

"Why didn't anyone tell me that Ninja war has already started?" Jiraiya said as he quickly changed into his ninja gear, but suddenly he remembered his trip to Mount Myoboku.

"Sensei, can you tell me the names of the ninjas on that outpost?"

"Here, Jiraiya-sama," Shikaku gave the list. Being the emergency, he and Hiruzen had been discussing about the ninja and the losses Konoha would suffer.

"Shit, now I understand what he meant. Sensei, there is a chance that some of the ninja have escaped, right? Can you arrange me to be teleported near the outpost as soon as possible?"

Seeing his student getting unusually serious, Hiruzen nodded.

"Call those three here now." Once again, two shadows flickered from Hiruzen's shadow as ANBU ninja went to call Fourth Hokage's bodyguards, the only ninja in village who could use Flying Thunder God Jutsu at the moment.

"Is there something I don't know, Jiraiya?"

"Nothing much, just another prophecy from Great Sage. He had advised my student to not become evil, and I can now see the reason he will become one," Jiraiya said, holding back his previous discussion with the Great Sage about Kaida.

"Kaida is near that base as well," Shikaku said.

"Of course he is. How can my life be any easier?" Jiraiya said with a sigh.

...

Yomi, Ryota, Kiba, and one other chunin were all running toward the direction Kaida had mentioned. They had more than enough chakra to reach the distance easily.

Well, two of them had. The third chunin was just a civilian ninja who became Chunin because the village needed more ninjas, even though he barely met the standards for becoming a chunin. Because of that, he was struggling to keep up with his two companions.

woof wrmm

Kiba suddenly whined, looking back.