It was the next day and spurred by ambition, Onōki behind Ao's back sent a request to the Kazekage via a secret envoy.
When the envoy reached Sunagakure and handed the message to Rasa, he read it and scowled. Immediately calling forth an Council meeting.
"He can't be serious? Hand over our most deadly weapons to our most dangerous neighbour?! Is he crazy"
Toujuro raised his voice in defiance upon learning of this secret deal.
Chiyo also intervened, "Handing over the missile technology may pose more of a threat to us than the idea of a possible invasion… I think the Tsuchikage is bluffing."
After heavy discourse on the topic the emergency Suna meeting ended, coming to the consensus to shut Onōki's schemes down before he even got the chance.
This enraged Onōki and he hastened his preparations for an invasion, fuelled solely by ego.
—-
I returned to my workshop and cracked my knuckles, I decided it was finally time to get to work again.
When I spoke to the Kazekage I hadn't told the truth, it's not like I actually ran out of missiles I just didn't want to be sent out on to the front lines again.
And after having worked on creating these complex missiles all this time, despite being taxing on my wallet, did come with a silver lining.
[Puppets (7/10) - Completed(14)
Puppet and Baryon fusion reactor knowledge (35.0%)]
My comprehension on puppets has finally progressed to a point at which I believe I can actually make a baryon fusion reactor prototype.
I gradually accumulated such a surplus of knowledge, to the extent that I can envision the schematics of a baryon fusion reactor in my mind.
And so after a few days of gruelling work, I raised the finish product in the air glimmering as it basked in the sun.
It was made of layers of concentric rings, I poured my thin chakra laden threads into the device and a faint hum emitted from it followed by a striking azure glow racing around with the flow of chakra.
The noise and glow was being produced by the high speed collision of chakra.
To put it simply, chakra was actively being fused it releasing heaps of energy.
I continued funnelling my chakra into, eventually it got to a point that it began sizzling and flowing red hot causing me to quickly drop it.
"I guess the efficiency isn't perfect just yet."
When made amplified it seems it can enhance the power of chakra by a magnitude of three times.
But I couldn't just have a fusion reactor with no means of using it.
Initially I thought of instantly it on my exoskeleton but the heat would be unbearable on an exo skeleton.
After contemplating I settled on installing it onto a metal humanoid puppet I had designed a while back.
I'll call this puppet Arc.
After a few weeks of tinkering, the puppet was modified with various chakra channels tracing its frame and with repulsor installed at the palms of the puppets hands.
It's finally time to test my new work!
I went out to the training ground, located on the towering sand stone platform.
The wind whistled and I opened up my scroll and then POOF!
I summoned Arc, the basic humanoid design had intricate tech like patterns traced along the chrome plated frame. Around the core was multiple metal fins used as a heat sink to dissipate excess heat.
Using my chakra threads I poured chakra into the reactor place at the core of his chest.
A loud humming buzzed out as Arc gained a faint blue aura.
Chakra threads trailed out of my hand latching onto the core of the puppet and diverging via the various channels embedded into the metal frame.
Once prepared I decided that I should first test the mobility with the aid of the reactor.
Typically I wouldn't be able to move such a heavy metal puppet with my chakra threads alone. But now with the reactor — it's a breeze
I'm able to provide a continuous source of energy to control the heavy limbs. The drawback of using such a sturdy puppet is that im unable to lift it into the air, limiting it to moving with its limbs.
Despite that the speed was outstanding to say the least, each punch and kick ripped through the air, creating a mini shockwave with each punch.
When I finally got to test the repulsord, I aimed up into the sky with one palm upwards and the fingers splayed out.
It charged up for a moment and then Boom! A large condensed ball of chakra shot upwards it became oblong as it screamed through the sky ripping a hole through the clouds.
After a while of travelling upwards, it exploded like a firework being set off. With fragments of blue shattering in the sky.
The dazzling sight lasted briefly but definitely raised a lot of attention amongst the many villagers below.
Later that evening after wrapping up, I returned home only to be greeted by an Anbu with his face covered by the typical white cloth wrap leaving only the eyes exposed.
He was waiting at my door with an impatient glare in his eyes.
"Lord Fourth has summoned you for an emergency, report to him now it's an emergency"
What good timing, I wanted to test my new puppets out.
"Don't worry, I'm going now!"
I grabbed my scroll of both Hornet and Arc and flickered to the Hokages office.
When I opened the door to the Kazekages Office I quickly notice the abnormal amount of people gathered in here, all of them elite Sand jōnin.
The elders stood beside the Kazekage their face were scrunched and brows were furrowed. That included both Chiyo and Ebizō.
Something definitely happened.
The mood was tense and I could feel their stares piercing into me as I went to kneel down.
"Lord Fourth you summoned."
"Sora you made it, okay now that everyone's here, we'll begin."
"Reports have come in that a large coalition of Iwa and Kiri shinobi gathered at the border."
"We are in a state of emergency! They could be planning to invade us any day now." Rasa said slamming his desk as he rose.
"The reason as to why I've gathered you here is you are the most elite shinobi in our village"
"Some of you will be responsible for managing your own platoon of soldiers and some will form independent squads."
"Since this is a matter that threatens the national security of the nation the daimyou has managed to provide us an emergency fund. We will use this to stock up on supplies and arms for the upcoming battle."
The Kazekage continued on his speech like this for a while and began dismissing many of the veteran ninjas one by one and eventually leaving only a few of us remaining.
The only ones I recognised were Pakura and Baki.
"Those who remain will fight in three man teams"
"Sora, Pakura and Baki you will be be squatmates for this battle."
…
Once we were dismissed, we were told to bring our own supplies and meet at the front gate.
The attack is occuring in the north of the border in the land of wind.
"Baki! It's been a long time since we were in the same team! I heard you're set to join the council in the future."
Baki maintained his same serious expression
"Sora you've gotten a lot bigger now."
I frowned, "Is that all you have to say to me?"
"Don't pester him Sora" Pakura intervened in our conversation, stepping between us with a sigh. "We've got a long mission ahead — save your energy."
"Fine I get it. But things really escalated quickly , this is most likely the final battle of the war for us."
"Yeah… this is the most important battle of our lives we have to stay sharp"
Around us was large groups of shinobi all organised and lined up, many of them were still young and their nervousness was apparent.
Once everyone was settled the commander of the main force — Rasa — lead us himself.
It was midday and the sweltering heat made the journey unbearable, it was almost 40 degrees Celsius.
Our squad was ordered to move separately to the main force.
And so we did, we trekked through the dunes until night fell which was when we set up camp.
When sun rose again we continue our journey flicker with practiced efficiency.
"Save your energy guys!" I shouted at them below.
The reason as to why, is because throughout the entire journey I was flying on my hornet puppet. There was not enough space to accommodate them both so I ended up hovering behind them as they flickered ahead.
Arriving too early wouldn't do any good, our plan was to flank the main enemyforce once the battle begins, so it may do more harm than good to arrive at our specified location early.
Eventually we made it, at the edge of the border where the landscapes begins to shift.
Dunes begin to shallow and the harsh desert wind softens as we near the edge of the border, the dry and arid air remains, leaving behind non arable land and towering cliffs.
And it's exactly that topography which we are planning to using to our advantage.
We arrive at our marked location and begin to scope out the enemy lines. Using a pair of binoculars I peer into the distance where the large scale of Iwagakure attack begins to set in.
From my estimation here they must have at least 2000 shinobi ready to invade there's also a separate detached force of about 100 Kirigakure ninjas, leading them was a blue haired man with an eye patch.
I've heard that recently Kirigakure has started the selection process for the next three tail jinchuriki.
What frightened me most however was the fact that there were two lone ninja, one donned a samurai like armour and was completely plated in metal, the other had bright red hair.
I knew who they were — Han and Rōshi
Steam hissed from furnace behind Han, hissing through the crevices of his crimson armour. It extended up his entire body to cover half his face . He stood with one arm folded inside his clothes and under the red conical shaped hat, he stared into the distance.
Beside him with his arms folded was Rōshi, he also stood there menacingly as his red armour fluttered in the wind.
The battle was imminent and could occur at any moment, they must also be expecting us to lead our troops forward.
Due to the harsh climate of the Land of Wind, it would be beneficial for both sides to fight here. Even despite our home advantage, the desert is unforgiving.
"Hey when do you think the battle will start?"
"I don't know but we have to act fast for the honour of the village!"
If Pakura knew this battle only occurred because I decided to save her she would probably feel conflicted.
Eventually, Rasa arrived hovering on his golden platform trickling sand dust down as he looked down on the enemy coalition.
"So, this is the new Kazekage?" Onōki bellowed out into the empty battlefield.
Then the man with the blue hair also spoke out, his eyepatch removed with veins protruding out from his orbital region .
"Sunagakure has dishonoured their deal and decided to betray us, we will now seek our revenge here and now!"
The Kirigakure army behind him cheered on in anticipation, they didn't earn the reputation as the bloody mist for nothing after all.
Beside me Pakura clenched her fist, "Those bastard betrayed us first!"
If only she knew…
"Why does Iwagakure seek to take our land, you stand to gain nothing! We have no farmland and our climate is harsh what are you seeking Iwagakure!"
Hearing this I thought back to their first attempted invasion, the real reason why they invaded was because they thought we were in a vulnerable position after the failed Kirigakure deal and wanted to kick us when we were down.
But I guess, with my intervention the scales of our skirmish has escalated to this extent.
Proving my theory Onōki answered the Kazekage's question.
"The existence of your weapons poses far too great a threat on the national security of the surrounding villages, we gave you the opportunity to hand over your weapons to negotiate a peace deal but you refused."
"This is a consequence of your actions Kazekage!"