SHIMMERING MIST : HATAKE SI (Naruto)

Part 3

Chapter 3

OHASHI HATAKE

War. It had been a rather foreign concept to him long ago. Yet now, he had been involved in one for about half a decade. The very acts that would have made him nauseous, were now the source of his livelihood.

Ohashi shook his head as he shelved all those useless thoughts, for his time on the battlefield had taught him one thing. Any small distraction at any time could be your downfall. Though despite his efforts, he couldn't stop thinking about his father. Ohashi had not gotten to know the man intimately. The misunderstanding and his subsequent marriage with Fumiko-san made it queasy for him to return. Plus, as a genin, he enjoyed the feeling of being an adult, and Sakumo had been very generous to him with money and other resources, so he did kind of like the man.

Yet the man was a mess at this time, and while Ohashi would have loved to be in the village to keep an eye on the man, he could not. Now, he could only pray that the man would be wise enough to listen to his words and not take any rash action.

He raised his hand as he landed softly on the ground. His team landed similarly behind him, and he closed his eyes as he put his hand on the ground. The sensing technique of the Nidaime Hokage was something he had asked Lady Tsunade about, and she had indulged him, and after five years, he had brought it up to an acceptable level.

"Ok, they haven't sensed us," he began speaking in a muffled tone as he brought out his map. The ten shinobi that he had been given were all a bit tense, probably at being commanded by someone who wasn't even a teen yet. Though they kept their mouth shut, for Commander Fugaku's orders had been quite clear.

Though, he suspected his own reputation also played a part in that. For he wasn't exactly an unknown entity.

"All right, I will need you all to run the perimeter along the North- East and don't. Your objective is to stop any kind of communication between this platoon and the one further inland," all ten of them nodded, and Ohashi realized that he did not know the name of even one of them. However, he couldn't care about that. And one of them raised his hand in question, and he nodded, prompting him to speak.

"So, you plan to engage the whole platoon yourself!" asked the Uchiha jounin, and Ohashi recognized him as one of Fugaku's aides.

"Technically, no. I will simply try to contain them for some time so Fugaku-san can ambush them. Right now, they would have already begun their attack. So, I must engage this platoon, distracting them so they can both not provide backup and become vulnerable to an attack," he explained and he could see that they were feeling a bit queasy.

In the end, he did not mind. He would have to let his skill talk.

So, he closed his eyes as he began to cycle through a series of hand seals. He felt his team vanish from behind as they probably went to take their positions. And soon, he felt a substantial drain on his chakra reserves, and he began to exhale.

The Nidaime Hokage was said to have such a mastery over Suiton that he could use massive Suiton techniques even in the desert. Sadly, Ohashi wasn't at that level. Yet. But what came out of his mouth was Mist. Clouds and clouds of thick mist began to spread across the area.

A trick that he had realized early on was that water generated by using his chakra was much more versatile. It behaved as an extension of your body. It was extremely draining, and if not for his massive reserves, using it like this wouldn't even be an option. But it was! And it was all that mattered.

And just as the whole area had mist covering it, he stopped. And the drain on his reserves stopped. He closed his eyes, and felt his presence fade into the very air. Ohashi then stepped into this mist, and his senses were enhanced. He felt connected to each and every drop of moisture. He felt like the master of an orchestra.