CHAPTER 70: PREPARATIONS

Riku’s experiments regarding the rinnegan didn’t go as far as he had expected for no other reason than his personal life. Ino’s 20th birthday then his quick marriage to the blonde a week later had been the last peaceful days he had.

Surveillance outposts had caught Iwa finally making its move. After many trials and errors, and the loss of a good couple hundred of their Shinobi, the iwa ninjas found the hole in Konoha’s surveillance : the Land of Stone. They went right through it to get to Wind. It wasn’t clear if it was to finish with Suna or to launch an attack from Rivers country to the Land of Fire. With Suna still in reconstruction they couldn’t watch properly all their borders and Stone was free to attack the Leaf from a spot they never attacked before. That wasn’t the only bad news. From one of Jiraiya’s reports, Kumo was gone. The few survivors of the onslaught talked about an army of the dead that had come and swept through all their forces, captured B, the eight tails jinchuriki and killed his adoptive brother A, the Raikage himself. Afterwards, they picked the corpses of many shinobi up and left with as many as they could, leaving behind a destroyed village.

Tsunade knew that war had kicked off and quickly summoned the council and her jonin commander, Nara Shikaku.

“What do we do, first?” she asked. “Deal with Iwa or increase our defenses?”

“Iwa is a more important problem and easier to deal with.” Shikaku answered. “We know where they are and know what they can do. Attack Suna, attack us or retreat. Obito and Orochimaru have an army of immortal undead in the wind.”

“What about Kiri? What are they doing?” inquired Koharu.

“We won’t have an answer for a few days but I don’t see what they can do against an undead army. They are too far to fight Iwa.”

“In other words, it would be beneficial for them if we weakened ourselves fighting Iwa and the undead army. They could-”

“No, they can’t.” Hiruzen cut in, interrupting Homura. “We shared the whole objective of the Akatsuki with them, if they don’t help and we fall it’s over for them too. They’re not quite back to their former strength and us losing would put them in a very difficult situation. They could try that of course but the risk is way too high considering the consequences.”

“So Iwa first. How do we deal with them? I’d like to avoid a frontal assault or send Riku out there unless it’s necessary.”

“I was thinking of increasing the hit and runs on their supply lines. It has been quite effective so far. That would cut their retreat off and they would have no choice but to go through Rivers to get some. As they move we attack their back while we also take a defensive position in their front. It’s all about finding the balance between being quick in dealing with them and losing as few ninjas as possible. I’m sorry to say this, Hokage-sama, but your son is the fastest. We can’t not have him participate in this operation.”

Tsunade thought about the strategy Shikaku just shared. She liked the sound of that, however she didn’t like the sound of her son being involved. Of course, he was a shinobi and perhaps the strongest shinobi of the village but asking him again to commit a slaughter didn’t sit well with her. Both as a mother worried for her child's well being and as a Hokage who could see a future where the ninjas of the leaf became lazy and let Riku deal with everything. 

“Riku will be part of the hit and run team as a member of Team Yukari. He will not use the Hiraishin for mass slaughter.”

“Tsunade-”

“No, sensei. We can’t always count on him to deal with the village’s problems. Not like this. What will happen when he dies? The Hiraishin is an incredible tool but it doesn’t make Riku invincible.”

“You’re thinking about the consequences on our ninjas if he wipes out a whole army by himself.” Koharu commented, understanding her line of thought.

“Yes. I don’t want the ninjas of our village to become complacent and always count on Riku to deal with threats. Konoha’s military is based on teamwork and that’s what allowed us to come out victorious every time. Letting Riku deal with everything by himself goes against that. We can’t focus on the present without thinking about the future or Konoha will be doomed.”

None of the men present in the Hokage office had a counter argument to offer because Tsunade was right. They couldn’t always count on Riku. When Minato died the village was in such disarray that Hiruzen had to come out of retirement to lead it. Everyone had been counting on him and took a more relaxed stance thinking that since the war was over and that Minato could deal with an army by himself everything was fine. If Riku ever perishes, there wouldn't be anyone ready to replace him like it happened with Minato.

“Which reminds me. If something were to happen to me, Riku is next in the line of succession. I know it’s obvious at this point but it needed to be said.”

“And if you both fall?” Shikaku asked.

“... Kushina.”

The woman’s name made everyone who heard it ponder for a moment. Kushina was a S-rank kunoichi by her own right and a seal mistress. Strength wise, she was more than qualified but being Hokage wasn’t just about strength.

“She’ll need a lot of help.” commented Hiruzen.

“Every Hokage needs a lot of help. Kushina would need a bit more, that's all. It’s the contingency of a contingency however and before Riku falls… well… I have faith he won’t. If he can recover from his ordeal from Ame, I doubt there is anything in this world that could take him down.”

The meeting ended there and Tsunade activated the alarm across the whole village to warn the people they were at war. Shinobis and kunoichis gathered at the Hokage tower. On the ground and the roofs of the nearby building. She gave a passionate speech to raise everyone’s morale up and ordered them to be ready for further orders.

Riku was present with Ino on a rooftop. They had been interrupted during their intimate time together when the alarm sounded. Holding hands, they looked at each other. Ino was worried about what Riku will have to do during the war and Riku was worried about losing her. He hoped that after all the sex they got the past months she was finally pregnant so she won’t have to go on the front lines. That was why he had so quickly changed his mind about having a baby together. Ino left to see her parents and Riku went home. He both wanted and needed to see his family.

He found Hinata on the patio with their girls. They were playing together, trying to build something up with their blocks. Hinata saw him and had a resolute expression on her face. He went to hug her with everything he had then gave her a kiss. He did the same for Hitomi and Toka before flashing away to the hospital.

Karin was working in the lab and had brought Kamiko with her. She didn’t want to sacrifice her job for their daughter nor their daughter for her job, so everyday she took their ocean child to work. Just like with Hinata, he embraced Karin. With the war officially starting, they had to find someone to take care of her. Hitomi and Toka would be taken by a nanny from the Hyuga clan and although there was no problem with taking care of Kamiko too, Karin wasn’t comfortable with the idea. She reluctantly agreed to Minato taking the job or rather being forced into it.

“Remember, it’s imperative you’re not caught. Flash away if you’re in danger. No matter what. Even if you have a patient you’re working on.”

Karin nodded in understanding and after giving her a kiss and their daughter, Riku left the hospital. It was on his way to meet his mother when a summoning bird landed on his shoulder which confirmed his thought of Tsunade wishing to talk to him. Since it was a summon, he didn’t make her wait and teleported to her office right away. He greeted her, Hiruzen and the elders. Tsunade went straight to business.

“If something happens to me you will be the one to take the hat.”

Riku nodded slowly. He didn’t like the idea of becoming Hokage under those circumstances. It meant that his mother was dead. The thought made his stomach twist. The only hope he had was if her body was recovered. He could bring her back just like Minato and Kushina had been brought back. The thought was dismissed however. He knew how much her mother wouldn’t like that.

She went on to explain to him the plan and his orders. Those too he didn’t like them but he would obey, regardless. He understood why he was held back to completely crush Iwa and in all honesty, he would have taken the same decision. 

“If I may suggest something?” he asked after the end of the briefing and was invited to continue. “I suggest to seal some Shadow Clones in the villages in some scrolls. To deal with any serious threat or at least delay greatly the enemies should they reach it. Kushina, Naruto, Karin for their amount of chakra and skill, Kakashi for his intellect and leadership and myself for acting quickly.”

Tsunade considered the suggestion for a moment then nodded. “I’ll send words.”

Dismissed, Riku left for home, to prepare himself for war. He double checked everything, kunais, shurifuins, botib, tags, armor, food and other supplies. Already done with his goodbyes he went to the rendez-vous point his mother told him to go to. He was early for the deployment but there was never early in a war. Only on time or too late. He wasn’t the only one with the thought. A few friends were already there. Kakashi and Yugao were waiting silently side to side and he joined them.

“Yo.” the fake cyclops greeted not bothering to raise his head from his icha-icha: Love at the hot springs.

“Hey, guys. I’m glad to see familiar faces considering where we’re going. Do you know any specifics?”

“No, do you?” Yugao asked.

Riku shook his head. “Only that I’m not permitted to use the hiraishin on a large scale. Mom doesn’t want the village to rely on it too much to avoid what happened after Minato did it.”

“Hmm.” Kakashi nodded slowly. “On one hand shinobis would keep themselves sharp and on alert at all times, on the other many would die because the war will last longer.”

“With the reverse summon to the nearest Botib I doubt that many would die. So it’s not that difficult a choice.” Yugao remarked. “Why not Hiraishin bracelets?”

“Too time consuming to make. I can maybe make half a dozen before the end of the week?” Riku looked annoyed at that.

While his version of the hiraishin was vastly superior to his father or his Uncle Tobirama, the problem with it was the time to write the seal. It was the one big flaw of the jutsu. The formula being way too big, it couldn’t be automatically written by the inscription seal. Riku had toyed with the idea but decided against it. That seal needed to be reworked for the hiraishin and that took time. Time he didn’t have. Maybe if he had a month but he didn’t.

He wished he could make seals like Karin did. She could use her chains to write them on whatever surface she wanted. Kushina had begun to learn how to do that too and was quickly becoming proficient in the skill. Minato had something similar. With his hands he could simply apply the seal, something that Tobirama did too. Unfortunately with his chakra network destroyed, the yondaile Hokage couldn’t properly teach Riku how to do that. Notes helped but it wasn’t enough to make it fast.

Besides, there were more important things to do. Dealing with alive people was easy, it was dealing with the dead the problem. Having seals ready to put on a brought back shinobi to stop them was a priority. Riku was uneasy at the idea of fighting immortal kages. If they couldn’t be put under control or stopped the war would be over really quick. 

No matter how much he studied the Edo-Tensei, he found no way to undo it without the proper handseals which needed to be made by the undead to end the jutsu. He had to give it to his uncle Tobirama: the man was a genius. Riku may have had a few words about how much of a retard the man was but it was in the application of what he created. Creating the hiraishin and the shadow clone? Riku wouldn’t have been able to do something like that. No, Riku, like his father, was not that creative. Both witnessed something and their brain immediately dissected every layer then came up with something better. They didn’t come up with it themselves, unlike Tobirama. They just build on something already existing.

Yugao nudged him and his mind came back to the present. The surrounding Shinobis were led inside a building where Nara Shikaku laid down the law and the plan concerning the war. Once done, he divided the forces into five-men teams. Riku thought it was a big formation for the covert operation they needed to do. The explanations were sound however. One would stay in a Botib, using the echolocation to guide the others, one would be on the look out on the field, three would act.

Riku was glad to know Team Yukari was together and reached for Yugao’s hand when he heard the announcement. He knew she was pleased by it when she squeezed his, slightly. He didn’t have to wait long to know who would be the two other team members. A snort nearly escaped him.

“- Yuhi Kurenai and Maito Gai.”

Both Yugao and Riku could feel the aura around Kakashi shift. Later, she would argue it was a ‘Why does Kami hate me?’ aura, while Riku would say it was a ‘Please, kill me.’ one.

One thing puzzled Riku for a moment. A jonin was a field commander. A shinobi that could lead and manage a few teams because of how strong they were. Usually they were paired in case something happened to one. To maintain the chain of command on the field. With how rare jonin were, that wasn’t a surprise, they were precious resources. Yet, his team was made of not two or three which was exceptional, but five.

No matter how he thought about it, Riku could only come to the conclusion that his team would have a pivotal role in the war. With its composition he couldn’t think overwise. It was very much destruction oriented. Gai and Riku were taijutsu specialists and very destructive ones at that. Kurenai was a mistress in Genjutsu better than Kakashi who was more of a ninjutsu specialist despite the Sharingan. Yugao was the all rounder with speciality in close combat quarters with her Kenjutsu.

In Riku’s mind, Kurenai was there to hide them with her genjutsu and help and they were supposed to wreak havoc in the middle of the enemy forces before retreating to a Botib. That would be devastating.

Once Shikaku was done with the troops assignment, Riku and the team left the building for some team bonding. He invited everyone to the Senju compound. Hinata was there and Kurenai hadn’t seen her in a while, they would also have access to a private training ground. Everyone agreed with the suggestion.