Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

[SageNeb]

Raiku facepalmed so god damn hard it left a red mark.

“That’s. Absolute. BULLSHIT. Guys don’t bother with this guy, his brain’s the size of a walnut which is easily angry. This sound shinobi exposed Kiro as someone who got a crazy power from orochimaru after swearing loyalty and betraying the mist, and then tried to convince this moron that he was the one that got brainwashed. As for you walnut brain on why we should go to the leaf, well maybe the fact the mist kept hidden an Uchiha from my clan for so long would probably matter.”

Raiku was so done with Kai that he didn’t even care about Taiyo trying to go to the mist.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagiso

Bringing her good arm to her chin, her fingers curled around her mouth, Sagiso put on a thoughtful expression and produced a drawn-out 'Hmmmmmm' While she might have appeared to be considering what Kai had said, that was merely a facade to conceal the devilish grin that had threatened to show itself on her face. She'd been thinking about how to go about turning this situation in her favor, but Kai made it almost too easy. Still, it was best not to openly reveal her intentions, for now, she needed to be neutral. More information never hurt anybody.

"Anything else I should know..? For example..."

Casting her gaze towards Tayuya, she inquired about the trapped sound ninja. She wouldn't really pass for a good leader if she'd ignored the Sound Kunoichi, now would she?

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
"Uh...I don't really know what's going on, but I'm hearing two conflicting stories from the looks of it. The sound ninja is saying that 'Kiro', whoever he is, willingly accepted power from some guy named Orochimaru. While Kai says that the person in question was brainwashed to accept the power. In truth, I'm not sure I can trust either, but I think Kai might be telling the truth. Also Raiku, I know I'm not the sharpest spoon in the crayon shed, but if Kai has a "walnut sized brain" then reasoning wouldn't work because he's be too adamant to listen," Taiyo let out a long stream of dialouge to hopefully contribute to the solution of the problem.

 

[Godjacob]

Azumi took note of Sagiso's arrival, one of the few people she considered a friend among the people she met in this village during the exams seemed to be curious over what was going on and desired an explanation.

Given she had no stake in the Kiro situation, she decided to fill Sagiso in on what happened as she walked over to her friend as she pointed to the Sound kunoichi trapped in Madoka's puppet & air prison.

"Well, Zaku and Kiro were engaged by a group of these various nin. The Kiri one and the Oto kunoichi aside. Me and my ally Reaver ended up getting mixed in cause of someone's obsessive trophy desires..." Azumi said with a glance to Reaver before she turned back to Sagiso before she pointed to Kai and Tayuya.

"Then these two ended up crashing into things, just after Zaku bailed with some kid he had along with him. Kiro ended up in a sticky spot and the Oto-girl ended up being captured after a scuffle with the "pure mist-nin" or whatever. Now they are debating who gets Kiro; with the argument being he either went to the Sound willingly or was "brainwashed" as the Kiri-nin put it. Though he is the only one making that argument vocally, everyone else seems to think the opposite..." Azumi said before Taiyo spoke up in Kai's defense which caused her to sigh.

"...make that two. Anyway Kiro did make the choice on his own, I was actually part of observing the ceremony but my testimony isn't gonna sway anyone's view as people or dead set one way or the other." Azumi explained to Sagiso.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai didn’t even bother turning to face Raiku, for he cared for him the least out of every Hostile Xeno here.

“An ant can only dream of the sky, while the bird preys on the ants.” Kai mused another poetic analogy. “Your not even an ant amongst insects. Quit your childish noise or you will need a pacifier.”

Kai was surprised at the sudden appearance of Sagiso, and in an injured star at that. It seemed she had many broken bones. He was still sore about his loss in the prelims to her, but put that aside for the ‘team mist’ he, and only he created. She was a part of that team, and had agreed on her family’s name to help him, whatever that was worth.

“Anything else I should know...? For example...”

Kai arched an eyebrow that was unseen behind his mask. He looked up, following her eyes to the puppet cage that Madoka has so graciously made. He found no interest in her but decided to elaborate.

“That is the Xeno who is responsible for continuing the brainwashing, feeding it like a parasite to a disease. She festered what the snake had created. Don’t you see? The more time we waste with this trivial debate the more time we let that Xeno mark settle! My previous offer was EXTREMELY lenient and VERY accommodating. So if you please. Just. Accept. It.”

Meanwhile reaver had ignored the conversation all together in turn for handling parts of the reaver armor, gears at a time and bending them back into their preferred shapes and sealing them into his sealing scroll. Whatever the group was fighting over *obviously* held importance...to some. Not him though. He cared about his armor more than most people

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku turned to Taiyo, the red mark of the facepalm still on his face and blinked.

“You know Taiyo.... I think it’s about time you rest.”

Raiku immediately turned on his sharingan and cast a sleep Genjutsu on Taiyo, as he knew he was horrible with dealing with Genjutsu. Then he proceeded to walk right past Kai, ignoring him, and tried to grab Kiro by the arm.

“I’m leaving. Now. You ice ninja are from the Yuki clan no? Why potentially hurt your clan just for the sake of a foreign Uchiha? Don’t you care about your family?”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagiso

'Innnnteresting...'

Patience truly was a virtue, by holding off for a few seconds she'd made gains that almost had her burst out into gleeful laughter. Kai was playing himself into her hand better than she could've orchestrated, and Azumi's input was almost invaluable. Since waiting it out had been providing her with so many benefits, Sagiso decided to let the situation play out a little more, and in the meantime, she would catch up with Azumi. As she moved over towards Azumi, she noticed Raiku attempt to grab Kiro and leave. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, 'He'll ruin everything!' She almost blew a fuse; she wasn't about to let Raiku send such a perfect opportunity down the drain.

With as much authority as she could muster, she yelled out "OI! Uchiha! Cease that this instant!"

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Oh no you don't Raiku, I remember some jerk doing that to me and I'm not doing that again.
The Genjutsu hit, however, he put up a bit more of a wallop than he did against who was unbeknownst to him, the big important Kiro that everyone takes about.
"Sorry buddy, but I still have more to say, so I won't be going to sleep anytime soon,"
Sagiso appeared to be enjoying herself until Raiku started to drag Kiro away, to which she shouted.
"OH! Uchiha! Cease this instant!" To which Taiyo let out a large laugh, die to the fact that Sagiso attempting to sound powerful sounded downright numerous.

 

[SageNeb]

“Nani?” Raiku said while hesitating, before grabbing onto Kiro’s arm even harder.

“Are you trying to get his Sharingan for your own purposes?! As far as I know, he’s currently under arrest and property of the Uchiha Clan! After we’re done with him you can have him in court or something, I don’t really know! I’m bringing this mist ninja and his sharingan back to the leaf whether you like it or not!”

Then Raiku started trying to drag Kiro by the arm back towards the leaf, a bit surprised he hasn’t shown any resilience but decided not to say anything.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Kiro and all mist ninja are family to a sense: we share comradery in a sense that’s so virtuous that no Xeno could comprehend it. He is my family.”

Raiku didn’t seem to care, grabbing Kiro by the arm before he finished. Kai reacted quickly to Raiku’s movements, not missing a beat as his hand met centimeters away from Raiku’s, as he shoved his own body in the way of Kiro’s, acting like a shield, preventing his body to be dragged any further.

“Let go of his arm or the hand comes off!” He threatened, looking at Taiyo for assistance. “want to buy a ticket to the mist? Help with this vermin!”

 

[Godjacob]

"HEY MORONS! If you move Kiro any more our claws may end up killing him. I'm sure neither of you want to bring home a corpse."

Aisha tried to get both Kai & Kiro to back down, as she and the wolf companions adjusted their position as Luna & Sky shifted to holding Kiro in place while Aisha kept her claws at his neck as the two wolves barked at Kai & Raiku to show their fangs and try to get them to back down.

"Alright enough! We can settle this like adults without making Kiro a human rag doll in a game of tug of war." Kenji also added as he had some lightning sparks in his fingers ready to shock them both into submission if needed as he tried to maintain some peace.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagiso

"Property of the Uchiha clan? Under arrest? Excellent! Then, since the Hyuga are the ones commisioning this mission with the aid of the other 3 nobles clan's I'll be taking the 'prisoner' off your hands. Don't worry, we'll ensure the Uchiha get their time with him. It's simply a matter of protocol, and you couldn't possibly be planning to walk back to the leaf by yourself now, could you? What if he escaped? Can you keep your eye on him for the entire day's journey?"

Without leaving him a chance to speak, Sagiso rapid-fired both statements and questions to Raiku. "In fact..." Raising her hand, she signaled to the surrounding leaf ninja, "Judging from what I've heard, Kiro is either under the influence of mind control or had willingly betrayed his nation, and quite frankly, it does change how we should handle this situation. For the sake of diplomacy, we'll go with what our friend Kai has said, and assume he's under the influence of mind control. I'm sure we can all understand that treachery against one's village is a heinous crime, and we really shouldn't force the accusation onto anybody."

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku stopped dragging at the multiple interferences of Kai, Aisha, and Kenji and took his arm away.

“Listen, Kiro is in no position to talk. He’s a criminal and the fact he has the Sharingan means it’s interclan business. I suggest you remove your claws as it would not do well for an Inuzuka to kill an Uchiha especially in the current state of the village.”

Raiku stopped talking when Sagiso made a suggestion, to which he simply had a grin behind his mask.

“Return him to the village is all I ask. You can deal with whatever, I just decided to make it my task to at least have him be talked to by my clan. Who knows, he may be repented for his crimes as a traitor, especially considering he only really betrayed the mist... I’ll be watching him return to the village and that’s all. You can do whatever you want with him.”

Raiku looked at Kenji a bit confused when he tried to stop the conflict.

“This man is already related to 3 villages and 2 clans in someway or another. You really wanna make it four?”

Then he just scoffed and went to Taiyo, Shiho, and Shura.

“Let’s head back to the village, I’d say our mission is complete. If you want Taiyo, we can go to the mist some other time, I promise,” he said with an eye smile, as he realized he avoided the Genjutsu.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

They...are dividing him up like he is some sort of commodity. This is insulting. He’s a family member and a person, and these animals are like wolves ready for their share of meat. Unfortunately I don’t have any big sticks anymore to beat them over the head with. My chakra is sapped. But maybe...

“This isn’t a leaf matter, Half Xeno.” Kai looked directly to Sagiso. “Your mind games wont work on me. Mind control and the like is one acting outside of their own personal will. You wouldn’t execute someone because a Yamanaka used their body for murder. That simple. If we are going to trial, then we are doing so in the mist. The leaf is ridden of the stench of failure.”

He hoped to meet halfway, although he hated doing that at any point and time. Judging from her tactics in battle, she was ambitious and didn’t take steps back as an answer.

“Besides, he is a mist ninja. He has a right to be tried in a mist court. I would do the same for a Xeno and a Xeno court.”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagiso

"Of course we're returning him to the leaf, where else would we take him..?" Even as she posed the question to Raiku, a smile came to her lips. Her eyes flashed with a hint of craftiness and she turned to Kai, "You're very right, we can't persecute him as long as there's a possibility that he's being controlled against his own will."

Without a moment's lapse, she turned to the ninja from both the Leaf and Suna, including the ninja from other villages that had tagged along during this mission under the banner of the Leaf village. "Hear me out; clearly we don't have anything conclusive here, so let's simply follow the most logical option!"

"I won't force you to follow my orders, but I do hope you'll at least hear out my reasoning."

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Well, I've waited this long to see Tsuki, I suppose I could wait a little longer.
Taiyo honestly had no idea what to make of the situation, everything was happening at once, and he honestly had no idea who to side with.
I have no idea what to even say, I guess I'll just let it play out.
When he heard the words the "most logical option" his mind went to rock paper scissors, albeit childish, it can be a rather fair method for this sort of situation.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagiso

Noticing that she'd gotten the attention on this not so small group of ninja, Sagiso spoke slowly and carefully, articulating each word with the necessary weight to convey her plan.

"From what we know, Kiro may or may not have been brainwashed. In fact, since that's the worst case scenario, let's plan with that assumption. Clearly, we can't have someone brainwashed in our midst, at any time the brainwashing could kick in and he could get violent! What we need to do is disarm all the threats around us! I propose...we detain Kiro! Just in case he actually is brainwashed, we shouldn't allow Orochimaru to take advantage of the opportunity to attack us while we sleep." Her eyes scanned the crowd carefully, knowing that her words made logical sense. No one would agree to leave a wolf in their midst, and the only person who had any real reason to reject this plan was Kai...but she'd deal with him next.

"In fact, we can't allow anyone who might've been brainwashed to remain free amongst us! I'm certain we have multiple witnesses here who can confirm the fact that Kai came in with the Sound-Kunoichi over there, the same sound kunoichi capable of brainwashing with sound based genjutsu! How do we know that Kai hasn't been brainwashed as well!?" She'd made a bold claim, but now she needed to back up her conjecture, after all with no substance behind it she might as well claim that everyone had been brainwashed.

"By now I'm sure everyone would've had a proper grasp on Kai's personality, it's pretty hard to miss it. He would never willingly put those of 'pure mist blood' in danger, but here he is now doing that very thing! You all know that the only way back to the Mist would be through the land of Fire, and considering the injuries he and Kiro must've sustained, there's no way they'd be capable of making the full journey half-way across the nation to the mist! Obviously, if Kai was in his right mind, he would want to go to Konoha to have Kiro and himself treated! The fact that he's trying to get two injured chunin-level ninja to go by themselves...doesn't that seem suspicious to you? Like...for example...something the sound might want?" Having thought very carefully of which words to twist, and which points to push, Sagiso had managed to come up with this line of reasoning which took advantage of Kai's current emotion state to point out the errors in his thinking and present them as flaws to support her argument. She'd left the last part of her sentence somewhat open-endedly, but she was sure those present would understand that two lone ninja by themselves would stand no chance against the sound, in fact, they would be delivering themselves to the sound on a silver platter...would the real Kai do such a thing?

"Both Mist shinobi should be detained for their own safety and ours! Then, we should travel back to the Leaf to deal with our injuries and have a genjutsu specialist take care of the mind control that may have been placed on the duo. I'm proposing we escort both Kai, Kiro, and the Sound kunoichi back to the Leaf; and hey, even if we're wrong, no harm done right? It was simply to protect ourselves."

Finished with her plan proposal, she stared calmly at the surrounding ninja. Her plan sounded very reasonable, and none of them really had any reason to reject it, besides Kai and Kiro of course, but they might've been brainwashed, their opinions naturally couldn't be taken seriously. "If we all join hands I don't think we'll have any problems...don't you agree?"

With that said, she gestured for the other ninja who'd come with her to surround Kai and Kiro. "If you have any disageements, speak now or forever hold your peace."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Sagiso seemed to step up and immediate backstab both him and Kiro. She seemed to disregard the entire deal he made with her. He rolled his eyes when she started to insutate HE of all people was being kind controlled too.

“the same sound kunoichi capable of brainwashing with sound based genjutsu! How do we know that Kai hasn't been brainwashed as well!?"

“One would think a freaking bitchslap to the face would be enough to prove that...”

Remembering his long battle with tayuya, there would be no reason for her to have him brainwashed attacking her to such a state that she would be imprisoned. It made zero logical sense.

"Like...for example...something the sound might want?" Sagiso continued.

“So...to get this straight. You think the sound is controlling me to go the opposite way from their safe zone, into enemy territory, and have Kiro be purified from brainwashing? Wow...that’s an idiotic argument. And how exactly would I of all people be brainwashed? I don’t have a curse mark, and the sound ninja there only controls people via sound outlet, that is, unless you have proof of otherwise.”

Kai wasn’t so easily fooled. After her previous engagement with him she used her sharp mind and wit to beat him in the match, a mistake he soon would learn to correct, starting here in this mental tug of war. She had no leads, she was speaking out of her ass and she knew it. She just wanted him out of the way so they could dissect Kiro. He wouldn’t have it

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Oh! Oh! How ironic! Oh yes, of course the walnut brain has been brainwashed by the sound. But you have the wrong person that brainwashed him. The true brainwasher is Kiro himself! Only he would convince walnut brain he’s been brainwashed, the person has the mindset every mist ninja is perfect! But I won’t speak no more. My role in this is complete so unless something produces a negative result for me, do whatever you want,” Raiku finished with a giant grin across his face behind the mask.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagiso

For just a brief moment, Sagiso thought Kai had actually found a flaw in her argument, but when she heard what he said, she breathed a sigh of relief. He was demanding proof, but unfortunately for him, the entire basis of her argument was lack of proof. She'd started out admitting that they didn't have proof or concrete details and her plan was made to prevent the worst case scenario. If they were right, and they had been brainwashed, then they would've saved themselves a ton of trouble, and if they were wrong...well, Sagiso had mentioned a back door during her speech, Even if they were wrong, there was no harm done. They were merely escorting Kai and Kiro after all, under the pretense that if worst came to worst, then they'd have saved themselves, and if the worst case scenario didn't come true...well, nothing.

This was a plan which didn't require proof to be executed, the so-called Guilty until proven innocent. Her plan presented them assurance with 0 risks. She blissfully ignored Kai and awaited the response of the surrounding ninja.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Mori whistled at the mention of the Ame leader. "Kami? Must be one strong ninja to claim that title, especially since Ame is in ruins most of the time. If they can keep a nation like that running well enough that they can afford to send genin to the Chunin Exams instead of protecting the village, then Ame might be more than just a village that was lying in the way of our wars. Tomiko, please listen carefully. When you become Tsuchikage, propose an alliance to Ame. I have a feeling that it will be worth it and you saw what a kid in a Reaver suit can do, as he mentioned that I don't have the bloodline to use one I am afraid that there are more Reaver suits out there. We cannot afford to fight more than one of them, and I can't even imagine the power that this 'Kami' has. I am certain that it is for the best that we do not anger them and try to get on their good side."

Mori looked at Tomiko and Yasu. "Our team of 3 is complete, shall we try and find the other teams or shall we return and report?"

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura had stood there quietly, listening to the event in front of him unfold. "Brainwashed huh, that sounds more like a lie than a fact. But so far we know nothing about that mark so we can not yet assume if that statement was indeed a lie or if he's telling the truth." Shura thought to himself. He glanced towards Sagiso when she announced her plan. “She really is good with tactics.” He thought with slight smirk. He looked at Raiku as he shouted at Kai about the only thing brainwashing him was Kiro. “He right, you’re blindly believing everything that he’s been telling you and you are defending him from all the accusation even thought you yourself have no proof of anything he’s saying.” Shura said with a stern face.

 

[Godjacob]

"Wise words, couldn't have said it better myself."
​

Among the reinforcements that had gathered around the area was the Tokubetsu Jonin herself Anko, who had led this little group of reinforcements when they saw the smoke signals that gradually led them to this point. Anko had perhaps more drive than anyone to find the fleeing Oto-nin and was more than eager to lead this charge when the smoke signals had been deployed and now stood with the cavalry though before she had a chance to make another comment Madoka spoke up.

"That's the assumption that you were indeed going to the Mist. If what Sagiso says it is true, you could be trying to lower our guard on Tayuya's spell and in your invitation to lead us to the Mist you could just take us to a ambush spot of the Sound. You are acting oddly friendly with a bunch of "Xenos" given how civil you are and out of character behavior and genjutsu go hand in hand." Madoka pointed out before Kenji decided to speak up.

"Regardless of whether he is or not, it's safest to go with Sagiso's suggestion. One can never be too careful when it concerns that snake Orochimaru and if worst comes to worst we'll just end up validating you & Kiro and you two get a chance to rest up and recover. And if we do find something off about you two, we could set it right and ensure the Sound has no power over either of you. Besides, I don't think avoiding cooperation is the wisest move." Kenji further explained which only caused Tayuya to internally roll her eyes. Aisha & the clones kept close to Kiro during all this, though the reinforcements around them were a comforting sight.

Right, you already are late to the boat there with the mark he has. Still, even if I am fucked I can at least get even with that Popsicle prick yet...

"Right, cause just slapping yourself is full proof for every genjutsu. If doing that or taking a stupid flute from me would be enough to break a genjutsu after I got you under my spell then why the fuck would Orochimaru keep me?" Tayuya replied bitterly, as in truth this entire situation was one giant mess and going to Konoha was the last thing she wanted, however she had little choice. Unlike Kiro she had no wiggle room to get out of this situation so the destination had already been decided for her.

So given that Tayuya was fucked, and Kiro wasn't going to the Sound regardless, she figured that playing along and selling them out would benefit her. Payback for Kai's continued crap and Kiro stabbing Lord Orochimaru in the back seemed fitting enough.

Azumi herself moved back to Reaver, as she listened to Sagiso's little "compromise' and she had to admit flipping everything and making Kai appear to be part of this Oto plague was a genius move on her part. Though the number of Konoha & Suna-nin around them was something she could not disregard. She doubted that the allied forces even noticed the missing scroll yet given all that had happened, but she could not afford to risk the even slight chance they could risk its disappearance to her so she opted against leaving now and would wait to see what the group would end up doing.

"So, fancy meeting you here."

Azumi turned around and saw Takato of all people here as he moved by Azumi and Reaver's area. Azumi would not guess he'd be part of this specific team but then again she figured his skillset would be valued for a mission like this so she should've seen it coming. Azumi considered Takato one of the only other people she tolerated in the village outside of Sagiso so seeing him was not a total shame. Though she noted of his gaze to Reaver given their...less than ideal first meeting as Azumi knew she had to act quickly to avoid more unnecessary drama that could lead to a skirmish.

"Reaver, don't..." Azumi warned with a firm tone.

Tomiko herself observed what was going on, till she heard some rustling in the bushes. Instinct took over as she turned aorund and raised her scarred arms and the gauntlet-covered fists. Only to see the Sakura clone who made a "hush" motion that Tomiko nodded to as the clone quietly observed the scene before it much like the Iwa-nin herself. Though Tomiko's focus seemed to rest on Kiro specifically as she had a frown on her face; unsure of what to make what Kiro had gone through and the path he made for himself that seemed ever changing.

 

[SageNeb]

Tsk, this whole situation is annoying. The clan should've just snatched this Kiro guy as soon as the Exams ended and most of this would've been avoided. Not all of it but at least I wouldn't have to go on a side mission that involves talking with a lunatic with a walnut brain. Kiro might've been under Genjutsu or persuaded by Orochimaru like the snake he is, but he still swore loyalty without mind control. If Orochimaru simply persuaded him then the Sound part of his crimes could be mostly avoided by either walnut brain or the clan. If he was under genjutsu than I'll be darned. The mist guy definitely isn't under Genjutsu, he just stupidly trusting to ninja that wear the Mist headband. I don't really care or know what would happen to Kiro because he was a Mist ninja for so long, but at least that problem is finally gonna be looked into...

"Yea, at least someone sees it," Raiku told Shura. "But the Mist walnut brain's opinion doesn't really matter. Whether the Mist or Leaf the outcome of this situation is more-or-less the same. Either they get fixed of Genjutsu... or he's gonna be trialed in court for being loyal to Orochimaru. Even if there are people like walnut brain, in court this many witnesses can't be discarded. But the lunatic is just one Mist ninja and we basically have multiple squads from Leaf allies and ninja. Plus it's faster to the Leaf so we're nearly 100% going there."

 

[DarkHydraT]

Mori saw Tomiko enter the bushes and seemingly was watching someone or something. He looked at Yasu and shrugged before following her. He was about to ask what was going on as he noticed Kiro, seemingly captured by the Leaf ninja and he couldn't prevent a grin from appearing on his face. "The Uchiha got himself captured, serves him right." But there was one ninja that caught his attention, and it was that masked Mist-nin.

They appeared to be a Hunter-nin, and no doubt incredibly capable. "Who is that masked one? They seem to be interested in the Uchiha." Mori whispered to the people next to him.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“That’s not true, none of it!” Kai curled his hand into a Fist. “I’m not absent minded, I’m a hunter nin of the mist! I analyze, adapt, and act! I pieced it all together, and determined from my fight with the female Xeno that it contains mind control properties!”

Albeit that wasn’t one hundred percent accurate to what he saw, there was no way they could have said otherwise. That is, until tayuya opened her fat mouth. He eyed the puppet, where tayuya’s shrill voice came from.

“Why would he keep you? Simple. To be expendable. Just like a kunai you were a tool to be used and thrown away if it could save Orochimaru’s skin. Your trash. That’s why you are locked in a cage.”

Upon anko showing up, alongside a legion of leaf ninja, he knew his argument was over. They would try and strongarm him and Kiro into submission, which, he had to admit was an efficient tactic. But long term harmful. He cleared his throat.

“Fine...as much as the idea appalls me in every fiber of my body, filthy Xenos. Only if it’s a precautionary measure, but wherever he goes, I go, Understand?? Now, allow me to alert my superiors.”

These f***ing Xenos! Messing up everything. My mission, my entire goal. If they weren’t here I would have turned him into the mist and we would have went on with our lives. Purge their mongrol hides, curse them to hell!

Kai reaches for something tied around his neck that was curiously tucked away underneath his shirt. He brought out a necklace, with a dark blue crystal wedged inside it. It held a seal that spread across it, intricate linings adorning the small jewel. Kai tapped it with his fingers, the seal glowing a light blue color. It had been done.


......


The head of the Yuki stood motionless lay as everyone left the previous trial scene except the guards. With Hama, Seiun, and Tsuki gone, he was left with Kanshi. Suddenly, a jewels around his neck began to glow a dark blue. His eyes widened. No. How could...?

“Assemble the army, bring my personal honor guards. We are going to the leaf. NOW. Kanshi, move out! Bring him home!”

Having a plan assembled, six of his elite honor guards, darted out, coated with special sapphire like armor that glistened with the light. Horns sounded, several mist ninja stopping what they were doing to take part in the call. Dozens of mist ninja followed them as they ran across the ocean, in route to the leaf. It had begun.


....

Reaver arched an eyebrow at azumi’s words before he locked eyes with takato. He scowled at the sight. Him. The cowardly nara who so audaciously attacked him from behind with such a pathetic move. He marched over to him, rattling in his jumpsuit.

“I made a blood pact to them, not to you, worm. Get out of my sight before I mount you on my wall!”

Before he could threaten more, a leaf contingent showed up, lead by the apprentice of orochimaru herself, anko. He growled at the sight of them. It was time to leave

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
From his perspective, the deed had been done, Kiro and Kai would be going to the leaf and that would be that. That is, until Taiyo had noticed Kai grab some sort of shiny crystal from wherever he kept it.
"Cool...can I touch it?" Like a moth to a Fireball Jutsu, the Leaf-nin gravitated over to the Xenophobic Yuki non to see the device.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Shura observed as Kai finally agreed to go to the leaf. He then noticed him tap the crystal on the necklace around his neck and heard that he said he was alerting him superiors. "Alerting his superiors? That crystal must be some sort of code." He thought before thinking about it for a bit, bringing his hand to his chin. "If its a code then it must mean a specific message. Knowing its Kai, this can't be good." He thought with a suspicious look.

Shiho walked next to Taiyo and put her hand on his shoulder. "Just don't Taiyo, he'll probably kill you." She said to him with a casual tone.

 

[Godjacob]

Takato stepped back slightly as Reaver tried to threaten him, though given the convo of ninja around them & the wear and tear that Reaver seemed to go through this guy would have to be completely insane to think he could launch an attack as a foreign nin under these circumstances.

Which, given what he had seen of the guy, was not out of the question. So Takato would keep his guard before he addressed Azumi's partner.

"Well, I don't think now is the time or place to make a threat." Takato advised before Azumi let out a sigh as she faced Takato.

"We'll be taking our leave. In spite of my feelings towards your home nation, I do wish you good fortunes." Azumi said before she moved over to Sagiso and locked eyes with her Hyuga friend.

"Sagiso...take care, I do hope our paths cross again. It's been, um...been a pleasure." Azumi said, a bit awkwardly as for one perhaps the first time gave someone a genuine smile as she was happy to have gotten to meet Sagiso. Though it faded quickly as she walked back to Reaver and motioned for him to follow.

"Come Reaver, we must head back to the Rain in haste." Azumi said as she began the journey back home. The winner of the Chunin Exams ready for the next step in her journey, something that would be helped by her little going away item in her possession.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai practically snapped his neck turning to Taiyo so fast. He put his hand up to it and clutched it away from Taiyo’s sight.

“Hands to yourself parasite!” He barked, before slightly calming himself as to grab a hold of his instincts. “Ahem...it’s a family heirloom, Don’t touch it.”

Or the hand comes off! Speaking with a filter with all of these Xenos here is trickier than fighting a Sagiso. I hope all of them gets a flesh eating virus and dies a slow painful death alone.

As the convoy moved out, Reaver rolled his eyes at takato, knowing that he would attack takato regardless of how many ninja there were out of sheer principle. After Azumi called for him, he nodded and went at her side.

“Finally. I’ve gotten many trophies during this glorious campaign. I will be paid a handsome coin for these numbers.”


.......


“Kabuto! Over here!”

The grey haired jounin arched an eyebrow as Sakon, ukon, and Kidomaru came into view. They took the injured spider with them toward their superior. Zaku took note of their battered appearance. Kabuto noticed a significant lack of members in their group.

“Last time I checked it was the sound four, not the sound two.”

“Jirobo is dead.” Kidomaru said simply, coughing. “And you...you attacked me!”

Kin chuckled at the sight of Kidomaru. “Oh? Little ol’ me? I couldn’t help but get a taste...hehe...”

“Anyway.” Kabuto got them back on track. “Where is tayuya?”

“We couldn’t find her.” Sakon shrugged. “She could be anywhere, Maybe still fighting. I can’t be sure.”

“Hm. How unfortunate.” Kabuto adjusted his glasses. “She was a find. But it seems as though we need a replacement. Our casualties we suffered today were greater than expected.”

“...um....who are they?” Kou spoke up.

“Better question, who are you?” Sakon demanded. “Don’t tell me that this pipsqueak will replace Jirobo or tayuya. I doubt he could even spell their names!”

“Buzz off, Sakon.” Zaku got in the way. “Even with two brains you can’t match mine!”

“Enough you two, or i’ll Consider both of you baggage.” Kabuto adjusted his glasses. “Let’s sort this out after we bring lord Orochimaru to safety in our hideout.”

Zaku and Sakon growled at one another, looking away as they begrudgingly continued the trek toward the sound. Kou was worried what might happen when they reached there. While Zaku said it was a sanctuary, Tomiko warned to be careful. The mystery of the further was a gamble, but his only move.




*******
1 day and 12 hours later.
*******


The sun dawned on the hidden leaf village. The figures of Anko’s contingent and their prisoners walked directly into the gates of the leaf. Several citazens walked out of their homes to witness the unusually large contingent bring in the mist ninja in question. The puppet raven carrying tayuya as well, quite a spectacle to see. The rebuilding efforts after the attack were well underway as scaffolding was lining the walls of the leaf from the Serpents and reaver’s attack.

Standing on top of the Kage household, were six warriors dressed in a dark blue shining armor. Around them were dozens of mist warriors, jounin and chunnin in rank. In the center of it all was a single figure, the Head of the Yuki with Kanshi on his side. They watched as the contingent and their prisoners marched into the village. He seemed to have a stern, cold look on his face and an imposing figure of 6 feet tall.

The army glistened in the rising sun, he armies of the honor guard along with their glistening Spears gave off the feel of their rank. They were like vultures watching them come in. Kai behind his mask grew a deep smirk as his call was a success.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
The Leaf-nin quickly took small steps back when Kai screeched at him not to touch his stuff, only to correct himself and claim it was a "family heirloom", which it might have been, considering that Kai was really overprotective of his family.
"Okay then, touchy subject, I don't touch your family heirloom if they're that important, I know how important those can be, trust me," Taiyo attempted to calm the raging Xenophobe, but in all honesty, when has that ever worked.
Tsuki
It wasn't exactly hard to notice the departure of Jin and all of his honor guards. So naturally, this sparked some curiosity in the young Yuki-nin, she turned to her servant to see what he knew.
"So what do you think is going on here?" Tsuki's eyes had that certain glow, the glow of curiosity, which could not be denied. Unfourtunately, she was met with the sharp reply of
"Well how should I know?! I doubt the most would tell a Xeno such as myself such important stuff,"
Dissatisfied, Tsuki went around probing for answers for the remainder of the day, with Seiun scrambling behind. Eventually after finding no answers, Tsuki went to sleep, a bitter taste left in her mouth

********
1 day and 12 hours later
********
Taiyo
It was a long trip back to his home, but at last, Taiyo and the others had made it home. The corner of his eye couldnt help pick up what seemed to be an older Kai along with some Mist guards casually hanging out in Xeno territory as if they belonged.
Wait, is that his dad or something? And why are all those guys here, eh, must be some kind of business trip or something.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

After arriving back at the village, one of the first things that caught Shura’s eye was the army of mist ninja standing on top of the Kage tower. “That doesn’t look unsettling at all.” He thought to himself in a sarcastic tone. Shiho looked at her brother. “Hey bro, since we are at the village you should go to the medical center and get your injuries looked at.” She said with a smile. Shura sighed and glanced at Shiho. “I wanted to report to miss Hinagiku first thing but I suppose this is the smarter decision.” He said. “Untreated injuries could hav elastin effects after all.” He thought. “Thought some people probably need to go there more than I do.” He said while casting a glance towards Sagiso.

 

[Godjacob]

Anko, as she led the party, had taken note of the Mist-nin that waited for them as she presumed they were here for Kiro & Kai. Anko let out a sigh, as she figured this was but another headache to deal with and had already had a long couple days so with a huff she motioned for one of the fellow Konoha-nin who quickly nodded and went to the mencing group with the aim to explain the situation to them.

"My sincerest apologies, we are merely doing a check on two of your nin who may have come into contact with the vile rogue-nin Orochimaru. There is no suspected wrongdoing on their part and the matter should be settled quickly and once we are finished they should return to your hands no questions asked." The Konoha-nin explained to members of the Yuki clan as he hoped to clarify the situation though naturally could not give more detail than that.

Anko then turned back to the party, Kai & Kiro specifically though she first addressed the various-nin who had been part of the groups that led to their & Tayuya's capture; the latter's voice cut off by Madoka's prison as she decided her curses were not what the party needed to hear.

"Alright, take these ones to the new medical wing to have their injuries looked at and tended to." Anko said in reference to Tomiko, Mori, Yasu, Sagiso, Shura, Shiho, Takato, Raiku, Taiyo, Kenji, Sakura, Madoka & Aisha. As they needed to recover after such a grueling mission, something Anko could tell with a glance as they approached the village gates. One of the sun-nin present nodded as he turned to those ninja in question and motioned for them to follow as he would lead them to their desired location.

"Well, I see that you've had quite the day."

Sakura herself took note of the voice as she saw her own sensei, Kakashi Hatake, leaning against the village gate, a copy of Icha Icha paradise in hand as his appearance surprised the pink haired kunoichi if only a little.

"Kakashi sense? What are you doing here? I figure with the village in its state you would be on a mission." Sakura asked as Kakashi eyed her with his one eye and his usual non-chalant expression as he closed the book and set it in his ninja bad before he turned to his pupil.

"Actually, a mission is why I am here. Before I head out, you've been assigned one of high importance. So I need you to come with me after you get this check up." Kakashi explained as Sakura was surprised to hear she was needed for apparently another new mission so quickly but got over said shock quickly as she nodded her head no and moved forward.

"I'm fine Kakashi sensei, really I didn't take much damage during the mission and my chakra has mostly recovered. I'd rather get a jump on what my mission is so I can make proper preparations then." Sakura explained as Kakashi had an eyebrow raised but simply gave an internal shrug as he motioned for the kunoichi to follow her.

Anko then turned to Tayuya, and eyed a couple of Konona-nin who escorted her before she spoke up.

"Take her to the interrogation center. I'm sure that Ibuki would very much like a chance to get to know her...properly." Anko said as Tayuya responded with a middle finger within the prison and more attempts at a curse that failed to vocalize her displeasure as the guards would take the prison and begin to lead the captured Oto-nin to the interrogation center. Anko finally turned her attention to Kai & Kiro, as she faced the pair before she spoke again to a group of the Konoha & Suna-nin next to them.

"I'll go with you to lead these two to the holding center. I'll be sure to retrieve Kurenai as her mastery of genjutsu will be useful in discerning any possibly genjutsu influence either of them had." Anko said, though in truth she herself was gonna be there as she had seen and heard mention of Kiro's mark and had her own questions for the boy. As she knew one thing was certain.

Nobody ever got that mark forced onto them. Though Anko couldn't make Kiro's traitor status clear with the Yuki clan present as she aimed to lead the pair with the other ninja to the holding center for a genjutsu check and some questioning.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Of course, Taiyo wanted to insist on him not needing some medical treatment, before realizing that he was quite low on chakra and needed FBS before he could be of any use, so after a long process of convincing, the stubborn shinobi finally conceded to treatment. Once rested up and properly bandaged, the fire bound genin decided to explore some of his hometown as he could leave the medical treatment area. And of course, who else did he run into but Kakashi himself, who was currently beginning a journey seemingly along with Sakura for reasons unknown to him. As his adventurous spirit demanded, Taiyo ran to the location of the two in hopes of joining the party
"Hello Mr. Kakashi, what brings you here?"

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagiso

Upon returning, Sagiso broke off from the group, and along with Furijia, and headed straight for the Hyuga clan. As she left she quipped back to Shura, "At least I'm not in danger of being crippled Mr.Broken-Back." While her health certainly was important, so was the mission, and if one really thought about it, then Hyuga clan's private medical corps was likely superior to the village's public medical corps anyway. The clan did have access to superior medicinal drugs, after all, and thus they clearly had more skilled personnel with regards to that. If she were to take a wild guess, the Hyuga clan likely had the second best Medical department in the Leaf, the absolute best belonging, of course, to the Nara clan.

She would book herself into a room, and wait patiently. Her mother would learn of her arrival soon enough and would likely pay a visit. That would allow Sagiso to seek medical aid and report the results of her mission all at the same time...

Hinagiku

"Oh..?"

Laying lazily upon a large, plush pillow within a small room sectioned off by thin walls, the mistress of the Hyuga clan listened to report after report as they came in. They were naturally only 2 reports that caught her ear and were worth her immediate attention, 1) The leader of the Yuki clan along with a platoon of mist ninja had apparently taken station in Konoha, and 2) Her daughters and the other genin who left with them had returned. For both these events to happen at the same time was...odd, but Hina didn't spare it a second thought; if she spent her time looking into every random coincidence that was reported to her then her hair would've greyed completely before she hit 30.

After a moment of thought, Hina pushed herself to her feet and readjusted her robe, "What are you waiting for..? You know what to do." As usual as soft cry off affirmation echoed from outside the room as a few ninja went out to complete her untold orders. They were familiar enough with Hinagiku to know that their first duty would be to ascertain the status off all the Hyuga who'd left the village and then prepare them for her arrival. For an emergency-situation mission such as this one, she, as the head of the Hyuga clan, would personally receive the reports from all the returning Hyuga.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

While being escorted to the medical wing, Shura scoffed at Sagiso’s quip. “My back is not broken.” He said quietly, deciding not to begin an argument. He wasn’t the kind of guy to start arguments anyway.

After a short while, Shura left the medical wing and headed back towards the Hyuga mansion. He had asked to be patched up quickly so he can bring his report in as soon as possible. With a bandage now around his body below his shirt, Shura arrived at the mansion and walked in.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The head of the Yuki loed over the party, his forces lined up across the rooftops and his five honor guard aside him. They were like vultures awaiting a carcass to swoop down upon. They seemed serious and organized, down to the inches between warriors being exactly 10 centimeters. They were orderly, just like their streategies

"My sincerest apologies, we are merely doing a check on two of your nin who may have come into contact with the vile rogue-nin Orochimaru. There is no suspected wrongdoing on their part and the matter should be settled quickly and once we are finished they should return to your hands no questions asked."

“Then you don’t mind if we take them off your hands and do this examination for ourselves.” Jin, the head of the Yuki spoke. “We do not trust the care you or your Xeno village could offer. Our methods in the mist are far more effective. This is a mist matter regarding mist ninja. You have no right, girl.”

Nin spoke from atop the Kage mansion. His eyes gazing down to meet hers. His stern voice reflecting his stance. Kai inwardly snickered as his father himself had come. However, he felt a tinge of shame too, as he had to call for help in order to accomplish his mission. The mist ninja’s began to move their positions, jumping across the rooftops, following their group anxiously waiting for an opportunity to pounce.

“Kiro.” Kai eyed him. “Don’t worry. The Calvary is here.”


........


Kabuto arrived at the sound village, his aides, Orochimaru’s ritual, Zaku, Kou, and the remnants of the sound four arrived with him. The main opening of the building was revealed, a long path underground opened via a previously concealed staircase. As the staircase was revealed from the ground, Kabuto lead the venture inside. Orochimaru’s ritual was glowing a dark purple, both coffins rumbling erratically, something that greatly disturbed Kou. He didn’t even want to imagine what was going on in those things.

“Home sweet home.” Kabuto spoke, counting the forces that came in.

The underground base was vast, having many open areas and corridors. The metal walls lined with oil torches cast dim lights. Zaku sighed as he had made it back home, is own stomping grounds. Kou was slightly disturbed by it all. He tip toed to Zaku and whispered in his ear.

“Psst...Boss. This place looks like a prison.”

“Huh? Are you crazy? It’s an orphanage. This is where I grew to become the guy you see today!”

Kou eyes him up and down. Zaku seemed very calm about all this. Following the example that the level headed Zaku showed, he took a deep breath and tried to be calm about this. Hey, it beat a rapist puppet master or a murderous mummy.

 

[Retro Master]

After a torturous day and a half, Kiro now found himself walking back through the destroyed gates of the Leaf. He remained quiet as he took note of the destruction that had been caused by the Sound. Too his dismay, it didn’t even seem that much. ‘Pathetic. All that fuss about destroying the Leaf and all that was taken down was the front door.’ Kiro sighed as he realized once again the mistake he had made allying himself with the Sound. Now due to that mistake, he found himself basically being held prisoner along with his only other ally, Kai.

Speaking of Kai, like Taiyo, Kiro saw a bunch of Mist warriors standing above a household, watching them. ‘Great. I wonder how execution by ice is going feel.’ Too be blunt, Kiro had began to lose faith in his chances of survival. That Sound bitch probably couldn’t wait to rat him out. Once the interrogators found out he had defected on his own free will, it was only a matter of time before he was executed. If he wasn’t executed, Kiro had decided that he was going too kill Tayuya someday. No questions asked, morals be damned, she would die before him.

Other than being under constant surveillance by a certain Uchiha, one who Kiro had already found quite annoying, just being in the presence of a certain Hyūga irked him the wrong way. Clearly the bias was already evident, but still, Sagisō might as well have had placed them all under mind control with her entrance alone.

Upon her arrival, they looked on to Sagisō for guidance as if she were some mystical being sent from the heavens. Her wisdom showing no bounds as she took the mantle of leadership and led her followers too believe a foolish prophecy. Leaf, Cloud, Stone, Sand, Rain, and even Sound basked in this newfound enlightenment. The prophecy foretold that no harm was to be done as long as they all joined hands. Should the Mist join them, they would receive a gracious favor. One which cleansed them of the darkness that perhaps lay dormant inside. Even if there was no evil was present, they still breathed in the light, no harm being done. Numbers soon began too increase in favor of the Demon Princess. And so his ally, a prideful ice wielder, eventually succumbed to their will. Thus, Kiro's fate had now been sealed into the unknown.

It was disgusting. Kiro found himself sick to his stomach as he was forced to witness the horrific sight. In reality, Sagisō had been injured to the point where she had too rely solely on her voice. However, instead of pointing out the flaws in Sagisō ‘proposal’, Kiro let them enjoy this moment of victory as he respectfully kept his mouth shut. Not a finger was lifted as her pets gladly obeyed her every word. It was amazing to see how tough they believed they were when in a pack. Alone, they were nothing but weak and frail. Kiro knew this, which is why he chose to not go out in a blaze of glory. No, why waste his valuable life just for the shot at maybe killing one or two of them? Giving them the satisfaction of witnessing as his cold, lifeless body crashed onto the ground was out of the question. Perhaps if he was given another opportunity to continue living, he would gain his revenge. One by one, he could beat each one of them to an inch of their life. A form of revenge where death would be considered mercy.

That, along with everything else he hoped too accomplish would be unreachable in death. Gaining a better view of the ninja who were now speaking, he listened to the words of his only ally.

“I see.” Kiro simply responded too Kai, his unusually optimistic tone betraying the rather depressed mood he was in. Kai’s words of encouragement didn’t help him, in fact, it did the opposite. Just simply observing their features and positioning alone, Kiro could tell how truly elite they were. He had a knack for sensing high power levels as well as killing intent. These Yuki Nin, if they as much suspected treacherous behavior from him, perhaps his brain would be frozen before he could react. All this time in the Leaf did was delay his inevitable death. The Leaf knew it. Every nation knew it. The Mist were the most ruthless when it came to dealing with traitors.

 

[Godjacob]

The Konoha-nin flinched slightly as the armored Kiri-nin and their leader made their demands quite clear, as he tried to swallow those nerves to work up a response.

"Sadly I'm afraid that can't happen. Least not in this moment."
​

Might Guy, one of Konoha's most flamboyant yet respected Jonin appeared as he get that cheeky grin. Not the least bit phased by the Kiri-group which contrasted with the visible nerves of the Konoha-nin Anko had sent as he faced the leader right in the eye.

"Given the recent invasion of Oto committed to our own village, and the fact that these two were in contact with Oto and discovered by one of our search teams their possibly influence those fiends of Oto may hold over them is invaluable to our nation and matter of national security. I assure you they will be treated with respect during the process. It's for their own good and the good of both our nations, and anything that can make the flames of your youth burn brighter can only be a plus!" Guy said with a thumbs up as had it not been for the man's reputation one would assume he was just some random nutcase and not a renowned Taijutsu master.

And Guy had not come alone, as a few Konoha-nin aimed to intercept the Kiri-elite. roughly 3-4 nin for every one as Guy sensed they came with great skill though naturally avoided a direct engagement. Given their boldness to appear out in the open, it had not been hard to prepare and mobilize a response even with the nin they had available due to recent circumstances thanks in part to Suna's support.

----------
Anko decided to ignore the Kiri-group as Kai seemed to be handling those matters as she continued to escort Kai & Kiro into the village before they along with Tayuya and the guards that escorted here encountered some members of the ANBU Black Ops as Anko simply gave a nod to the group as they nodded in kind and took charge of the escort of the three as they began to guide them down a secret path towards where the holding room would be as well as the interrogation room for Tayuya would be.

"Don't count on them bailing you two out. You ain't leaving till we finish our little session, and you two are not prisoners...so don't give us reason to think of you in that light." Anko clarified to Kai as she overheard his comment to Kiro as she followed the ANBU as they continued their escort towards their desired destination. Tayuya in turn cursed and pounded against her puppet prison in vain.

---------
Kakashi heard the voice of a new arrival as he and Sakura glanced over only to find...some guy. A ninja Kakashi assumed, one around Sakura's age who seemed to be interested in what he was doing. Though given Kakashi had never seen the guy before, he naturally turned to his student.

"So...a friend of yours?" Kakashi asked as Sakura gave a curious stare to Taiyo. In truth, she had little to no interaction with him. In fact she really wouldn't have even known his name had she not seen his Chunin Exam battle. Taiyo did help with the battle against Kiro, Zaku & Kai though that was based on the late arrival of her clone in the aftermath of the battle.

"Not personally. Though his name is Taiyo. Someone who helped my team during this recent scouting mission." Sakura clarified as Kakashi gave a nod and considered the best way to address Taiyo's question.

"Well...stuff. Busy stuff. Wish I had the time to explain it but it is just so much stuff you know? Come along Sakura." Kakashi said as he grabbed his Icha Icha Paradise copy and began to read it as he walked forward hoping he managed to discourage Taiyo from following as Sakura gave a look at Taiyo before she followed her sensei.

----------
Tomiko and company had been escorted to the medical area, and were all treated for their wounds. In Madoka, Kenji, Aisha & Takato's case it was a simply matter of replenishing chakra supplies and tend to a minor injury or two.

"Gotta say, this is a lot less painful than abrupt chakra stitches."

Tomiko's was naturally more complicated, as she needed to have her entire body healed from dozens of skin-level lacerations along with internal injuries that resulted from her battle with Reaver. Though thankfully the medical nin tending to her was working to relieve her of those injuries as her scares began to fade as the "glow stick hands" as Tomiko liked to call them worked their magic. During this, she thought once more on her lackluster performance and realized that she couldn't continue this trend of getting her ass handed to her while stubbornly refusing to stay down. That would catch up with her sooner rather than later, she needed to improve if she was gonna get back on the path to becoming Tsuhikage.

She needed to get stronger. But how? It would take more than just push up and sit ups, she needed to find something to work on that would take her to that next level. There had to be something, she just needed to find it. And find it soon before her peers all jumped out too far ahead of her.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Mori was not in the best condition. Sure, he was not as badly hurt as Tomiko, but Reaver still did a decent job on his body and he would have been in much worse condition if Kiro managed to hit him with his jutsu. He sighed as he let medical nin heal his injuries, he still did not like Konoha but they didn't show any hatred for him so he guess he could tolerate them atleast a little bit.

"In about three days time I've visited medical nin three times, and only one of those visits was not because I was hurt. Not a record to be proud of." Mori sighed as he spoke, how was he supposed to help his village if he was being healed the entire time? As he thought about that, a second and probably even more importabt thought came into his head.

What was going to happen to that Uchiha and the Hunter-nin? Where they going on trial or were they going back to the Mist? As he thought that he felt a rather large chakra mass that was surprisingly cold and he shivered as he sensed it. "Guess that answers it quite nicely. Only the Mist have chakra like that in their village to my knowledge."

"Excuse me, but I have a question. First off, I wanted to...thank you for healing us. But I wanted to know if we, with that I mean every ninja that went on this mission, may use the training grounds of Konoha? That way we can train ourselves to protect your village for as long as we stay here. I assume that we need permission of the Hokage, when would we be able to request an audience with them?" He said to basically every medical nin in the room, he just wanted an answer and it didn't matter who answered him.


Mori felt his honor fall with every word he spoke. He might tolerate Konoha, but that didn't mean that the village was equal to Iwa. One can tolerate a dog, but that dog is still below you. "No, everything that I found out about Iwa is a lie! It is a glorious village, with no scumbags. The Tsuchikage only hired those mercenary groups to get rid of threats when he could not afford to send Iwa-nin after them. And the slums are just neglected because Iwa has so many enemies that Lord Tsuchikage had to keep sending mercenaries to said threats whilst keeping his own ninja ready to defend the village, of course that is going to cut through your funds but it was all going to repay itself in the long run. Right?"

No matter how many times Mori tried to reassure himself of the fact that the Tsuchikage was a saint, there was always that little bit of doubt. It was not alwats visible, but it was there. It reminded him of himself using Hiding like a Mole, waiting for the right moment to strike as he prepared traps for people to walk into. The doubt did the same, waiting for the right moment to shatter his belief whilst creating more and more holes in it and no matter how hard he tried to cover up these holes, it wasn't enough.
I was under Genjutsu when I thought about the bad things about Iwa and the Tsuchikage.
'You were the only one to be under Genjutsu? For what reason? To tell Tomiko about your doubts and make her goal to become Tsuchikage even stronger? Not a chance.'

That 'Kami' from Ame is not as good of a leader as Lord Tsuchikage!
'Really? Kami rebuilt a war-torn nation from rubble and raised impressive ninja, like Reaver and that girl Azumi. What did Onoki do? Create more enemies and participate in a war that he eventually lost. He gave flee-on-sight orders if Minato Namikaze was seen, but he didn't try to save the lives of his ninja by surrendering and stopping the war on his side. Flimsy Kage in my opinion, Tomiko would be much better.'

My goal is to become a ninja my Tsuchikage can be proud of, why do you put Lord Tsuchikage down like that?
'Heh, do you really want to serve that old geezer or do you want to get close to him and end his reign from inside? Or maybe you created that goal just so you can see Tomiko everyday? No one would be this confident in a streetrat unless they had feelings for them, do you?'

His conciousness laughed at him, and Mori could feel his cheeks turn red although he didn't know if it was because of his taunting conciousness or because he was right. Frankly, he didn't care at this point of time.
'I will drop that topic for now but I will come back to it one day.'
I can't wait. But back to the Tsuchikage.

He did everything to keep his village safe and make it prosper.
'Do you honestly believe that? He made no allies, destroyed old alliances and kept creating new wars instead of making new allies, keeping old alliances alive and stopping possible wars. Maybe you have been blinded by propaganda and your personal bias too much to see that Onoki is not nearly as good of a Tsuchikage as Tomiko, or even yourself.'

Mori sighed and was about to wave those thoughts away, but there were some solid points made. The last one especially stuck with him, maybe he was indeed too blinded by propaganda and personal bias. Although he never was a fan of becoming Tsuchikage himself as he would much rather let someone who actually wanted to become it like Tomiko take that role, he couldn't do much more wrong than the Tsuchikage right?