Attacking the Fortress
It was eight in the evening the day after the massive defeat of Doto's forces by the Konoha team. He was halfway through the first preparations to counter the attack that would logically follow. He had got reports of four flying thundergod seals being found in the base, which meant that they could at least determine that Naruto had been part of the ones infiltrating the fortress. Everything else didn't make sense. The problem was, they couldn't be absolutely sure that those were the only seals placed inside the fortress. The boy couldn't be underestimated, just like it had been with his father. That could only end in defeat and Doto couldn't afford more of them in the near future.
He really hadn't expected something like this when he had heard that Princess Koyuki had been identified as Yukie Fujikaze. The best part of that was that she had been set to come to Snow Country as part of the film crew for the next Princess Gale movie. It had seemed so easy to finally obtain the hexagonal crystal then and to finally establish his undisputed rule over Snow Country. One ninja team from Konoha shouldn't have made that much of a difference. But it had. They had underestimated the team massively. His best ninjas were killed or captured. Even Nadare, the undoubtedly strongest of the Snow ninjas, had lost against Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze.
For the second time in his plans to take over the country from his useless brother, he had been thwarted by a Konoha ninja. First Kakashi Hatake, the new Godaime Hokage, had saved Koyuki when she had been a child and had got her out of the country before he could lock down the borders. He had lost track of Koyuki after that during the consolidation of his powerbase and making the people see that he was now their daimyo. And now another young Konoha ninja had prevented that he got Koyuki and the thrice damned crystal into his hands. He was sure that they didn't know the importance of the crystal, but it was infuriating.
He had increased the guards. Nobody would be able to get close to him. It was clear that he would be a prime target for the coming attack. He had also strengthened the security around the laboratory. He didn't want that his blue prints got into the hands of the Konoha group. One day where there hadn't been any alarms about anybody being in close proximity to the labs that didn't belong there wasn't enough for them to steal anything of importance so far, but if they launched a real attack, it was only a question of time until they got in there. And he couldn't afford that Konoha got the secret to his success. They were annoying enough as it was.
His call for back up from the Snow village was already out and the reinforcement troops of specialists that could counter the Konoha team's abilities better than the ones he had previously tasked with the job would arrive later tonight. It was an unfortunate disadvantage to having the fortress and the village being separated locally, but the reason was sound. If somebody attacked one location, the other one could still react and act as a new headquarter for the defenders. The only reason why he had been able to take over the country was that the Snow ninjas had been unhappy with his brother's plans to reduce their numbers.
He watched from his throne how the change of guards took place. It was the normal, disciplined act. The identification of the seals on the lower arms was done as perfectly as always. It was a great security measure. Nobody would be able to sneak past those guards. And if somebody tried, they would be stopped immediately. Then he saw that is dinner had arrived. Previously he had always taken his dinner in his rooms, but right now, he didn't have the time to do that. He needed to be constantly available to confirm plans and discuss strategies with his new leaders, as they weren't experienced enough in what they did.
He had somebody perform the normal scans of the food, the waiters that brought the food and asked for the current passcodes before they were allowed inside. Then he stood from his throne and went over to a table that was normally used for strategy discussions. A small space was cleared for him to sit down and eat in peace. He looked at the dishes and had to smile. The cook really knew his preferences. It was clearly his favourite food, probably the cook wanted to earn points with him by serving this food at a time where he was stressed. Well, he would positively remember it.
He took the first bite and had to suppress a moan of delight. The steak was fried to perfection. The potatoes au gratin that were served with it were also delicious. He enjoyed his meal a lot while the waiters made sure that his glass was always filled, though he refrained from drinking more than one glass of wine, as he needed to stay sober tonight. He took some imported fruit juice instead after the one glass he allowed himself. With the climate of Snow Country being what it was, fruit juice was nearly as much of a luxury as wine was.
Then, when he had finished his meal, he went back to his throne, calling his commanders of the forces at the fortress to him. They needed to clear the plans for the night. They still didn't have full forces back, thanks to the attack. None of the ones hit by the senbons in the neck were up for work now and the replacements that he had called in already were not used to the discipline that was practiced at the fortress yet. Well, at least they had managed to get a large number of suits transported here. This way even the weaker soldiers had a small chance against the Konoha ninjas.
Naruto was hidden under his mirage jutsu again. Haku and the others were waiting at the prison area of the fortress. It seemed that the screens for his flying thundergod seals hadn't included that area, which was actually quite stupid. It was logical from a ninja's point of view to have a way to free captured comrades from the very place the enemy would keep them if you had a chance to arrange it. Naruto had simply placed two seals onto the inside of the bars of two prison cells. That got them out of sight, but still easily accessible by Naruto's jutsu. And the best part was that, because of being underground, the seals that provided protection to the fortress and alarmed the guards to their entry, didn't work properly. It was a huge blind spot.
Especially as Neji had determined that the entrances to the canalisation of the fortress was outside of the barrier and then led inside without guards making sure that nobody could use that entrance. While there were seals to fry anybody that touched the grills that separated the pipe leading inside from the accessible places with a huge charge of electricity, not to mention that for any non-ninja getting there would be impossible, with it being at the bottom of a steep cliff that had been secured with several traps, for a good ninja, with abilities of about chunin rank, it was fairly easy to get down there to enter. And as a fuinjutsu master, Naruto could easily circumvent the lightning seals at the grills. His were far more advanced.
Naruto had transported Neji, Haku and Tenten into the prison area while Gai and Lee were going through the other entrance to not have their group sitting in one place in case they were noticed. They had the counter seals on their persons that would allow them to have the electricity be channelled to the side. It wouldn't trigger any alarms that might go off if the electricity was turned off, which would let them get further inside before they would be detected.
Naruto had then flashed to a second seal that hadn't been noticed so far, one hidden under a board of the kitchen storage room. He had kept hidden and at a good moment slipped into the group of those that were working at the dinner for Doto and the other people at the fortress under a transformation. Nobody but two people that had special security clearance were allowed to get close to Doto's food, but that wasn't what Naruto was after anyway.
His target had been the silver serving plate on which the normal plate would be put and then covered with a silver cap before being taken to Doto's throne room. He had easily been able to carry the plate to the serving waggon and unnoticed by anybody had placed a seal under it. One that was written in invisible ink. This would give him access to the throne room at any time, as the seal, once it touched another surface, would be transferred to it, thanks to a second formula surrounding the flying thundergod one. He really loved fuinjutsu.
Koyuki and Sandayu were at the safe house waiting with thirty of Naruto's shadow clones. They had decided that for the surprise attack to work out, they couldn't spare any of them as guards, but with Naruto's ability to make as many clones as he wanted to, they would manage. Especially as Koyuki now wore a bracelet with a sealing formula on it that would not only allow him to flash to her side in an instant if he was needed, it also created a strong barrier that would block any kind of attack on her. She was as safe as they could make her. The idea of her leading a strike against her uncle was ridiculous and they had told Sandayu in no uncertain terms that they wouldn't endanger the life of the princess in an attack that she wasn't ready for. Koyuki was very pleased to hear that part.
She could agree with dealing with the cleaning up after Doto was dealt with, but she didn't want to die for a country she had fled from as a child and where she still had nightmares about. A country where spring didn't exist. She wanted to continue being an actress, even if she took over as daimyo. She had decided that while she was willing to rule Snow Country officially, if they really managed to get rid of Doto, there would be others that took care of the day to day work while she continued her career as an actress. While Sandayu wasn't too happy about it, it was definitely an improvement to before.
They had planned to strike when the guard change took place. Gai and Lee would provide a distraction by going through the pipes and taking out any opponent that got in their way. Then Neji, Haku and Tenten would go up from the prison area and start on their part. His job would be taking Doto out. As he was the one with the best abilities in stealth, not to mention that he could flash to his seal that would now be on Doto's table in the throne room, he had got this job. There was no doubt that Doto would have his own version of the suits that all Snow ninjas wore, so they needed to take him by surprise and from a place he didn't expect they could get into.
He looked at his wrist watch and finally the time for the planned attack arrived. He could hear that some guards were called downstairs for an attack coming in from the pipes, getting closer very fast. Well, it seemed Gai and Lee had started. He flashed away from his position right into the throne room.
Haku led Neji and Tenten into the fortress. They made sure to stay hidden for as long as possible. They knew that Lee and Gai were already busy with their distraction and they had to take out as many guards as possible. With the corridors mostly being long and straight, it was perfect for Tenten and Haku to attack, while Neji could give them information where there targets would appear. Both Haku and Tenten would keep to thrown weapons as long as possible, as there might be chakra detectors around. With how technologically advanced Snow Country was, it wouldn't surprise any of them.
"Group of five coming into target range in fifteen seconds," Neji told them softly.
Haku and Tenten were ready. They fired their weapons when the group turned around the corner and Tenten took three down and Haku two. Neji confirmed that they were down for good and the group proceeded.
"Ten coming up from the left," Neji informed them, "Seven from the right coming closer as well."
"I take left, your take right," Tenten addressed Haku.
"Alright. Neji, take those that get past our weapons," Haku nodded and got a nod in return.
The weapons flew as soon as the guards turned around the corner.
"Trespasser at level three," one guard managed to shout into his communicator before he fell to one of Tenten's shuriken to the throat.
"Well, that has our position compromised. Let's make most of it," Haku declared.
"Yes, I have some seals that I got at the armoury that Dark Phoenix recently developed that I've been dying to test," Tenten agreed giddily.
"Yes, that would be a good idea. I have one that I was asked to test as well," Neji nodded.
Haku didn't know what kind of seals they had, but he knew that Dark Phoenix was supposedly a genius with fuinjutsu and his contributions to the armoury of Konoha had improved their power in battle as well as the duration for which a ninja could fight immensely.
Doto commanded the soldiers in his throne room when he got the information that the attack that he had been waiting for had been started. He should have known that the pipes would be a weak point, but he had honestly forgotten that the outlet was outside of the barrier. A costly mistake that would need to be rectified as soon as they had countered the attack. If those Konoha ninjas thought that he would lose at his home turf, the fortress that he had changed to his ideas, they were dead wrong. He would show them how their arrogance would be their downfall.
"Send battalions eight and twelve to intercept the attack," he called out, "And be on guard in case this is a distraction for a second attack from another spot."
"Yes, Lord Doto," many exclaimed and ran off to get to their positions. The elite guards would stay at all times to stop any direct attack on him.
He had to wait for about ten minutes to get first reports.
"Team eight is down to ten men. There are two confirmed attackers. From descriptions they are Gai and the boy that resembles him so much," one soldier manning the communicator station reported.
"Then the others are somewhere else. At least one will be guarding Koyuki, but the others will attack from a second point. Don't drop your guard," Doto demanded.
"Lord Doto, report from patrol twenty three. Contact with the enemy on level three," he got the next bit of information, "No information on identities."
"Is see. Send battalions thirteen, twenty and twenty six there to intercept. We have to suspect that Naruto is on the second team. We can't afford to underestimate his ability to take down smaller groups quickly. His father was famous for taking down whole armies in seconds with that cursed flying thundergod jutsu," Doto ordered.
Then suddenly a hail of kunai appeared from the table with the maps on it and screams of pain followed within the next two seconds.
"Guards!" Was the one thing Doto could shout before he found himself being hit with at least ten senbons to the face and neck.
"Be happy that we want information from you, or you'd be dead by now," he heard a voice next to him and then blackness took over.
Naruto was happy how easily he had managed to get into the throne room. He acted as soon as he arrived and had got an overview where the guards and Doto were positioned. He threw a flurry of kunai with the seals and flashed around the room from one kunai to the next in less than three seconds to kill them all where they stood. It was simply too dangerous to leave them alive, not when he needed to capture Doto. The one chance he had were his poisons. He had ten senbons ready once he had cut the throat of the last guard he noticed. Thankfully the flying thundergod jutsu slowed his perception down, similar to the sharingan's ability to estimate movement actually, which had been an inspiration to his father when he created the jutsu. The other was the summoning jutsu.
When the senbons hit, he had to grin. This had been much easier than expected, even with the moment of surprise being on his side. Doto fell down, drugged, and Naruto quickly threw four kunai with sealing tags at the four corners of the door frame. It activated a barrier that would keep back-up outside until he was gone again. He sealed the body of Doto into a prisoner scroll. It would be up to Koyuki to publically execute him when she took over as daimyo. That man was a traitor and traitors needed to be permanently taken out. And by doing it in front of the people, it would make clear that another attempt at the Kazahana royal family, by then only Koyuki, would be met with the harshest penalty.
Naruto flashed away again, locking onto the seal he had on Haku's sleeve. He would get the other three out, now that their main goal had been met. A moment later he appeared to a battle which was clearly going in favour of his comrades. Neji was racing through the lines of soldiers, simply tapping them with a finger, making them fall down. Haku had another group at the mercy or her thousand flying water needles and Tenten was a little back and hit with deathly accuracy with shuriken and kunais. He could see that there were many tied up in sticky nets that originated from seals tied to kunai that were stuck in the walls.
It seemed that Tenten had used one of his newer seals. Spider net seals to be precise. He grinned. It was good to see that they worked like they should in battle. The seals were set up to activate if they got close enough to a chakra source not keyed into the seals. After all, you didn't want to hit your allies with a seal like that in battle. The net would drag the one it hit to the nearest surface and tie him up there thanks to the substance used in the seal being as hard as steel once it hardened. Which only took ten seconds after being exposed to oxygen.
Then he watched ho Neji shot a chakra beam along the corridor, stopping the reinforcements by forcing them to dodge. That also was one of his new creations. A seal that turned a chakra burst from the part of the body where it was placed into a beam that could fly at distant targets. He had developed it with the Hyuga clan in mind, as they were masters of the gentle fist, which included chakra injections from their fingers. The problem of many Hyugas was long distance battle, as they didn't want to learn normal ninjutsu, being too proud of their gentle fist. But this way, they were basically just augmenting their existing techniques, which made them much more dangerous fighters than before.
Naruto helped out with a wind jutsu, which also served as a signal to the others to get to him to get out of the fortress. There was no need to fight against everybody that was currently stationed inside the fortress while Naruto had already fulfilled his part of the mission. Tenten was the first to step next to him, then Neji and Haku followed. They all took hold of him and he transported them away, leaving the soldiers shocked how easily they had been trounced and how helpless they had been in stopping their opponents to get away unharmed.
Once Naruto had Haku's team back at the hideout, he teleported to Gai's position and got him and Lee, even if they had dealt with their opponents decisively. Both were ranting about being in the springtime of youth and Naruto simply took hold of them to get back to their base. He really needed some chakra replenishment. This had taken up a good half of his reserves. Transporting people many times was much harder than simply jumping from one seal to the next. And even that cost a good amount of chakra, which was why nobody besides him and his father had ever truly mastered the flying thundergod jutsu.
The chakra cost was immense. He knew from his father's journal that he had dealt with the problem by perfecting his chakra control. While he had had large reserves, he wouldn't have been able to jump to more than five kunais in a row if not for his perfect chakra control. The creation of the rasengan was another proof of that. That technique in its full form would cost a lot of chakra normally, but with perfect control, which was ultimately the last step of the jutsu, you could cut down the chakra cost a lot.
Naruto himself compensated with more chakra for his lack of perfect control. While he had great control for somebody with his kind of reserves, not to mention a certain fox inside of him, he would never be that perfect without the help of seals. And that simply wasn't worth the hassle. Somebody with reserves rivalling a biju on his own didn't need to look out for how much chakra he normally used. He could afford to waste a little.
Neji and Naruto set to work in interrogating Doto after Naruto had got out his concoctions that worked on getting truthful answers out of those not trained in the higher skills of ninjas. Not to mention after they had stripped him from his chakra armour suit. As expected he wore an advanced model, which would have been detrimental in interrogation. And to face it, while Doto might have known some ninjutsu, they all doubted that he got around to do interrogation resistance training. He was after all attempting to rule a country. Not becoming a full time ninja. The fighting skills would have been much higher on his agenda than other things.
It only took one hour, with lots of swearing and threats from Doto, but they got the gist of what reasons the man had had for his actions. After all, it made no sense to go after the princess of a country that didn't really plan to return, had she not been tricked and basically kidnapped. Doto was after the family treasure of the Kazahanas and the crystal that Koyuki always wore around her neck was the one existing key to it. The two got the location of the place where the key had to be inserted to unlock the secret hiding place. Thanks to some recording seals, which the film crew had paid a major sum to Naruto to have them do some recording of the battles inside the fortress for the movie, the movie just needed an impressive conclusion.
The revelation of the treasure of the royal family, after the main villain had been defeated and captured, was perfect. So Koyuki, accompanied by some royal guards, the film crew and the Konoha team, agreed to go there to see what kind of treasure her father had left for her to find. They used some sleighs to get there and the journey was filmed as well. Doto was also taken along, of course tied up securely, just to make sure to get his defeated impression when he finally got to see the treasure that would now never be his.
Koyuki stepped up to the slot where the crystal had to be inserted. She pulled the necklace from around her neck and then pushed the crystal into the slot.
Nothing happened.
"Shouldn't something happen?" Koyuki asked Doto.
"Yes," he growled, but looked surprised as well.
"Wait, do you hear that?" Naruto asked, taking guarding position next to Koyuki.
The others heard a low rumbling as well now. Then some parts of the ice covering the hills around them broke and fell down.
"There's something under the ice," Tenten pointed out.
"Yes, and it's getting freed," Neji confirmed, "There's a lot of chakra in the air."
"It's also getting warmer," Naruto commented.
Everybody was then surprised when a hologram was projected above their heads. One of Koyuki when she had been younger and her father. Koyuki looked stricken, seeing the memory of her father, when he told her that one day spring would come to Snow Country. And her declaration that she would both be an actress and a daimyo. For the first time in years, real tears ran down her cheeks.
"No, that can't be the Kazahana treasure!" Doto shouted, "This isn't a treasure, this is rubbish! What kind of treasure are heat generators?"
"For the people of Snow Country this will be the greatest treasure they could receive," Naruto countered calmly, "For a country that never saw spring, these heat generators will finally push back the eternal cold. While the snow won't leave forever, you'll be able to grow plants, supply your people with food from your own country and won't be dependent on other countries selling you those things for high prices. And with the rightful daimyo back, there will finally be peace."
"Well said, Naruto. I will make sure that my father's dream comes true. And like I already decided as a child, I'm going to do both. Be an actress and rule Snow Country," Koyuki declared.
Naruto smiled at her. It seemed that deep down there had still been a part of Koyuki that wanted to help her people. But not at the price of her life, which she had rightfully feared being on the line, should she come back to this country.
"I guess then you have a coronation to organise," Naruto chuckled.
"Yosh, what a youthful end to a hard mission!" Lee shouted.
Thankfully Neji and Haku prevented that the infernal sunset genjutsu of youth could be triggered. Nobody wanted to have that on tape.
The coronation was grand. After Doto was publically judged and then executed for his crimes, those being high treason against Snow Country, murder of the previous daimyo, assault against the new daimyo, and a few more that weren't as damning, the remaining parts of the troops that had served under him were arrested and locked up. Those that had simply followed orders because they didn't see another way to survive might be reinstated as guards, but Koyuki planned to change things a lot. She wouldn't allow the oppression of the people.
Her inauguration as daimyo was greeted with happiness all around her. She knew that she would have to fight a high number of battles in the future, as there were many that had profited from Doto's actions, but she had got the loyalty oaths from the leaders of the Snow ninja village. Not to mention that she would soon sign an alliance treaty with Fire Country. This would be a major political coup, as under Doto Snow Country had lost most of their previous allies.
Koyuki appeared to the Konoha group once the official part of the coronation was over.
"I really want to thank you for all your work in freeing my country. And having patience with me. I know I wasn't the easiest person to protect," she admitted.
"No, certainly not, but we can understand the reason why," Naruto accepted.
"I'm especially grateful to you, Naruto. You made Sandayu see that his strategy was faulty and were essential in taking down my uncle. How about you move here and become head of my ninja guards?" Koyuki offered.
The others gasped. Such an offer was incredible. It was a high honour to be offered something like that. And the daimyo of Fire Country would definitely make it happen, should Naruto ask for it. It would improve the relations between Fire Country and Snow Country massively, should one of Konoha's most prolific upcoming ninjas be accepted as leading guard to the new daimyo.
"Your offer honours me, Koyuki, but sadly I have to decline," Naruto said formally, "I fear I would be bored just having to watch out for threats against you. I want to reach the top among the ninjas in the world and one day surpass my father. For that I need to become stronger and I can't do that in a position like commander of your ninja guard. I'm also just thirteen years old. I need to grow and learn more by experience. I know that I'm really strong for my age, but I need to become even stronger to be able to take on the really powerful ninjas out there."
"I suspected that you might say something like that," Koyuki huffed, "Well, you all will always be welcome whenever you come back to Snow Country, though we're having a vote of renaming it Spring Country coming up next week. And maybe, perhaps in the future I can recruit you away from Konoha," she grinned mischievously and kissed the surprised Naruto on the cheek.
Then she walked away and cheerily gave some children autographs that they asked for.
"Wow, talk about going to high places," Tenten commented.
"Not everybody can claim having got a kiss from a beautiful daimyo," Haku added.
"Yosh, such a youthful thing to happen to you, Naruto!" Lee exclaimed loudly, causing some stares going into their direction.
Naruto just nodded. He really hadn't expected the kiss. But in some way he was happy about it. It was the first time that somebody had kissed him voluntarily.
TO BE CONTINUED...