Chapter 33

Sunagakure
Ryoma, Jonin

Initial details were discussed, then a proper briefing was scheduled to get everyone together. Half an hour later, Ryoma was standing in a group of four in the Kazekage’s office. Himself, Tsubame, Sato, and a man that he had exchanged words with on two occasions prior.

A relatively short old man, with a gaunt face and long white mustache under steely grey eyes. He wore a loose black jacket over his flak vest, with the symbol of Suna prominently emblazoned on the right shoulder, and the word ‘Captain’ emblazoned on the left. Under he wore loose white robes, which were tied off at the ends with scarlet, braided cords.

The massive iron warfan on his back was a clear sign of his intra-village affiliation.

Arada, captain of the Shiki Corps, and a much bigger deal than Ryoma was.

Rasa tapped upon a section of a paper map rolled out across his table, standing up and leaning forwards with a stick of pocky half hanging out of his map. “Captain Arada will be acting Team Leader for this three-objective mission, Jonin Ryoma will be acting Second.” He trailed his finger along a river that traced itself down from the Land of Rain through Claw Country and ending in Wind Country. “The mission will involve the destruction of three key locations. It is imperative that they are destroyed completely, and the team is extracted before Iwa has an opportunity to respond.”

The Kazekage tapped three positions on the map, golden sands falling from his fingertips and forming into shapes as he did so. Two bridges along the country-splitting river, and one trio of houses on the Wind-facing side of the river. “The destruction of Ginseng Bridge, B-Rank. The destruction of Pao-Pao Bridge, B-Rank. The destruction of Naito Village, A-Rank. You will have until the end of next month to accomplish the mission, but do not overstay your welcome once you begin your attacks.”

The Kazekage leaned back and crossed his arms. “The client wishes to remain anonymous, and has already forwarded the payment for mission completion.” He withdrew a scroll from within a jacket-sleeve, placing it on the tablet before them. “Remaining details and objective intelligence are secured within, be prepared to destroy the document before allowing it to fall into enemy hands. Any questions?”

Ryoma glanced over to see if the Shiki Corps Captain had anything to say, but the old man’s arms were crossed and his eyes were closed. He didn’t seem like he was ready to ask anything any time soon. Ryoma nodded to bring attention to himself. “Why specifically myself for this mission- Tsubame and Sato are along because I’m present, I know, but I’m fairly certain that Captain Arada is capable of completing this entire operation on his own.”

The Kazekage nodded with a stern frown. “You are correct, Captain Arada is indeed entirely capable of completing this operation on his own. The concern arises from potential interference from either of Iwa’s Jinchuriki. For this reason, if either Jinchuriki is suspected to be present on the field, you have pre-emptive authorization to employ the Kyojutsu to support Arada in a fighting retreat.”

Ryoma nodded slowly, brows furrowed. “I see.” He responded, thinking the matter over.

One of the many compromises that arose from the development of the Mk2, the Great Dragoon, was the concern over so many village secrets being invested into a single platform. If it were to be secured by the enemy, then it would be a village-wide breach of jutsu-secrets, which would obviously be a very bad thing.

For this reason, the actual deployment of the Mk2 was a careful, deliberate affair. Ryoma had to receive explicit permission either from the Kazekage himself or the acting Team Leader to summon it into the field, and summoning it without said permission would require very good justification on his part. If Ryoma was acting Team Leader, he could give himself permission to deploy it, but he’s refrained from doing so thus far- that would go against the spirit of the rule.

All in all, in the two and a half years since the Mk2 was completed, it had been summoned into the field all of twice. Both occasions being supervised and guarded by several veteran teammates in case it left any survivors and thus- leaked knowledge of its existence. As far as anyone in Suna was aware, the specifics of what exactly the ‘Kyojutsu’ was and how it operated was still a secret.

If the Kazekage was ready to pre-emptively authorize its deployment here, then this mission either had a very important client or it was considered critical for Suna’s strategic goals. The Great Dragoon wasn’t going to be taking out a Jinchuriki solo barring exceptional circumstances, but it would be enough to soak up time and attention for the Captain to act freely, which is all it would really need to do.

“Is it- is it alright for me to be here, Lord Kazekage?” Sato asked with a distinctly worried and tense expression. “I mean… I’m still just a Genin…”

“As was stated, Captain Arada is sufficient to complete this operation entirely on his own.” The Kazekage stated bluntly. “Jonin Ryoma is only present as insurance for an unlikely scenario.” In other words, the other two people on the mission were totally superfluous to its expected completion. The Kazekage tilted his head slightly. “I would advise taking the opportunity presented to hone your mission-sense, Genin Sato.”

“Yes, Lord Kazekage.” Sato swallowed nervously, hands tense at his sides.

“Are there any secondary objectives in the region we should be aware of?” Tsubame asked with her signature blank tone.

“If possible, conceal Suna’s involvement in the destruction of these sites. Only if time and situation permits, however, do not allow secrecy to sabotage the primary objectives.” The Kazekage answered with a firm nod. “Any further objectives are left to the discretion of the Team Leader.”

“What level of clearance to discuss mission details?” She continued.

“ANBU-level before mission completion and up to one month after. Jonin-level for up to one year after. It will be declassified at some point in the future, you will be informed of the change when it happens.” The Kazekage nodded. “Any further questions?”

A moment of silence. Rasa nodded again, sitting back down in his chair as the little golden symbols on the map dissolved. “Dismissed.”

—

They agreed to meet at the gates of the village in another half-hour, then depart for Claw Country immediately. Well, it was more like Captain Arada declared that they were going to do that, and as Team Leader they were obligated to follow his orders.

Packing for a potentially month-long mission wasn’t too hard, most of his supplies were already in his bulk-storage scroll, and the only thing he really had to care about was grabbing his traveling cloak and traveling helmet. A large, concealing black coat that went completely over his Mk3 Puppetarmor, keeping the limbs covered all the way down to his ankles.

Keeping his armor covered while he was traveling allowed him to pretend that it was a big secret he was keeping, a secret that was relatively easy to uncover ahead of time because he didn’t wear the coat while walking around Sunagakure itself. So when he revealed the armor in a fight, an enemy who has already spied on him will already know ‘the secret’ and make plans to counter it.

Meanwhile, Ryoma has already planned for them to uncover his secrets, keeping his knowledge of their knowledge of his secrets a secret, and thus able to prepare a counter for their counters to his basic puppetarmor. Meanwhile the real secrets were the things he could attach to his puppetarmor and summon in if he really needed to.

Prepwork for ninja combat was confusing sometimes.

The traveling helmet was designed to look like a concealing but relatively normal head. A conical metal ‘straw hat’ ringed with tiny eyes with a concealing veil and wrapping that covered everything except his actual eyes, which were in turn covered by desert goggle lenses. This veil concealed a solid, enclosing helmet underneath.

All of this was very hot in a desert. That’s why he had the Air Convection Jutsu.

His large frame and concealing coat drew eyes as he stood at the gates of Sunagakure, waiting out the last few minutes with Tsubame and Sato standing next to him. Tsubame wore her own somewhat concealing clothes, baggy sleeves and pants keeping her limbs mostly concealed beneath but open in the middle to let her torso breathe beneath the flak vest. An unslung bow was carried across her lower back, along with a series of large scrolls.

Sato, proving himself a fan of the reliable standard, wore a loose tan coat over a white shirt and dark blue pants tied off at the ends. A white hat with sun-blocking flaps and open-toed sandals completed the look.

Exactly upon the agreed upon minute, the Captain of the Shiki Corps appeared in a swirl of wind, looking almost exactly as he did just half an hour ago. He eyed each of them up for a moment, before grunting in something akin to satisfaction and immediately starting a brisk walk beyond the reaches of Sunagakure.

“Introductions.” Captain Arada grumbled, glancing back at them. “I specialize in widescale destruction with warfan techniques. I am highly proficient with all other ninja arts.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Ryoma waited a half-moment to see if the captain would continue at all, but he didn’t. He nodded shallowly, reaching up to lower his helm-jaw through the veil and say his own introductions. “I’m a puppeteer specialized in close-ranged and hand-to-hand combat, with passing capability in wind, earth, and summoning ninjutsu. I use the occasional genjutsu. Please inform me if anyone touches any of my weapons- it’s a fast acting paralytic.”

The Captain turned his short gaze towards the next in line. Tsubame nodded and started to speak. “I specialize in all-ranges weapon use, hand-to-hand combat, and single target elimination. I use a handful of ninjutsu, tools, and poisons to supplement this. I will prioritize targets that threaten Jonin Ryoma, a standing order from Lord Kazekage.”

The Captain turned his stern eyes to the final member of their four-man team. Sato jumped a little when he realized eyes were upon him. “Er- Sato Taro. I know a few ninjutsu, the basic three, three water, two wind, one earth. I’m… decent at staying quiet?”

That sounded more like a question than a statement.