A FEW HOURS LATER
The attacks had stopped, The Order had declared a National Emergency, only used in the case of natural disasters and war.
Squads and patrols were being organized, prisoners were being interrogated, civilians were being evacuated to more central and defensible positions.
And on my side, I was taking time to examine the souls, for one simple reason.
To see if they had any unfinished business before I sent them on to the Pure Lands.
All 373 of them, almost triple that died in the attacks, but the other ones were not my worshipers, while most in Wave liked The Order, my religion was still very new, so 30% conversion rate was pretty good, I think.
Things like people depending on them, or young children in their family, or anything else that required intervention from someone else.
The Great Messenger would deliver the list of those with such issues when I was done.
But from the preliminary interrogations we did, I knew we only had a short time before the main Kiri force arrived, a couple of days at most.
The plan they had was simple, try to cause as much chaos as possible to divert the Orders resources, once they are spread out, then launch a two-pronged attack, one by sea and the other via the Bridge.
The fact that they would be trespassing in the Land of Fire was seemingly not a consideration, I assumed that they were just planning on pushing into Wave quickly enough to stop any retaliation from Konoha.
I wonder if they even knew that The Order had a full alliance with Konoha, it wouldn't matter if they did it fast or slow, Konoha would retaliate anyway.
Their plan wasn't effective anyway, with me overlooking these lands, most of the Order was still gathered in the capital, I dealt with all the groups by just teleporting someone close to them, mostly Star-Eaters, sometimes Templars.
But I shoved those thoughts aside as I focused on my current task, I had my own ideas on how to help The Order before the main Kiri force arrived.
***
A FEW HOURS LATER, AGAIN
Zabuza was pinning Bingo Book pages on his board, his personal Bingo Book wasn't the most updated, but his section on Kiri was still relevant enough.
As he put up the last page, he looked back at the gathering of people behind him, every one that lead any number of combatants in The Order was gathered here, the only ones that broke that mold were the Templars, but considering their role would be to be the ones seeking out these targets and killing them, it made sense for them to be here.
"These are all the highest threats that we know of." He announced calmly. "In total there are 27 people who are priority targets or dangers, we are not aware of who exactly is going to be part of this invasion, so I'll just list everyone I know of."
He tapped his finger on one of the pages.
"Most importantly, Yagura Karatachi, the Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails, if he shows up, leave him to me or the Star-Eaters, the Templars among you can try to fight him, but it will be risky. Luckily, the Intelligence Wing reports that there is a low chance of his appearance."
The Mizukage was, simply put, too strong for most of the people in this room, Jinchūriki were no joke.
Even the most untalented among that group could always just release their Tailed Beast if they got tired of living, and even Zabuza wasn't sure he would defeat the Three-Tails.
He was confident in surviving, but winning? Unlikely.
But he wasn't against a rematch, he had many regrets about his failed rebellion, taking Yagura's head would lighten many of those.
"The second-highest priority is this man, Fumio, while not particularly dangerous in direct combat, he is a Seal-Master, descendant of the smith that made a good chunk of the Seven Blades." He continued, moving his finger down to a page below Yagura.
"He will likely be the commander of one of the forces, he specializes in large-scale Seals and traps, he is also an excellent strategist, so if you get a chance to kill him, do it immediately, not only will it deny them a dangerous Jōnin, but there's a good chance that if we take him out early, many of their strategies will fail due to his absence."
Fumio was an arrogant bastard, if he wasn't one of the Mizukage's most loyal dogs, and actually effective at his job, he would have been killed years ago.
"Next on the list is Mei Terumi, bog-standard Jōnin in Genjutsu, talented in Taijutsu, but her true specialty is her mastery of both Lava and Boil Release, and by extension, Water, Fire and Earth."
Mei was a real monster, she is easily an S-Rank Shinobi, she was sympathetic to Zabuza's rebellion, so that was good, but she thought he was doomed to failure, which ended up being true.
He gave even odds to any Templar that fought her, the reliance on physical attacks and lack of Genjutsu meant that they had a chance.
Any Acolyte was fucked, though, she could easily overwhelm them with her Kekkei Genkai.
"Teruto Kakoi, the Iron Nail Jōnin, he was a candidate for wielding Nuibari before the blade was lost, he is a prolific long-range assassin, infamous for his signature weapon, which should be obvious by his moniker."
Iron Nails were what they sounded like, long, thin and with a wide base. He used a hammer and his prodigious strength to launch them at high speeds, he usually sat back and stole kills, then acted all smug about it.
Honestly, after going through the people that the Order would be fighting, Zabuza felt much less conflicted than he expected.
Most of these people were assholes, almost all of the people he actually liked died with his failed rebellion.
"He is a target due to the potential to score a lucky hit on someone important, he has hundreds of nails and a deadly aim, the longer he stays alive, the higher the chances of him landing a killshot."
The meeting continued on like that, Zabuza giving a basic run down of everyone of particular importance, this included both strong fighters, strategists, and those who had specific abilities that were dangerous.
After this was the council meeting, and after that, the last rest he would be getting for a while.
***
The air was thick with tension, silence filled the room as everyone waited.
This was the last meeting they would be having before the invasion started, after this, everyone would be very busy.
Contrary to the last time the Heads discussed a war, there was no reluctance, this time everyone was fully willing to commit to the upcoming conflict.
Even Haruka's expression was dark, this wasn't the kind Head Priestess trying to do the best for her people.
This was the leader of The Order of The Watcher, the one that coldly ordered Gatō to be burned alive as revenge for Ayumu.
And breaking the silence was the door opening and closing, Kazuo had arrived.
"Kazuo." Haruka greeted shortly, nodding at him. "Everything is in place?"
Kazuo took his seat calmly.
"Yes, Medics and Doctors are heading out to the probable battle lines, and all the wounded from the attacks are being transported or treated."
Haruka nodded, everyone else following her lead.
"That is good, Zabuza, how did the meetings go?" She asked next.
"Everyone knows what to do." He responded gruffly. "I will be taking my leave to lead the Sea defense, Yatagarasu will lead the Bridge defense."
Sadly, Zabuza didn't have anyone who was experienced in large-scale combat, but the Star-Eater would do fine, as long as Fumio was killed early on, then it should be an easy victory.
If Fumio wasn't there, then it was an even easier fight, they wanted Kiri to try and fight them head on, that was where they had the best chance.
He would be taking the people that did not participate in the Otogakure war and blooding them in the sea battle. The lack of actual fighting was really starting to annoy him, how was he supposed to train an effective fighting force when most of the battles they had were against drunkards.
So he would use the smaller battle to make sure they at least got some experience, if it turned sour, he could always use his Bloody Mist.
Haku would assist him with the naval defense, his Ice Release would come in handy to keep the ships away from the shore.
"Hikari?" Haruka turned to Hikari. "Any news?"
The Intelligence Wing Head shook her head.
"Nothing new from the newest batch, some information that will be useful enough after the war, but nothing we can use in the coming days." She reported. "Shinobi are paranoid enough that none of them were important or particularly well-informed."
That was expected for those in the room with experience in Shinobi matters, sending disposable and unimportant people on an aggressive first strike was just basic common sense.
The room lapsed back into silence, until Zabuza spoke up again.
"Haruka, you are the most connected with The Watcher out of all of us..." He trailed off awkwardly, trying to phrase this right. "What is He going to do?"
Everyone in the room understood his question, and it was a thought that had crossed everyone's mind at one point or another during their preparations.
Considering the rather... intense reaction The Watcher had during Ayumu's death, how would He react to hundreds of innocents being slaughtered?
Haruka's expression turned conflicted as she considered.
"I don't know." She admitted quietly. "I asked Shun when I briefly saw him, but he didn't have an answer for me."
She hesitated, before continuing.
"But... I asked a crow, and it said that He was angry, that the Divine Realm shook in response to His emotions."
Well, Zabuza thought to himself, Kiri's future was looking bleak.
He remembered the power displayed by the Watcher, and just like he told himself when he had been chosen as one of his Templars, The Watcher wasn't human, he had a feeling that a God's anger wasn't easy to quell, or quick to fade.