Red Riot - Chapter 44 - Red Peaks

Matsu Uzumaki:- person of high interest to other Shinobi Villages. Jonin. Medical/Taijutsu/Ninjutsu/Sensory speciality. Chief Medical Officer of the Kiri Medical Program

Gengetsu Hozuki:- The second Mizukage and trickster Lord of Kirigakure. Master of Illusions and torment. Defeated Mu, the Second Tsuchikage in combat. Lost his left arm and left leg in the fight. Matsu healed him.

Kuroiwa Karatachi - student of Matsu. Karatachi clanswoman. Chunin. Medic. Capitalist! Primed to being Matsu’s second in command of Kirigakure’s Medic Corps.

Kana Karatachi:- the Clan Head of the Karatachi Clan. 

Katara Karatachi:- Trainee of the Medical Corps. Genin.

Koga Karatachi:- Trainee of the Medical Corps. Genin.

Ala:- Kunoichi that met Matsu during his deployment to the Land of Wind during the final stages of the Second war. Matsu used her as a foil to trick a reluctant teacher into teaching. Matsu’s first pick for his training program of Medics.

Hanahime Terumi:- Matsu’s ally during his years in the Academy. Led the Terumi contingent. Upon the success of the Red Graduation, she was ordered to kill the weakest shinobi in their respective groups. She had to kill her cousin and best friend. Hasn’t spoken with Matsu since then. Became a trainee of the Medical Corps of Kiri as a Genin. Looking to grow closer with Matsu.

Ei, the third Raikage: Not to be mistaken with Ei the Fourth Raikage… (A.N. Seriously, this naming system… I’m not calling them A due to formatting and editing that being a nightmare)

Blue B:- the Jinchuriki of the Eight tails. A poor host for the Eight Tailed demon. Ei’s the Third’s partner shinobi and brother. 

Onoki:- the Third Tsuchikage. Still a bitter old man among older men who love to taunt him. 

Kaede:- Genin of Nadeshiko.

_______________________

Once more, I found myself sailing across the ocean.

I watched the distant shoreline growing closer, unlike the last few times I’d approached the Land of Honey I wasn’t about to leap off the side of the ship and sprint back to the facility. It was in good hands.

Hanahime stood next to me, her chakra twitchy and agitated as her eyes darted from me to the shoreline.

“I already said we're not going to be running across the waves, show a little trust in me,” I sighed. 

“Ah, sorry, it’s just that you can be rather intense, so I’m surprised we’re taking it slow.”

“We have a mission in the city of Saltmarsh,” I replied. “We’re to check in with contacts and make sure that Konoha shinobi haven’t been lurking around and to reestablish our… deals with them.”

“How are we stopping them from double-dealing?” Hanahime asked.

“In a sense, we don’t stop them. We determine who Konoha approaches, then ensure that any intelligence Konoha receives is skewed. If Konoha had no intel, they’d suspect that something is going on within the Land of Honey.”

“Seems backwards,” she muttered.

“It’s forward thinking,” I rebuked. “It just takes a lot of handling with Kiri’s intel department needing to track everything that we know Konoha knows and then, very rarely adjusting the intel to deliver a favourable overextension or somehting else from them.” I shrugged. “Of course, Konoha would expect this, much as we have to do the same for the Lands of Tea, Grass, Hotsprings, and other western continent nations.”

“Ah,” she nodded along at that. “I’m glad I’m not in intel then.”

“Sadly, it still needs to be kept in consideration. Also, you’re going to have to go on a few missions with the Chunin exams being a few months away.”

Hanahime’s eyes darted to me. “Will you be my sensei?”

“Yes, that seems to be the consensus that we’ve reached for the moment, where the exams are going to be held next is still up in the air as Kumo is rejecting Konoha’s demands to host the next international event.”

Hanahime fell silent at that, and for the next few minutes, a contemplative silence lingered only for her to tilt her head. Then she straightened up and blanched. “How are we going to be hiding the medical facility?” she asked with the air of someone only just now realising how compromised our facility could become if other nations began poking around.

“Oh, I’ve already accounted for that.” I waved a hand dismissively, only for her to continue to stare at me.

“We've got civilian doctors who are going to come in to be trained. They’re going to be a pain in the ass to handle, but they create a viable smokescreen that we can operate behind for expenses, supplies and other requirements. When we have to, we’ll simply divert our operations and training to the underground facilities.”

“Oh,” Hanahime replied softly. 

Then she twitched. ”Underground facilities?”

I shot her an amused look that had her glaring back at me. I was starting to grow taller than her, and the difference made her look all the more ineffective. 

“You didn’t seriously think I was just building everything out in the open, did you?” I probed.

“No,” she grunted, her head whipping around to glare at the surf, earning a chuckle from me.

“Don’t worry about it too much,” I offered. “There’s still a lot that needs to be made up but yes, the Medical facilities outside Hive City are far more than meets the eye, and that’s deliberate.”

“And here I thought I was thinking I knew so much about what was going on there,” she griped, her hands flexing.

Her admission was like a balm, but rather than smirk like I wanted to, I merely nodded calmly. “There are lots of plans currently in place Hanahime. Some of them will pass above and beneath your notice. Don’t let it send you fishing in mud puddles,” I said, using the Kiri version of ‘don’t let it drive you crazy’.

She snorted in annoyance and shot me a look that told me she wasn’t about to leave that statement alone.

I let her make her silent vow, knowing that some of the plots would be passing right before her eyes. I’d need to make sure one such plan occurred when she was out on a mission, however.

With the medical facility up and running, I could begin working on healing the eyes of the serving staff that I’d deliberately collected with the promises of fixing their eyesight or giving it the best try I could. In some cases, I was going to have to attempt an outright transplant, but that was what I needed to practise for what was to come.

Rei was being ‘transferred’ to a smaller okiya for less reputable geisha. That I’d started to forward rather cashed-up builders towards said structure was of little note.

Directly I had given no order, nor had I so much as looked at the red light district, but pieces for a plan that had been months in work were starting to fall into place.

“You’ll be helping me with the initial surgery that I had planned,” I told Hanahime, rewarding her for her efforts. “You did well on this last mission, and I think you would do well assisting me.”

“Oh? You think so?” she said with a pleased smile as she tossed her hair in a manner that was all too forced to my eye to be casual.

It was a notable departure from her reserved actions prior to returning to Kiri. 

She’d flicked her hair, batted her eyes, and lingered close to me three times during the voyage so far.

She had, if anything, kept her distance in the past.

Something had changed, and it hadn’t been because I’d done anything too impressive during the mission. So this had to be coming from the Terumi.

Hmmm, was that the Terumi’s plan then? 

They wanted Hanahime to get close, eh? 

They should have held off before giving her the mission. Let her grow up. She didn’t have the know-how to be subtle with her ‘affections’. 

Or perhaps this was shinobi subtle, and I was overly sensitive to acts of flirting and doublespeak?

Eh, regardless, I was more than happy to keep someone like Hanahime close. She had the skills to become a very useful medic, and it might just be possible to flip her. I had no doubt that Hanahime would grow into a beautiful woman as well, and having people assume that my weakness was women wouldn’t be the worst assumption to cultivate.

As Napoleon would say, you never interrupt your enemies when they are making a mistake.

The coming months would be entertaining if nothing else.

_________________

Pain raced through my arm as I held aloft the culmination of years of relative training time. The Big Ball Rasengan was as large as a grown man and roared with life, illuminating the hidden valley. 

My own chakra coils heaved with the strain of conjuring it up, but I knew that if I used this on almost anything, then I was going to wreck it.

The obvious exceptions being the Uchiha’s cheating Susanoo armour, the bijuu themselves, and some relatively obscure jutsu.

I held the ball aloft before shifting it, twirling it around me like the world’s deadliest dodgeball.

It carved through the ground as I made a sweep downwards, not even slowing and leaving boring marks in its wake.

It was only as my vision began to darken that I drew the chakra back, dissipating the rasengan.

I still collapsed onto my backside, heaving at the strain I’d put my body through as I sat there in a suddenly darkened valley.

A jealous feeling surged through me, and it took me a moment to process it. 

Naruto had made it look easy.

That got a laugh out of me, and for the next few moments, a mad ‘Haha!’ echoed over the valley.

Naruto was often touted as an idiot, but in truth, he was somehting of a genius at adapting. The story, however, never clearly stated how many clones he used to learn the wind-channelling method. I’d have estimated it as roughly twenty initially before Yamato indulged him and allowed Naruto to train more.

With each Clone, Naruto had seen another stack of hours being added on. Naruto, who had hundreds of clones running around and didn’t even seem to notice the memory feedback most of the time, if ever.

Compared to the ten that I could muster up for training purposes.

Naruto might have had as many as years of training condensed down into a week or more at most.

Damn, protagonist powers, making even the slog of repetitive training seem easy.

“I’m making progress,” I said aloud, for myself alone, as no one could hear me.

I held my hands up to the canopy that had only the barest of light filtering in. The problem was that a lot of the low-hanging fruit had been plucked. I was still working through fire, earth, and lightning chakra channelling techniques.

The issue was that, with each success, I wanted to accelerate my progress, knowing that each milestone from now on would take longer unless I did so. 

The only viable method of increasing my pace of training came down to expanding my chakra pool, which was an arduous task. It was happening now, though, with thirty clones now being my limit. They didn’t last long, and were quite weak, but it was a marked improvement from the twenty I’d started at.

As ever, I needed more from myself.

I needed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the giants of the shinobi world if I wanted to matter.

I needed to be able to match men like Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and more at their best.

The threat of Onoki, Minato, and other shinobi that would be able to wipe the floor with me loomed large.

Standing and dusting myself off, I slid into the nearby pool that I’d made for my meditations. 

In truth, this was an old training method now, but one that I felt I still hadn’t plumbed fully.

With only my face peeking out of the water, I allowed my focus to turn inwards, tracing the way my chakra trickled into my coils and flowed naturally.

I’d been able to cleanse my chakra coils and nodes initially with just regular chakra, but an idea had been growing in my mind with the completion of the two stages of elemental channelling for Wind and Water.

What would happen if I just used elemental chakra?

Admittedly, I was borrowing the idea from other sources, but it felt… right to me in a way I had no true evidence to back beyond intuition.

Deciding today was as good as any other, I moulded the chakra within my coil to water, my most natural inclination, and began to thread it through my coils only to have it swirl gently at each node.

At first, nothing felt different.

Then, after the seventh coil, I entered, and I felt it. Somehting broke off the walls of my coils and eroded under the passage of the flow of the water chakra, and my coils grew minutely.

My eyes widened. I’d been right.

The next step of chakra cleansing was to use the elemental chakra.

It became a task not to accelerate then and there, again I had no reason but for instinct to keep my flow slow and controlled as I wove the small trickle aorund my coils. It wasn’t often, but slowly I began to feel my chakra coils expanding as more and more tiny slivers of the metaphysical organ grew outward rather than weakened from the breakage.

Interesting!

I continued th exercise for ten minutes, flowing my chakra over and over until the improvements stopped.

Rather than sit up and attempt to test myself, I ran my tongue over my teeth. If that had been water… what would happen with wind?

Again, I pushed ahead before I could question the wisdom of the move.

Straight away, I noted that flowing wind aligned chakaa through my coils easily was harder than water, which stood to reason.

But just like the water chakra, the wind-aligned chakra caused my coil walls to flake away and expand at the same time.

Tiny, small growths that continued to stack.

This time it took twenty minutes to complete a full circuit and another twenty to run through my coils enough time to know the low-hanging fruit had all been plucked.

This… this had potential.

What would happen if I kept this up for months at a time? 

Would growth occur with each element I cycled through?

What would happen if I used all five chakra natures at once?

No… that was wrong. What if I split my chakra into seven different states?

Water, wind, fire, earth, lightning, yin, and yang?

That had me sitting up properly and smiling. And who was to say it couldn’t be taken further yet? Nature chakra was yet another type of chakra, and… well, Bijuu chakra might also be possible.

If small growth occurred from a single element, what would happen with an… Eightfold chakra cleansing? Instead of being additive, would it express itself as a multiplication?

“You alright there boss?” asked one of my clones.

“I’m good,” I replied to myself. “I’ve just stumbled on a path forward that I can action is all.”

The clone nodded. “Looking forward to it,” he replied before patting his chest in a respectful salute. “Remember to enjoy yourself some yeah?” he said as he dispelled himself into a small wisp of chakra smoke.

I waved a hand through the smoke and nodded, deciding that I was right. All work and no play would do me no favours. 

Especially considering that I was about to head into a very tense situation in the coming days. Rolling a mental dice through an array of options, I decided to skip trying to introduce another gambling game to Kuoriwa for fun and instead headed to my art studio.

Within, I found a few of the trainees savaging canvas sheets or working clay wheels with what looked like frustration.

I claimed my own clay wheel, slapping some wet clay onto it as I began shaping it into nothing in particular.

Hanahime’s return from Kiri had seen her begin exploring the buildings she’d been ignoring for almost two months with a fervour.

When she’d found one of my clones in the studio, she’d been rather stunned. My clone’s explanation that it was a meditative exercise to grow the spirit component of chakra rather than the physical aspect, had been rather inspired.

It certainly helped that it somewhat true.

Hanahime’s fervour to suddenly explore her surroundings hadn’t gone unnoticed. It had taken a day or two, but eventually the others had worked out that there was a ‘secret’ mission to discover the hidden parts of the hospital facility. Something I might have sparked with a clone henged as one of the Yuki trainees. 

Like a kicked anthill, all the trainees started roaming the grounds, making nuisances of themselves and trying to ferret things out.

It had taken them a few more days to find the tunnels leading from each of their cabins into the large cavern I’d built and reinforced with a mixture of stone, wood, and metal. The materials were important because they prevented people from simply sneaking in with the hiding like a mole jutsu.

I doubted it would do anything to a certain white plant being, however, so I didn’t relax too much.

The trainees had been rather stunned at the reveal that an even larger complex of buildings had been hidden under their feet. I’d simply sat in front of one of the buildings with a raised eyebrow. 

“What? You think a shinobi hospital won't have these? Think about if we have to treat special cases like Clan heads, ANBU, or possibly even a deniable asset! You need to have this and control areas for such to take place out of the public’s awareness!”

Then I’d grinned, all while slipping an illusion of warmth into their bodies to make them ‘feel’ the ‘pride’ I had in their actions. “That being said, good job finding this location! It took you a while and some prodding, but you got there! I’ll ease off half an hour of physical training from the morning and afternoon sessions from now on for self-study!” I announced as their reward.

It wasn’t much, but it would add up, I knew.

Gengetsu’s recent training sessions had been useful with how he’d run me through exercises in stirring a crowd, either to fear or passion, with the subtle, soft touches of genjutsu making them think they felt something that wasn’t really there.

Or how, over a long-term application, certain effects could be trained into people.

It was horrifying to consider, but also extremely useful in building up a loyal force of shinobi. With careful curation, I could see how a village could be wielded like a puppet without ever seeing the hand that guided it.

Of course, that only worked on those who didn’t have the chakra control to break such illusions, but it went without saying that an early impact would still produce results, with an imprint forming with young shinobi.

It was too useful a tool to gather dust, so I began using it sporadically on my trainees.

As I worked on my vase… or bowl… or whatever I wanted it to be, I handed out small compliments to the others in the room with me, lacing my words with small flickers of joy or happiness at being recognised.

Who knew, it might see them continue the hobby later on instead of attempting to use the time to curry favour with me.

When it was time to head to the training field, I held up my hand. “We’re not heading to the training field today,” I announced. 

This drew a wave of worried looks, which I dispelled with a wave of my hands. “We’re going to do somehting different.”

With that said, I led them into yet another tunnel that they hadn’t known existed and into a well-lit room that had platforms, poles and a full-on jungle gym made from strong wooden beams.

“Welcome to the tag room. Today we’re going to have you playing the age-old game of ‘shinobi’ with a twist.”

“But… little kids play that?” muttered Ala. “We’re actual shinobi!”

“So you can play it faster, stronger, and better than them!” I replied. “Better yet, you will be against better opponents!” I indicated the room at large, and they started to cotton on. 

Playing shinobi was a lot like tag, only you did it with toy kunai as children. Which usually meant it was somehting only clan children could manage. It was an effective tool to train basic dodging techniques, along with hiding and endurance.

With my growing skills in carpentry, thanks to my clones, I’d put together a training facility that was similar to the sports tag arena with the platforms, poles, beams, and jungle gym, while there were also trick tiles, wobbly platforms or weakened poles to make it that much more interesting.

“Genjutsu, chakra strings, medical ninjutsu, replacement jutsu and also chakra wires are allowed!” I announced before clapping my hands. “First seekers are the Karatachi and Ala, everyone else scatter!” I called.

And just like that, a room of proud shinobi played a ramped-up kids' game.

By the time training was done, they were flushed and giddy but more upbeat. I smirked and then revealed that there were three more rooms, each with different layouts and apparatus. 

“Kuroiwa is going to let you use these rooms to train up your basic skills. Evasion, speed, agility and endurance are vital for all shinobi, not just jutsu!”

That got people sitting up and paying attention. “You’re going on another mission Sensei?”

I nodded and pointed at the genin among the trainees, which just so happened to be Hanahime Terumi, Koga Karatachi, and Katara Karatachi. The Karatachi had three years of being shinobi under their belts with missions and were overdue a shot at the chunin exams. It was rather criminal they hadn’t been field promoted as yet, but that wasn’t somehting I could do myself just yet.

If the Karatachi weren’t breaking away from the Terumi, I just knew they would have been used to bolster someone like Hanahime’s chances of advancement.

Which was what was happening in this situation.

“Contratulations! We’re going to Kumo! Pack your things, we set off in the next hour to join the Kiri contingent!” I declared as I unravelled one of the scrolls I’d received from Gengetsu. They didn’t need to know about the other orders I had to steal more jutsu, and possibly identify who the eight-tails jinchuruki was.

Hanahime straightened up. Of the trio, she’d had to go on a few more missions in the last few months, but it had been good for her. 

Katara beamed happily and clenched her fists, glad to finally have her first shot at being promoted. Koga didn’t even blink, just nodded like he’d known all along. 

Which was fair. I hadn’t been subtle in how I’d spent several training sessions stabbing at them with swords, or attempting to zap them with the handful of lightning jutsu I knew. Or at least, my clones did.

I could have hoped for an easy Chunin exam, but wishes didn’t get you anything in this world.

So instead, I was heading to Kumo with the other Kiri nin, ready to fight another battle against a kage-level opponent at least!

__________________

I had to give the Kumo proctors points for originality.

The first exam was a simple test of ‘staying the course’ held within one of the great halls that littered the peaks of mountains that were close enough to have steel cables linking them. On each end of the cables, small garrisons were set with shinobi inspecting those who came and went.

Civilians were allowed to use a skyrail, but I had been able to sense that even that held at least four kumo shinobi at all times, inspecting the travellers and their wares.

It created somehting of a tense moment when you had to step out over nothing but open air with many Kumo nin making it a point to jeer as I led my genin out. The wind had buffeted us but to anyone with proper chakra control, it was fine. 

It was, however, a risk that sat poorly with me. All they needed to do was electrify the cables, or cut them, and we’d be cast from the mountain.

Without uttering a word, many others and I understood it was a warning of just how hard it would be to infiltrate, let alone take Kumo should it ever come to a fight.

It had rattled all of the genin taking the exams, and I’d needed to step in front of them and calm their nerves before allowing them into the hall.

I’d been right to, as the test was perfect for getting rid of jittery genin.

The test was simple in practice, but harder in execution. Examinees needed to keep their heads down and fill out a rather lengthy document without being distracted or reacting to what was going on around them.

This meant that they couldn’t look up, turn, or call out as flash bangs, explosions, and even lightning jutsu were hurled about the room.

Some of which got awfully close but never enough to touch or harm anyone who kept their heads down.

It should have been impossible to track who reacted or called out in real time with the amount of noise, dust, and light flying around. More than a few examinees tried to argue their case. 

This never worked out for them.

One and all, they were thrown out of the room via the window, which just so happened to be over a cliff with a deep pond at the bottom.

In truth, the proctors were relying on a simple chakra netting, lightly applied over each applicant. Should the netting break, the applicant was expelled. It just so happened that several kumo shinobi had no chakra strings over their forms to trigger failure conditions. Those I marked as shinobi to watch for.

Right before the end of the test, the trickery changed from overt to subtle.

Women and men who were henged shinobi or people who spent years sculpting their bodies into ideals of perfection began to drift about the room. The clothing they wore accentuated and titillated rather than detracted from their forms.

Music began to strum through the room, and I could only imagine the urge that some of the genin would have to lift their heads and look.

More than a few older candidates stupidly turned their heads as a shapely rear wandered past wearing only a skirt or strip of cloth that tastfully hinted at nudity.

“Ejected!” roared a proctor as they gleefully punted out of the room.

In the observation area, a few shinobi grinned dopely, with one even fainting. 

Deciding to play into my chosen weakness, I let my cheeks flush and murmured a faint whistle of appreciation that I knew was caught, catalogued and set aside for consideration by the Kumo Jonin who were there to observe us, and their own genin.

In truth, I was saddened that the early displays of jutsu had stopped.

It had been like a feast laid out for me to cut into and swallow what meals they’d offered up, only to find that as one was devoured, two more skittered out of reach.

Lightning arc, Bolt kunai, Magnetic point, and even a Lightning Spear jutsu were still added to my arsenal, along with gaining a better idea of how to train lightning channelling.

With the seduction specialists still plying their trade, a fake ‘end test’ order was given, causing several people to raise their heads only to be ejected instantly. Thankfully, my team knew to keep their heads down.

Only when the proctors were happy with the numbers did they give the true signal for the chunin hopefuls to raise their heads.

“Congratulations for sticking to the course and keeping your heads down!” declared the proctor. “You will now go straight into the second exam! If you’re tired, bad luck!”

As the examinees were led out to the next test, one of the Jonin in the room with us exploded. 

 “I demand to review the test! My student didn’t make so much as a twitch, and they were ejected!” he snapped.

I glanced over to see they were from Suna. Hmmm, it had been subtle, but the kid in question had actually triggered the chakra strings around him due to manipulating them with his own chakra strings—Sadly, this test was a bad interaction for a puppet specialist. 

The Jonin was invited out onto the floor by a rather smug Kumo shinobi. “Anyone else want to investigate their team’s failure?”

“I’d like to investigate my team’s success, actually!” I said, raising my hand.

That got a few people glancing at me askance, but I ignored them.

The Kumo nin didn’t seem to know what to make of my request but decided he’d already committed too far to knock me back.

I wandered from desk to desk, seemingly checking on my students’ papers.

Hanahime’s was filled out precisely as required with her impeccable handwriting.

Katara’s was wordy and boring to read, but she’d completed the ‘task’ as she’d seen it.

Koga had written single-word answers to each point that the form had asked for, earning a twitch of my lips. Hmmm good.

As I meandered, I happened to spy several other chunin hopefuls' forms of note, but only one truly made me want to stop and read through it.

It was written by ‘Orphan eight-zero-eight-zero of Kumo’—Ninja registration CL-three-two-eight-eight.

All of which told me… a little, but not much.

Of more significance was how, instead of writing simple answers to the form, the genin had written song lyrics that occasionally rhymed.

Which had me wondering, Killer B was somewhat overlooked when it came to geniuses of the Naruto series, but he’d been able to match Ei, the fourth Raikage, despite being a child when the test of compatibility had been administered.

It was known that upon being successful, Killer B had earned his name.

Did that mean that Killer B was from some sort of ROOT equivalent of Kumo?

It was a stretch, but at the same time…

I mentally shook the thought off as I continued past the form, pretending like I hadn’t witnessed anything of note.

I hadn’t seen a young Killer B in the room earlier, not that I’d been looking for him, but now I would be keeping a much closer eye out.

If young Killer B was here, that meant that Blue B, the much less stable Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails, was still acting as the vessel of Gyuki.

Which, sadly, made the chances of these chunin exams going off the rails much, much greater.

Such was the price of success, though.

_______________

The second round of exams drew a yawn from me and a sneer from a nearby Kumo Jonin.

The dark skinned man towered over me, but I wasn’t at all intimidated. “Not interesting enough for you fish?” he growled.

“Nah, it’s not. I’m used to having a more direct hand in the action,” I replied, waving a hand towards the distant mountain top that you could spy upon with a telescope. I could only just touch the edges of it with my chakra senses at full range, but even the,n that drew a headache after a minute of use.

I didn’t want to give the game away too much by starting to leak from my eyes and nose. Chances were that Kumo, more than anyone bar perhaps Konoha, knew of the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura jutsu. 

Beating him to what would no doubt be a witty insult, I drew out a storage scroll and unsealed it to reveal a board with black and white pieces set up.

“You know how to play othello?” I offered.

He stared at me, and I could all but see his mind ticking through options of what I was playing at. He actually surprised me by nodding and sitting down across from me.

“Yeah, I know how to play. Ready to lose?”

“Matsu,” I replied, claiming my own seat. “And you can go first,” I offered.

Once more, he was on the back foot. “Hessui,” he grunted before grabbing the black piece and flipping it over.

As we played, I struck up a conversation with Hessui. “You get around to the last Chunin exams?” I probed. I hadn’t felt his chakra signature, but I wasn’t going to announce that.

“No,” he grunted.

“Hmmm, shame they had an interesting take on the exam style with catering to the Nobles.”

“I heard they shat the bed more than a few times as well,” murmured a nearby kunoichi. When I glanced at her, she smirked. “Chibui by the way,” she volunteered.

“Hmmm, I suppose you’re right,” I replied. “Still made it interesting. From what I’ve heard and experienced so far, most tests are written, practical, and then a tournament. Guess there’s only so many ways to make that appealing.”

Hessui sniffed as I swept to take a corner point, nailing an early advantage in our game. “Depends on your goals.”

“That I can agree on. I don’t think we test enough for true strategic insight and tactical awareness with these tests. Too often, Genin seem to think it’s just a case of fight good and win.” I shook my head. “Too linear, not nearly crooked enough for my liking.”

“Hoh, you a bent boy?” Chibui teased with a playful wink, using an insult for homosexuals that I’d heard tossed around in gossip at the Okiya.

Instead of getting angry, I feigned innocence as I tilted my head. “Not sure I follow, I’m talking about fighting like shinobi and not like samurai. What are you talking about?”

She huffed in annoyance at my failure to rise to the bait, but I noted how Hessui’s shoulders had tensed slightly, so perhaps the barb wasn’t fully directed at me.

“Suppose you’re not completely wrong, but each has its place,” Hessui calmly stated as he laid out a trap only for me to skip it and fall for another he’d placed.

Oh dear, he was taking the lead, I mused to myself.

“It wouldn’t be terrible to have some of these Chunin exams used in other ways, you know?” I suggested.

For some reason, that caused both Kumo nin to stiffen and glance at my hair quickly. 

They narrowed their eyes. “What do you mean by that?” Chibui asked.

“Mix things up a bit, have one of ours work with one of yours. See if relations can be fostered while making our genin adapt on the fly.”

They stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “Why would we ever work together like that?” Hessui growled.

“Well, if there was ever a mutual enemy we were fighting against, it would be best if we knew some basics so as not to trip over each other.” After a moment’s pause, I tacked on, “You know?” slowly, and watched them twitch again. They controlled it better, but that confirmed it.

The verbal tic most Uzumaki were shown to have in the story must have been a legitimate thing to carry over. Heh, was I triggering these two with my repetition?

“And who would we want to fight with you against?” Chibui probed.

I rolled my eyes and gave her a disappointed look. “Only those who everyone should be preparing to fight,” I replied. 

I made a move that swept a swathe of tiles over with a heavy claim to the centre of the board. 

Hessui leaned forward, considering his options and mapping how things would play out. “Konoha,” he said, answering the lingering question.

Lacing my fingers together, I nodded. “Indeed. For all that Kiri and Kumo will have to fight for jobs that come from the eastern contingent, we all know where the real money is.”

Hessui made a sweep for the left-hand side of the board and nodded. “The western continent is richer in resources and jobs,” he mused.

“Precisely. The greater merchant fleets and caravans mean more jobs. Konoha, sitting smack bang in the middle, gets to benefit the most from this. The longer we let them build up, the worse things will get. Especially with all their clans.”

“Hmmm, cute analysis, kid, but it’s nothing we haven’t heard before,” Chibui cut in as Hessui regained a good portion of his tiles.

“It is, but it’s somehting that everyone is butting their heads against. We need to consider some… bent options,” I offered, teasing Chibui with her earlier phrasing. I shrugged. “After all, you never know who you’re going to end up in bed with, as they say.”

That made Chibui sputter and Hessui grin, even as I won the game.

I resealed the board after packing it up. “Thanks for the game,” I offered as I moved away. There was still going to be a while before my team emerged from the second exam, but I didn’t need to invest all my energy into one pair of Jonin.

I began working the room, networking shinobi style.

By the time Hanahime, Koga, and Katara returned, they were dirty but triumphant, having completed the second stage with there being only sixteen left over. The perfect amount for a short third exam.

When the Second Proctor announced the finish of the exam, I made a show of applauding. They’d done well to hide the strings that stacked the deck with seven Kumo nin, three Kiri nin, two Iwa nin, a Nadeshiko, and a Suna nin.

Even less surprising was seeing Koga and Katara matched up against each other through random chance while Hanahime faced a gauntlet of Kumo nin to advance.

My students reached me looking slightly perturbed, but I clapped them on the shoulders each. “Well done you three. Now you two,” I pointed at the two Karatachi clansmen. “I want to see extra drama, don’t leave anything out in your first match, you hear me?”

“Hanahime, go for style points!” I declared only to lean in. “But seriously, just make a good showing of it. We’ll get you field promotions, don’t give the Kumo nin any reason to poison us alright?”

“Ah, of course… sensei,” Hanahime murmured.

“Excellent! Now let’s go see about sampling the local delicacies!” I said, nodding towards several listening Kumo nin who smirked and mirrored me with nods. 

Good, we understood each other. This was Kumo’s show, in their house. Upstaging them wasn’t the way to make friends.

You’d have to be a right bastard to try and do that after all.

___________________

“Matsu, I want you to tell your Genin to win it for me,” Gengetsu ordered the instant I sat down across from him.

A painfully slow exhale escaped me as I pinched the bridge of my nose “Of course you’d say that,” I replied tiredly. I’d barely seen him in a month, and he already had me rubbing my forehead in exasperation. Still, I made sure to fix up his aortic valve and some other traps I’d left for him while implanting others into his heart.

Gengetsu smirked. “Hmmm, I’m quite sure I haven’t the faintest idea what you could be referring to.”

That saw a flat look directed at him, but he tittered and tapped the metallic hand that now had gold filigree on it on the table. 

“That thing is a monstrosity, I hope you know? Also, aren’t you worried about the Suna nin being capable of the magnet release?”

Gengetsu observed me blankly for a moment only to smirk. “No, Matsu, you’re getting things mixed up again. People fear me, not the other way around.” He shook his head. “This is why you’d make a poor Mizukage.”

“Hmmm, coming from you, that means so much,” I replied, my tone as dry as the Land of Wind.

Gengetsu cackled and lounged. “But seriously, what were you thinking, making plays at an alliance with Kumo? They’re our rivals,” he growled, suddenly looming forward.

“Hmph, we should be trying to direct them. Even if we get a small synergy formed, we’re able to benefit by making them weaken another rival,” I replied. “Konoha is the Village I’m most concerned about.”

“And why’s that?” he began ticking his fingers. “Their geographical location? The friendly face they’ve duped most into accepting as their true face? The number of S-rank shinobi they currently have on their roster? Their clans?”

“Yes?” I replied, making it clear that I rather thought Gengetsu was making my point for me by reiterating the points I’d used during the games I’d played against various Kumo nin a few days ago. It didn’t escape my notice that he knew what I’d said and was quoting it back to me.

It was a silent flex that he had eyes and ears on me, but that didn’t impress me at all.

Gengetsu sighed theatrically and shook his head. “Terrible,” he stated, waving a hand at me.

“Are you going to get serious? Or are you just enjoying being dramatic?” I murmured. “Cause I have better things to do, like you know, creating our medical corps from scratch?”

Gengetsu rolled his eyes. “Oh, I suppose. Have you completed your main mission?” he asked, and I deposited a handful of scrolls onto the table from the first exam.

“They were rather happy to throw around a bunch of jutsu. These were what I could successfully nab.”

“Only four?” he clicked his tongue sadly. “You’re losing your touch.”

I didn’t deign to give that a response beyond yet another highly unimpressed look. “What’s got you…” I shut my eyes. “Is Onoki coming here or to Konoha?” I asked as I recalled who’d made it through to the third round.

Gengetsu’s grin grew a fraction, and I knew without him saying a word where Onoki was coming.

“I want you as my honour guard Matsu,” Gengetsu gushed. 

My mind began to reexamine the way the brackets had been assigned. With two Iwa nin… there were strong odds they’d advance. One of whom would be facing off against a Suna nin while the other would be facing off against the Nadeshiko kunoichi.

I’d need to create profiles and work with Koga to see about making his clash with the Iwa nin in the second round suitably epic.

“I’ll see about making it entertaining.”

Gengetsu beamed at me. “Good, good,” he murmured. “When you’re done, come back. I want to keep training you. You need a lot more work before you’re ready to step forward as the Chief Medical Officer,” he declared.

Walking away, I mentally shook my head at the overly dramatic man. Just as I was about to leave the room, I glanced over my shoulder at him.

“The other mission you had for me? Was that just a test? If so, I still want the S rank mission pay attached to it, cause the Raikage always keeps the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki close.”

Gengetsu’s eyes hungered like twin black holes. “And his name?”

“Blue B right now, but I get the feeling that’s going to change. His chakra, from what I felt… it is unstable.”

“Hmph, of course, Kumo would do a shoddy job of containing their best asset.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “And you wanted to join hands with them?”

Turning away, I shook my head openly. “Somehow, I get the feeling if I said the target should be Iwa, you’d be all for it!” I shouted back at him.

His answering laughter followed me further than it had any right to.

_______________________

Kumo’s battlefield of choice was an impressive thunderdome on yet another mountain peak that could house a few thousand people and a significant portion of the local population crowded the venue to get insights into how the fights were going.

It made me wonder if they often put on shows like this.

If we built something like this, I suspected the Kaguya clan would move in and claim it within days. Not that I was going to voice that suggestion right now. No need to give Gengetsu an idea like that, good or otherwise.

He’d run with it and find some way to taint it, I had no doubt.

When the genin taking part lined up and saluted towards the Nobles and then to the Raikgae who had allowed us to sit with him in his viewing box I almost mouthed ‘for we who are about to die, salute you’. 

But that would have been a step too far.

I was here to be seen and not heard from as an honour guard.

But I had to admit, I was somewhat intimidated.

Ei, the third Raikage, was an imposing man who exuded power both physically and through my chakra senses. His chosen guard, Blue B, was slighter in frame but made up for it with the single greatest concentration of chakra I had ever witnessed one person hold.

It was mesmerising viewing his coils and seeing how the normal chakra was interrupted in steady beats with a thicker, more potent, demonic chakra being dumped from the seal into his coils. It was integrated, but I could see that it was taking a toll on the man.

To give him his due. None of the pain he must have been in showed in any way, shape or form.

It sadly gave more credence to my claim that he wouldn’t be the Jinchuriki of Gyuki for much longer.

If he hadn’t started rampaging yet, then I’d start a countdown for it. From what I understood of chakra coils, he had… well, I’d have to observe him for a while longer, but it couldn’t be more than five years tops before his coils broke under the strain of how the chakra was being dumped into them.

Theoretically, I could look into methods of healing him… but that would reveal far too much of my skillset, and the world would have to flip upside down, well and truly, before Kumo ever gave me access to their Jinchuriki.

If Kiri was fearful of me learning fuinjutsu, I wouldn’t like to think how Kumo would react if I laid hands on Blue B.

If I were lucky, I might get to see the Third Raikage’s fist before it blew my head off.

Oh, and Onoki was also there with a bulking-looking Jonin that had the same bulbous nose.

Ah, nepotism. Good to see it was alive and well, I thought to myself as I eyed the father-son pair.

“I must say Onoki, it was a shame I missed you back in the Land of Hotsprings, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. You always were good at running away,” Gengetsu began, not even waiting until the first match had begun to draw blood.

Onoki twitched. “I’ll have you know I was busy wiping the floor with your shinobi.”

“Hmmm, were you just?” Gengetsu grinned. 

He turned to me, and I tried to convey how little I wanted to step into this pissing contest. 

Gengetsu didn’t relent. “Matsu, how many Iwa nin did you end up killing that day?”

That drew attention to me. 

Onoki scowled, and for a moment I had to wonder if he’d ever seen a flash of my red hair between the trees while trying to kill us, but then I shrugged. 

“No idea. I lost count after the first two dozen,” I replied with a bored tone.

Gengetsu preened. “Hear that Onoki? Not even worth counting after the first two dozen!”

“Heh!” rumbled Ei, the third Raikage. “Having you two in the same box is going to be almost more entertaining than watching my Genin flatten yours!”

Damn, but it was coming from all angles. I wanted to hold out a hand and pretend like I was looking for rain. I honestly felt like I would need a shower after this was down. 

With Ei stepping into the mix, Gengetsu turned his attention to the much larger man. “So, what fun have you lined up for us? It’s not a proper chunin exams without a few assassination attempts, a poisoning or two, and at least an attempted defection.” 

His grin stretched sinisterly. “You’ve got a lot to live up to after the Hot Springs exams. Mu dead, and I hear poor Reto tripped headfirst into a grave upon his return to Wind. It’s such a shame,” Gengetsu practically purred as, beneath us, the match wrapped up.

In the meantime, I blinked. Reto was dead? I hadn’t heard anything about it. I felt a flicker of an illusion as Gengetsu created a clone to glance back at me and smirk.

Oh, he knew I didn’t know. That comment wasn’t meant for his fellow Kage, but me. I’d had my head buried in jobs around the medical facility. 

Shit. That wasn’t good. If I wanted to be Mizukage I couldn’t allow my focus to narrow like that.

Credit where it was due, I inclined my head respectfully as the illusion vanished with the other two kage giving no indication they’d noticed. 

“I don’t expect his successor to last long,” Ei grunted out. “I give it two years. Shamon is likely to burn himself out with the increased freedom he now has as Kazekage.”

“Still, that makes only two Villages that are on to their second Kage. A new age is coming and you’ll find yourself left behind soon Gengetsu,” taunted Onoki. Koga and Katara squared up on each other and bowed to us and then each other.

Gengetsu reclined in his chair. “Oh, I think you’ll find Kiri is much more resilient than you believed. We’re instituting reforms on many levels.” He laced his fingers together and grinned as both Ei and Onoki glanced at his hands. 

I watched the illusion flicker between which arm was his true arm and which was his false, puppet arm.

Koga won out below with a deceptive fake-out replacement into an illusion clone that allowed him to tackle and disrupt his cousin’s chakra network. She went still when he put the tips of his fingers to her neck.

“Winner! Koga Karatachi!” called the proctor. “Next match, Hima of Iwa against Kaede of Nadeshiko!” 

I had a vague inclination that the village had something unique about it. What was it?

The combined snorts of all three Kage drew my attention as they all looked derisively at the young kunoichi who marched out onto the field. She had a fierce bobcut and a scowl that detracted from her beauty with a dark robe that was tightly bound to her form.

It did nothing to hide the curves of her body.

Hima, in comparison, was stick thin with brown hair and a sneer on his face. 

Interestingly, both of their chakra measured at about the same level to me, and both felt slightly Earth-like.

“Amazed you haven’t razed that little Village to the ground Gengetsu,” growled Ei.

“Hmmm, there are quite a few noblemen who pay me not to. They would rather enjoy the concept of beating one of the kunoichi and earning themselves a ‘battle-wife’.” Gengetsu shook his head. “The entire idea was a Princess’s flight of fantasy that her father allowed her. When her uncle took over ruling the Land of Waves, he allowed it to continue for the sake of relinquishing her inheritance. Silly little girl did just that. Condemned the Land of Waves to irrelevance.”

“Hmph, you should still crush them,” Onoki scoffed.

“They are entertaining, nothing more. They produce barely five kunoichi a year, and none of them are Jonin.”

If you didn’t know Gengetsu well enough, you’d accept that excuse well enough, but I had to restrain a squint at the back of his head. 

Gengetsu wouldn’t have allowed them to remain if they offended him. They had to offer some sort of advantage or benefit for him not to send one of the Seven Swordsmen through to clean them up.

Once again, I found myself standing in the room with other Kage, well out of my depth.

 The Kage continued to banter as I considered this, only for the spikes and movements of the chakra on the field to capture my attention.

“Huh, she’s gonna win,” I murmured.

“What?” Onoki growled, glancing at me only to stiffen as on the field, the Iwa genin, Hima, overcommitted to a lunge with a rock-covered fist. 

Kaede countered and delivered a punishing blow that sent Hima sailing into the far wall, where he collapsed.

The stadium went silent as Kaede raised her fist in triumph.

Gengetsu didn’t waste his chance to rub Onoki’s nose into his village’s failure. He stood, a huge smile on his face as he clapped loudly. “Marvellous! Stupendous!” he called down.

Behind him, Onoki seethed, his glare locked on Gengetsu’s back as the crowd joined in congratulating the small village kunoichi on her victory.

When he finally sat down, Gengetsu signalled for me to approach, and I did so, leaning in so he could whisper to me. 

“Change out with Fuguki, I hear he had some fun stories from his time in Hot Springs that I want to share. You go see to your Genin,” he ordered out loud as a sliver of his chakra connected with mine and ordered me to see that Koga won against Kaede, but that Kaede didn’t die after or during the exams.

Again, Gengetsu’s ‘kindness’ baffled me and left me thinking I didn’t have the full picture. Rather than say anything and delay, I merely bowed my head and departed to give Koga his orders.

When it was Koga’s turn to fight again, he forced Kaede into a battle of attrition, making her commit to big, powerful blows while he sat back and used simple jutsu to evade, reposition and strike with kunai and wires.

In the end, they were both worn down, but Koga emerged victorious with Kaede’s ankles tied up and his blade at her throat.

She gave Koga a long, furious glare and murmured something at him. He blinked and shook his head only for her to scowl harder and thump her chest in defiance, then she lunged at him to headbu— Oh… they were kissing? Koga stumbled back as the crowd whooped and hollered. 

Rather than continue, Kaede bowed her head and signalled her defeat to the proctor before unravelling the wire and marching off.

I stared after her as Koga approached. “What was that about?” he murmured, stunned as Hanahime and Katara both giggled at him.

“I have a vague idea,” I murmured, as some memories stirred from my first life. I shook my head in bemusement as I clapped Koga on the shoulder. “You’re in for an interesting life, it would seem.” 

As night settled over Kumo, I lingered outside the hotel the Nadeshiko team had roomed up in. Sure enough, as the night darkened and the people within mostly fell asleep a team from Iwa slunk towards the hotel.

They were rather good with how they evaded the Kumo patrols on the street and via rooftop, but I saw them coming, and before they could get too close, I flicked a handful of shuriken into them as they committed to jumps.

A trio flickered into replacements while two more took the shuriken to the chest and merely grunted as they landed and whirled about facing where I’d thrown from.

Having replaced myself with a sliver of chakra, I tossed another spray into their backs before flicking an explosive tag into the air.

The bang caused kumo patrols to close like a net upon the Iwa team, while I slipped away, having already replaced myself three times to get clear. One jutsu that I’d trained to mastery and then beyond had been the replacement jutsu. With my chakra control, not even a wisp of chakra escaped my control as I escaped the net.

Which wasn’t to say it was easy. It was still a serious amount of work to slip through the ensuing patrols that tightened down upon Kumo’s streets.

Slipping into our accommodation, I wasn’t surprised to find Gengetsu still awake and waiting for me. He nodded. “Excellent work Matsu,” he said, raising his sake saucer in my direction. 

“You’ll need some more work yet, but I think the Nadeshiko kunoichi will appreciate the gesture just like Koga will like this mission I have here.” He tossed a scroll at me, and I opened it without any hesitation.

“You want him to escort them back to their village?” I asked. I had a strong idea of what that would involve, and while part of me was amused, I was mostly dumbfounded. “Why are you allowing this small village to operate?”

“Why do you think?” Gengetsu teased, eying me over the top of his drink. My answering scowl only made him smile wider.

“There could be a multitude of reasons. Personal relations, they’re a vassal village to us, they provide some intel or resource, or someone pays us not to crush them.”

“Oh, you do have an active imagination,” Getsu chuckled. “Some of those are true certainly but I find the idea of a group of women that support each other just sooo uplifting, don’t you?” he said.

I gave him a deadpan look. “I don’t believe that for a moment.”

“You’re right, I couldn’t give two shits about them, but they have their uses. They’re an early warning system as they hold a small island relatively well that doesn’t have much beyond food. The nobles of Noodles, Tea, Fire, Water, and Hotspring all love them for their silly little ways. Some of their noble daughters occasionally run off there instead of the true ninja villages. The women either grind them into the dirt and send them back to daddy dearest or take them on, if they’re from an influential enough family.”

Gengetsu made a circling gesture. “Now the Leader of Nadeshiko understands that she and her fellow kunoichi survive with the Greater Villages' sufferance. Kaede’s victory today, while amusing, will have ramifications for her village.”

“They’ll need to relocate or swear closer ties to us?” I suggested. The reasons were all right, but some instinct I’d cultivated over the course of the many interactions I had with Gengetsu let me know there was somehting else. Something I couldn’t push for. Or perhaps I was chasing somehting that didn’t exist.

Gengetsu nodded. “They will also pay greater protection fees.”

Nodding to myself, I considered the situation as clinically as I could with no emotion. “What do they do with the boys born to their kunoichi?”

That got a smirk from Gengetsu. “They enter orphanages in Kiri and then the Academy when it is time.”

“Any other deals we’ve made with smaller Villages like that?” I asked.

Gengetsu smirked. “Some, you’re going to have to be read in on some if you want to truly sit on the council in the coming months Matsu.”

“Then I’ll need a greater ANBU presence as well as intel being filtered towards me. I can’t compromise on the medical facility. We’re about to reach key points of development, and I can’t help Kiri by coming in blind to what’s going on.”

When Gengetsu didn’t reply, I tilted my head. “Or did you want me accidentally blundering around? I might end up supporting the Terumi in their efforts to unseat you.”

“You made your point. I will give you some intelligence briefs to read up on, as well as a regular update on significant events.” He observed me for a moment. “When your first training group ‘graduates’, I will be inspecting the facilities and their skills. Don’t disappoint me Matsu.”

“Oh, I’m certain that won’t be an issue. Make sure you have my student’s Chunin jackets ready.”

He chuckled. “Ah, I can’t wait for you to slip up so I can kill you Matsu,” he muttered. 

“Please, I think with Mu dead I doubt you have as much fire to stoke your hatred. Talking with me keeps you sharp,” I replied. 

Gengetsu snorted and leveled his hand at me. “Let’s see how well you do in some situations I’ve handled in the past.” 

His chakra swept over me and once more I found myself in an illusory world. This time it was darkened room with various faces I vaguely recognised crowded around a map.

Their faces turned to me. “What should we do about—” 

Huh, a leadership test? Interesting. 

While the illusion played out, it had lost its potency to truly grip me. I was all too aware of Gengetsu’s true position. With a ‘totem’, to steal a concept from a famous movie about being held in an illusion, I knew all too well that I was in an illusion and where the waking world was.

It was by my sufferance that the illusion held, and only when Gengetsu moved close to me did I break it and give him a flat look.

“Hmmm, can you blame me?” he said, raising his hands innocently as he retreated back to his chair. 

“I can,” I replied. “If you’re not going to be serious about this, I will bid you goodnight.”

Gengetsu clicked his tongue but didn’t order me to remain as he might have. I wasn’t going to beg for the lessons he was offering, as there was too much risk of him trying something. 

So instead I left him behind, moving to give Koga his mission along with the heads up that he didn’t need to win against the Kumo nin tomorrow.

Sure enough, by the time the exams finished, Kumo got what it wanted with its victor emerging triumphant over Hanahime, who put up a solid fight. 

Gengetsu got what he wanted with a Terumi not claiming the victory, several more lightning jutsu, an earth jutsu, and a wind jutsu for Kiri’s records. He also taunted Onoki before he left over the five heads that adorned Kumo’s gates.

My students all received their Chunin jackets while Kaede and her fellow kunoichi were escorted home with Koga returning to us a few days later.

And I once more received jutsu, insight into the world, and an idea of where I was lacking and just how far I had to go to truly sit with the big names of the shinobi world.

Koga and my other newly promoted chunin weren’t the only ones returning to the training facility with some pep in their steps.

I returned and accepted a massive helping of food from my kitchen staff, all of them looking at me with near-perfect vision and large smiles.

It felt good to come back and have a visual reminder of my progress. My plans were paying off. Pieces were moving, and soon, some very big goals would be achieved.

When I slipped away from my students, I marched into the training field and performed an iconic handseal.

Around the field, forty-five clones emerged and looked at me with matching smirks.

I just nodded and got back to work. I had six months before the first batch of trainees was finished, and a lot of work to do before then.

_____________________

A.N. I honestly was leaning away from the Nadeshiko part of this chapter, with them being a bit of a joke village in the anime. But then I thought, well a joke’s not bad, especially when used on someone else, with ramifications of certain aspects of alliances, vassalage, and managing relations does happen as a Kage.

Matsu is getting a bit of insight into that now and knows he needs to be ‘in the room’ and read into situations more to have a proper shot at ‘stepping up’. 

As always, Gengetsu is just far too much fun to write. I need to create villains like him in any Original stories I make, cause he brings such colour to the story with his inclusion.