Chapter 17 - Arc IIii: Interal Conflict- Chapter 2

Ryouko walked toward the gate, a stick in his hand. The stick burst into flames when he reached for the gate.

“Naruto-dono, try walking a shadow clone into the gate. I want to see something…”

The clone walked toward the gate, but it just walked into the solid wood.

“So they just don’t want foreign objects…Leaf Shinobi are fine. What does this mean… Sakura, did Lady Tsunade mention any security measure like this?”

Sakura thought hard, then nodded, her face ghostly white. “Yeah…she did. If the Leaf is under an attack, is surrounded, or is being attacked from the inside and is near imminent destruction…the gates of the village will be locked to all but Leaf shinobi…”

Ryouko pulled a throwing needle out from a pouch on his arm, tucking it between two fingers and his thumb.
“You two stay here. Follow me after five minutes, unless you see my hawk summon in the sky. If that’s the case, go to Sunagakure and send reinforcements.”

Ryouko opened one of the massive Leaf gates and went inside. It snapped shut behind him with a loud ‘thud’.

“Sakura…” Naruto began, his voice getting caught in his throat. He didn’t need to continue.

“I know…we aren’t surrounded, or under attack, so it must be something wrong inside the village…”

“But who? Grandma Tsunade’s pretty popular.”

“Danzou. That elder. It has to be him…”

Sakura didn’t like this one iota.
--

I walked into the village, my guard up from the start. The streets were absolutely clear; no shops were open. At this time of day, that was an indicator that something was very wrong.

I realize I’m not alone only microseconds before four people swoop in on me. I stayed rooted to the spot- for the moment- to see my attackers. I gasped in shock.
ANBU? Damn, not good. This isn’t a routine check, either. Not with their weapons draw. They’ll hit me with paralysis genjutsu if they think I’m a threat…but I can’t attack them first!

“ANBU? Good. Someone can tell me what the hell is going on here,” I said aloud, my voice full of friendly intentions. The four agents suddenly look like demons in those masks.

“Hmm…Ryouko. I see…The Elder mentioned you by name. You aren’t worth much, but he said you’ll be a pest, so we should kill you.”

I chanced a glance behind me. No good. I was surrounded. Looks like I was going to have to fight.
“Well, pardon me for saying so, but I don’t think you should kill me. You aren’t the people that are supposed to kill me. What has Elder Danzou done?”

The masked agent I had picked out as the leader didn’t make a move. “He’s taken the Leaf for it’s betterment. If you don’t resist, you’ll have a place of honor on his council.”

“Honor?” I cocked my head. “You speak of honor? Well, I’ll decline. I only want things that exist. And a council run by Danzou cannot have a place of honor. So I’ll pass.”

“I figured as much. You are nothing if not predictable, Ryouko. And loyal to a fa-oof!”

I smashed the ANBU agent in the chin, shattering his mask. Grabbing the remnants of the mask, I threw them at the approaching attacker. The porcelain cutting across his arm made him look down for a fraction of a second when blood that was his splashed in front of him. My fist rocketed off his jaw as well; my other hand took his short ANBU sword and swung it around to meet another ANBU sword just in time. While our weapons were deadlocked, the other ANBU agent still moving tried to attack from behind. Timing it, I used a Replacement Jutsu. His weapon met only a thick log. He used a thrust strike at me, so the wood caught his blade long enough for me to bring the butt end of ‘my’ sword down between his shoulder blades, knocking him to the ground with a ‘thud’. That left one more agent, who was going to run for reinforcements.

“Hold on, don’t leave yet!” I protested, sounding sinister. I had decided on throwing the ANBU sword. It twirled end over and finally stuck between the man’s legs, cutting them all to heck. It one more second, I had snapped both his arms, blindfolded him, and tied him up.

“There’ve gotta be others who think this is ridiculous…but I can’t let Naruto and Sakura join in yet. We need reinforcements anyway. SUMMOMING JUTSU!”

A summon of mine, Yo-O was a giant, majestic bird. His name meant ‘Hawk King’. I asked Yo-O to take the captured ANBU agent in his talons, and fly to Sunagakure so that he could be interrogated by their staff.
“And please, allow Naruto and Sakura to fly with you. Take the necessary precautions to continue your summons, in the event of my death.”

Yo-O flew off grandly, meeting no resistance, to my relief. That left me to continue into the village deeper. The obvious place would be to head for the Hokage building. I was concerned for Lady Tsunade’s safety; but going in there by myself was a bad idea. Someone would know about the four defeated agents soon. I wasn’t convinced I could handle another onslaught. My best option was to try to find some allies. And it had to work oppositely of the normal security protocol.

The academy…they might be holding the children and teachers hostage. Iruka might know something.
--

Naruto and Sakura saw the giant bird. Immediately, they planned to head into the village, despite Ryouko’s instructions. However, Yo-O put paid to that thought by snatching them both up and flying them off to Sunagakure.

It was the right move. Someone had to stir up trouble inside the village and clear a path for the reinforcements.
--

Ryouko stared grimly at the school from behind a tree. The students certainly looked panicked. He could see Iruka’s face, staying solid for the children, but to Ryouko’s trained eyes, he was panicked as well. Time to liberate the school and get them all out of here. Children didn’t need to be casualties of war.

“Hey! There he is!”

Ryouko cursed- he’d been spotted! All the kids and teachers looked out the windows, no doubt either very happy or very confused.

“Get him! Paralysis Genjutsu!”

Ryouko snapped his hands together. “Release!” he shouted, before making handsigns of his own. “Fire Style: Dragon’s Pulse Jutsu!”

Three successive bursts of fire emanated from Ryouko, each one exploding violently in front of the agents. Ryouko paused a half-second to see what effect he’d had. A kunai whizzed at him from the smoke. More followed it. Ryouko snagged it and used it to deflect the other kunai.

“I won’t let you do this! I don’t know what made all of you swear your blind loyalty to that man, but I won’t let it go unpunished!”

Ryouko threw the kunai high in the air. Everyone looked up- Bam! There it was!
“Hell Viewing Technique!”

Without handsigns, Ryouko had gotten at least one agent under a brutal genjutsu. It was a testament to ANBU training that the man didn’t black out immediately. He foamed at the mouth and clawed at his own throat before finally succumbing to whatever horrors Ryouko caused his mind to conjure.

That left his partner. This one was the senior agent, and was already keying up his field mic to call for more help. Ryouko threw a kunai so that it smashed the ANBU agent in the hand manipulating the mic. The second kunai smashed him in the mouth. Ryouko used a Replacement Jutsu to appear behind the agent, a hand over his mouth. In his other hand was the field mic. Ryouko crushed it.

“Now, we’ll just have you be quiet somewhere. I can crack your mind, or you can sit in the dark. Take your pick!”

The agent reached for his sword and tried to draw it, but Ryouko’s hand was over the hilt, preventing it from leaving it’s sheath.
“Sleep.”

Ryouko smacked him in the chin, shattering his ANBU mask and KOing him.

His enemies dispatched, Ryouko turned his attention to the school.
--

Iruka and the teachers had sent all the oldest and most advanced students home. They condensed the rest of the students and teachers into two classrooms.

“Good move. For now, we can only assume the worst. Iruka, what happened? And do you have any idea where Lady Hokage is?”

Iruka shook his head. “It happened very quickly. Elder Danzou appeared in each place of importance and declared himself the leader. Anyone who objected was killed. That included children. So we’ve been doing what he says.”

Ryouko clicked his tongue; an idea had struck him.
“Alright. Then make this look good, Iruka. You’re going to have to do some damage to me…”

“I get it!” Iruka declared, smacking his fist into his open palm. “Make it look like you’re the enemy to us so they won‘t target us! Perfect!”

“Okay, but for this to be good, you’re going to have to hit me with a couple kunai. Avoid my nose, groin, and chest, please. I think the back would be best. And you’ll have to give me at least one punch to the face. My chakra shield will take the worst of it, so don’t hold back too much.”

Ryouko heard a clatter from downstairs. He was on the second floor currently- where the students had gathered. He cursed audibly- his plan had a flaw in it. If he was injured at all, ANBU had a good chance of killing him. He had been lucky so far in that they had underestimated him. That would come to an end. They had to have realized the threat he posed by now.

They should be at Sunagakure now, if Yo-O hit his top speed. That means almost at hour until they reach the gates. And that’s IF Sunagakure will help us. A request for help coming from anyone short of the Hokage usually takes a while for them to process.

“I’m going to have to do something a little distasteful. Iruka, please put your students at the top of the classroom, in the corner away from the door and windows. That should keep them out of the line of fire. Then I’ll need your help…”

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