Red Riot - Chapter 24 - Red return

Character list:

Matsu - The MC, a Kiri Chunin, with Uzumaki traits.

Himeko - Kaguya clanswoman with her Kekkei Genkai, Genin, and violence enthusiast.

Sharkbait - Kenta Nogawa, Genin that trained with Matsu, skilled combatant, expert bait for sharks. - A.N. This is his OG name that I used first and I do need to correct previous chapters to this...

Hideo Munashi - Former wielder of Shibuki and one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He’s dead now!

Koremei Tendo - The current wielder of Shibuki. Weapons mistress with grounding in many styles. Preferred fighting style: Kenjutsu, Shurikenjutsu, and Taijutsu. She's a unit! Big girl!

Jonin Akiko - Matsu’s Sensei and exasperated mentor of other children, Matsu returned her beauty to her. She is getting over her PTSD.

Nezda Terumi - Chamberlain of Kirigakure. Father to Hanahime Terumi.

Fuguki Suikazan - Wielder of Samehada.

Yumi - Geisha of the Land of Vegetables, Matsu has plans for her.

Hiroshi Uzumaki - Old shinobi of Uzushio, father to Mara, Grandfather to Momotaro. Blacksmith. Hideo’s target. 

Kitoma Kaguya - Former classmate from Matsu's graduating class. Always down to fight!

___________________

We didn’t depart straight away after Koremei killed her former fellow apprentices. 

We returned to the boat with Koremei in tow only for the sailors to groan in annoyance. 

As we hesitated to start, the sailors started handing over money to one crewmate who was laughing and pumping his fist in the air. “Haha! The long odds come good for once!” he bellowed. 

The other sailors made rude gestures and shouted insults. “You just go for the long odds cause you're short where it matters!” snarked one man. 

“Your wife would know best!” shouted back the man with all the cash. The first man’s eyes narrowed and I wondered for a moment if there wasn’t going to be another fight breaking out before we even departed.

The captain chose that moment to start shouting orders. “Alright, the lot of you need to get to work unloading so we can make a quick turnaround! Get the harbourmaster and find me a dealer for our goods!” he shouted, pushing two men over the side to see to the job. They flipped over themselves and landed on the water before hopping up to the wharf where we were. 

They nodded at us kids but made sure to bow their heads to Akiko and Koremei. 

The captain then turned to us. “It’ll be at least two days at best guess to get all these goods sold off and the stuff we’re waiting for to turn up,” he said, his hand sliding past a pouch at his side that happened to jostle in such a way that I could see that it contained a lot of scrolls. Huh, they were using scrolls to transport goods. 

Interesting. You couldn’t store anything too big in such scrolls typically, so whatever they were waiting for had to be at least… Hmm, what had Hiroshi told me during one lesson where I’d pestered him about it? 

No bigger than a large adult man in size and weight?

Akiko looked over the ship and pursed her lips. “I’ll extend our current lodgings for another two days if it's all the same to you, Captain. There’s going to be plenty of time to stay on the ship,” she said before signalling our group to follow her back out. 

Koremei glanced from us to the ship before waving a hand off to the side. “I’m going to do some training, see you in two days!” she said before running off. 

I held up a hand. Ah, I really should have advised her to stick around with us. She’d probably be a lot weaker than normal due to the blood loss and whatnot. 

I tracked her as best I could but she got well out of range quickly, causing me to sigh and shake my head. Well, she was a grown woman, she’d just have to look after herself. If she didn’t turn up in two days we’d probably have to track her down.

Akiko led us back to our inn and waved a hand at all of us. “Right, I’m going to go have a drink, you’re all free to do whatever,” she said as she put words into action.

Sharkbait rubbed his chin before pulling out his sack of money. Thanks to the mission with Yumi we had a good wad split between all of us.

“I think I’m going to go check out the markets,” he said. 

Himeko silently followed him, drawing an odd look. “Ah, do you want to come too?” he asked her. 

She merely glowered. “I’m just going in the same direction as you! Don’t think too much of it!” she snapped. 

I decided to join them. What I was looking for didn’t take very long. 

As soon as I had one merchant’s entire stock of rubber balls, I returned to the rooms and set to work on mastering the second stage of Rasengan training. I had finesse practised well enough that I could use the swirling, clashing energies in different ways than intended. Now it was time to train the power aspect. 

I wasn’t going to settle for a mere pop that Naruto started with, but a proper explosion, like Jiraiya had demonstrated.

Soft bangs began to ring out but sadly it was only from one point of the ball and not outright destruction like I wanted. I got through ten before my arm began to ache from strained coils. I flexed my hand, feeling the pain shooting through it. 

This too was something I’d been expecting. Naruto had said something when he trained the Rasengan about using the pain to gauge how strong his Rasengan was, but I suspected that was wrong. Initially, his coils didn’t have the control, or the robust nature needed to perform the jutsu. This was merely a growing pain. 

If I recalled correctly, he described it as pushing through the pain to the point that he couldn’t tolerate it anymore, which sounded great in a Shounen story, but in practise… 

I let the pain fade before pushing on, literally grinding at the skill to get it to the final stage by the end of this trip.

I was still at it when Sharkbait and Himeko returned. They watched me for a while before sharing a look and shrugging. “Play some Bullshit?” Sharkbait said to Himeko, earning a nod from her. “Matsu, you want a break?” he asked. 

“I’ll play but I’m going to keep working on this at the same time,” I said, doubling down on the training with distractions. 

Akiko returned later from the bar only to find me struggling to hold a set of cards with either hand. Having practically burned through my right I worked on my left hand. 

A soft bang announced another failure, causing me to grimace and flex my hand. Akiko observed our game and my training for a moment, taking a drink from some small sake bottle she had with a thoughtful look on her face. She eventually just nodded. “Keep it up, Matsu,” she said.

I glanced up only for her to have already vanished to her room. 

“What are you trying to do with that?” asked Sharkbait, gesturing to the rubber balls I had stacked up in a bowl next to me. 

“Working on a special close-range attack jutsu that doubles as a control exercise and coil grower,” I said. 

Sharkbait considered me for a long moment. “That looks like it hurts,” he said as I powered up another ball of tightly controlled chakra only for it to burst. 

“It does,” I grunted, flexing my hand. “But no pain no gain.”

Sharkbait nodded along slowly. “Think I’ll focus on other things if it is all the same,” he said. 

I shrugged, not at all bothered. I had to admit that at the moment it really didn’t look all that impressive. It wouldn’t become useful as an offensive jutsu until I finalised the third step, but impressive wouldn’t come unless there was an elemental twist to this as well. 

I continued to work through it for the next two days, dedicating all of my focus to the grind.

I felt vindication sweep through me when I finally reached the level of exploding the ball properly with a loud bang. Fragments of the ball flew in every direction instead of merely being a whimpering pop. 

I rubbed at my forearm which had gone beyond feeling like it was on fire to being bathed in a constant inferno. As I’d surmised, my actual coils weren’t injured, just strained, which should result in them growing stronger as I gradually forced them to handle more and more chakra. 

After that, I hadn’t even had a chance to seek out another form of training before the ship was ready to depart. Akiko collected us all and led us to the ship. 

The captain looked around briefly and I felt a momentary twinge of concern for Koremei only for the man to send up a flag to the top sail as a signal. 

Koremei’s chakra signature soon appeared on my senses and she made a beeline for the ship. 

She landed on the deck with a loud thump before rising to her full height, a grin on her lips as she rolled her limbs. “All ready to depart, Captain?” she asked. 

The man grunted and nodded to where his crew were casting off. 

Koremei joined us at the railing and watched as Potato Port slowly grew smaller and smaller. 

The newest Seven Swordsman sighed. “Man, I kinda wish I had more time to practise,” she said, her hand reaching up to finger the hilt of her new sword. 

Akiko smirked which instantly had alarm bells ringing in my head. 

___________________

“How did we end up in this situation again?” bemoaned Sharkbait as he spun over a wave to avoid an explosion being unleashed from the Shibuki blade. 

“Universe-driven irony?” I replied with a shout as I sprinted through a wave created by the explosion. 

Koremei appeared at the end of the wave I’d been running through to disguise my position. 

She must have cut her way through the wave to intercept me. 

She raised Shibuki and began to sweep it at me.

I cut the chakra to my feet to dip under her only to see the sheath of her blade drilled into the water like she was skewering it into a mighty beast. When nothing happened I surfaced and shot her a confused look only for her to shake her head at me. 

I frowned. “That would have killed me?” I asked in surprise. 

Koremei nodded, rising up to her full height, and Shibuki came up to rest on her shoulder. “Lots of people underestimate this blade due to it being thought of as a one-trick pony, but if you care to study the blade and past users there is a lot that it can do.”

I looked over to a bedraggled and soggy Sharkbait while further out Himeko walked with a limp towards us on a broken leg. “The waves you create… they aren’t just random, are they?” I asked. 

Koremei grinned at me, her head bobbing up and down like she was a bobblehead on the waves. “That’s right! Shibuki works best with a detachment of shinobi trained in how the wielder operates. If a fight takes place on water we get almost complete control of the battlefield with waves, trenches and even destructive forces being shot out that cause waves and changes to the battlefield.”

I nodded slowly, understanding what that might look like. If you could control the waves and tides on a watery battlefield, you could cause position shifts in an instant with both defence and offence being impacted.

Sharkbait glanced at me. “And if they get clever and try to go underneath the waves you create?” he asked, referencing what I’d tried to do. 

“Depth charge,” I said, beating Koremei to the point. She shot me an impressed look.

“Right again! Wow, Akiko really has done a good job training you if you know about that!” she laughed. 

“Akiko Sensei… is certainly a one of a kind teacher,” I said with a smile. 

Koremei merely nodded along and I had to wonder how someone like her had survived Kiri so long. But then I remembered how she’d been throwing both the Shibuki blade and her original sword around. 

Unlike Hideo, Koremei was dual-wielding and—on a whim—she could shift her style. She was, in a word, skilled. Extremely so with her blades.

Hideo felt like a joke in comparison. 

When she’d kept her normal blade instead of sealing it away, Himeko had questioned her and her pride.

She’d replied, “I am a swordswoman, the blade I wield should not define me.” 

Himeko had since declared her a badass bitch, which was so far the highest form of flattery the Kaguya kunoichi gave out. At least that I’d heard and wanted to remember so far. 

I scrunched my stupid pretty face up and considered what she’d said. “So, how do people get attached to you to train that sort of thing?” 

Koremei grinned, pleased that I was interested, only to pause. “Ah, sorry kids, it’s time for my actual workout now! I’d get back to the ship!” she said as she drew both blades.

We hurled ourselves out of the way and it was only then that I saw the glint of a kunai arcing through the air. I made sure to snatch up Himeko in a princess carry that had her growling in my face as I dove. 

Behind me, Koremei batted away a brace of kunai only to leap away herself. A momentary glinting of the sun revealed that there were wires attached to each kunai.

A useful, if complicated technique, but one that if worked would buy a second which, in a fight between Jonin and Tokubetsu Jonin, usually meant death. 

Shibuki came out and Koremei swung, this time not bothering to pull her swings or restrict her attacks. 

Like with Hideo, the explosions shot out and erupted, causing huge sprays of water that quickly arced around as Koremei tracked where Akiko was coming from. 

Instead of closing to a “safer” area where they’d engage in taijutsu or close-range ninjutsu, Akiko stayed on the move, sprinting in a zigzag pattern while launching her own attacks. Her speed was so great that she was causing a plume of water to rocket up into the air with each step she took. 

I honed my chakra senses as sharp as they could go right as we reached the ship. 

We hopped up onto the railing, landing next to a cluster of the sailors who were all watching the fight with interest. 

With Himeko secure and us reaching the “safe point” of the ship, I flooded my chakra nodes along with the three gateways to increase my clarity of perception. 

What I gained was a riot of chakra being thrown around showing that there was a lot more going on than just two kunoichi throwing ninjutsu and explosions at each other. 

From what I could see, Akiko was launching genjutsu at the sword wielder, with her chakra network flashing through various paths before a weaving of chakra was ejected from her into Koremei.

The larger woman typically reacted with a spike of her chakra but I could see that Akiko was working towards something more subtle. There were remnants of her chakra remaining in certain nodes about Koremei’s body and as the fight continued a proper network formed. 

Koremei’s network flashed as the genjutsu activated properly and the next shot she threw missed Akiko by a country mile. 

Akiko turned instantly and stood, her hands flashing through seals at a lightning-quick speed before she formed an actual spear of lightning that she hurled at Koremei. 

Koremei swung her blade again, once more missing Akiko entirely. Koremei’s face flashed victoriously, only to scowl as her chakra spasmed, causing the network of genjutsu to break. 

Koremei spotted the incoming lightning javelin and dropped Shibuki to the side before taking up her other blade in both hands and swinging it. 

A wave of wind chakra shot out and disrupted the lightning attack. It exploded a scant few metres in front of her.

“She’s doing goo—” One of the sailors started to say only for me to cut them off. 

“She’s done,” I said as Akiko appeared next to Koremei, kunai posed to stab into her liver. 

The others stiffened with surprise and Sharkbait whistled. “Damn! Sensei distracted her with the genjutsu and then made her focus on the wrong thing,” he praised. 

I nodded. “I think Koremei still hasn’t gotten used to wielding another blade as well,” I pointed out. 

“Huh?” Sharkbait said but Himeko nodded along.

“She defaulted to her normal sword instead of relying on Shibuki to destroy the lightning javelin. If she’d kept her actual sword in hand she would have also kept Akiko at range as even though she’s a Jonin there was no way Akiko was getting in close while she wielded the blade,” she responded. 

Sharkbait shot the white-haired girl a blank look. “That’s the most I’ve heard you say… like, ever,” he mumbled. 

Himeko shot him a scowl. “Fuck you! I talk when I want to!” 

“That’s more like it,” he said with a nod, earning another scowl from Himeko—who started measuring the distance between them. I could tell she couldn’t reach him with a punch. Plus, with her legs still broken and healing, she was hesitating to use them. 

In the end, she settled for growing a handful of knucklebones and throwing them at Sharkbait. “Bah!” 

I chuckled and moved to help her by straightening out her legs. “Gonna have to break these first to reset them,” I said. 

“Do it,” she replied, her eyes tracking where Akiko and Koremei were settling into another bout, only this time they started from close range. 

Instead of breaking away, Akiko used her fists, legs, and body to bat Koremei away and keep her from getting off an attack with Shibuki. 

The two whirled around each other, their actions frantic and fast, only for it to come to a sudden decisive finale.

This time the match ended in Koremei’s favour as her old blade came to rest against Akiko’s neck. 

Our team stiffened. 

It was strange to see a woman that had been kicking our backsides lose. Worse still, all our previous experiences with higher-ranked Kiri shinobi meant that Akiko might be in serious danger. 

Yet, instead of following through, Koremei nodded and stepped back. 

We all relaxed, sighing in relief. 

“Heh, you brats have some good instincts there, but you don’t have to worry about shit from Koremei. She’s from a small clan known for their weapons users,” said one of the sailors who, now that the fighting was over, was moving off to fix up some lines of rope. 

“Who’s her clan aligned with?” I asked. 

The man chuckled and tapped his nose. “They’re supposed to follow the Terumi but they weren’t seen as very important. That’s gonna change with Koremei being one of the Seven, I’d say,” he said with a chuckle. 

“Guess it shows that you can’t underestimate some people,” he added, giving our group a look over before nodding again. 

“Matsu!” shouted Akiko, having gotten much closer to the ship. “Grab that stick you use and come out here to get your weapon lesson!” 

I merely grunted, grabbing a sealing scroll and pulling out a large stack of bo staves that I’d stored away. I hadn’t expected to get much use out of them but with sealing scrolls on hand, you could over-prepare and not be punished too much for it. 

I grabbed up three of them and tossed the spares to Sharkbait. “Hold these for me, I think I’m going to go through a few of them.”

I made to leap over the railing only for Sharkbait to cough. “Could I try learning to wield a staff?” he asked. 

I stopped and unsealed the stack of staves again. I considered Sharkbait and then Koremei before pulling out another five. “Hey!” he complained. 

I waved him off. “I’m just playing it safe,” I said, handing the spares to Himeko who grunted but didn’t throw them into the ocean, which was a win in my book. 

Sharkbait and I landed on the ocean, our chakra adjusting to allow us to roll with the swell of water as we made our way over to the two older women. 

As we got closer, Koremei adjusted her hold on her swords and retied her headband so it kept her dark hair out of her face. Unlike Akiko, her hair was more of a short bob that only came down to her jawline. 

I hadn’t noticed as much when I’d first met her, on account of how she was bleeding out, but she was rather pretty. It was just that her beauty was overshadowed by how damn big she was. 

She finished tying off the headband and lowered her thickly muscled arms to her sides.

“So, Jonin Akiko tells me that you’re trying to learn some bojutsu to keep your skills up. Not going to try learning some proper kenjutsu?”

I waved her off. “I don’t have it in me, and staves are… well easier to master I suppose?” 

“Heh, that’s true. They can be annoying in the right hands. Supposedly the Third Hokage has a staff that can extend to any distance—if you believe the rot they print in the bingo books!” she said. 

I nodded wholly, knowing that was actually true, but my real interest was piqued with what she said. “There’s a Bingo page on him?” Would I be able to pick up information on people I should know from my past life?

Did Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade Senju, and Sakumo Hatake have bingo pages? What would they say?

“Hmmm? Oh yeah I can get you mine, it’s in the pack back on the ship,” Koremei replied. 

Akiko coughed. “Do not try your hand at bounty hunting, brat,” she said, warning me off from a line of work that could be quite rewarding, if also insanely risky. 

I shook my head. “I just want to know who I should be looking out for.” I then considered Koremei. “Do you have other nations’ Bingo books as well?” I asked, thinking about how they might rate our big threats.

“Only the Konoha one. Supposedly you’re in the Iwa book, Akiko.”

“Huh,” said Akiko with a mild nod. Then she waved her hand to us. “Deal with these two. Matsu is decent with his stick… though the other one can have lessons beaten into him.” 

“Why you gotta hate on me like that, Sensei?” muttered Sharkbait. 

Akiko flicked a spray of water at him. “Harden up, kid. You’ll have worse than words tossed at you when you’re in a fight!” she said before leaping back onto the ship to relax. 

Sharbait and I gave expectant looks to Koremei who grinned. “Alright! First of all, your stances are shit and the way you’re holding those twigs is atrocious!” she said without a hint of malice. 

She then swiped them out of our hands with a twitch of her sheathed blade. 

The staves hit the water and began to sink, forcing us to dive after them. 

We resurfaced to an amused Koremei. She then demonstrated precisely how to hold our “sticks” in the best fashion, unlike what we’d been doing. 

From there it was walking circles and patterns of movement while shifting the staves into various positions that either had us holding them in one hand or two. 

“Unless you find an actual bojutsu master to train you, my recommendation is to never try and block or parry with your sticks,” she said cheerfully. “Any swordsman worth their salt will carve straight through them and into you,” she added, making a slicing gesture through our torsos. 

“Use the sticks to deflect kunai and change the angle of an attack. But otherwise, never block!” she warned. 

I nodded along and considered how my Iron body jutsu would handle a proper sword cutting into it. Would it be strong enough? Was there a way to guarantee that it would truly block a cut and not be carved through? 

Hmmm, I’d need to consider how I formed it again. Perhaps there was a way to tighten it up some more?

“Head in the moment, kid!” Koremei barked, making to swat my head only for me to sway out of the hit. 

“Hmmm good instincts, though not much else,” she said approvingly. She then glanced to where the ship was just visible on the horizon. “Time to play catch up, let’s move,” she said, taking off while leaving Sharkbait and I to sprint after her. When she’d vanished from sight but not my chakra senses I glanced at Sharkbait.

He misunderstood what the look meant, shaking his head with a sigh. “You realise we have another week of this, right?”

I nodded. “Just think of it as another step on the path to strength,” I said casually. I then nudged into him. “Also, you need to work on your poker face,” I said. 

“Eh?” he uttered, uncertain what I was talking about. 

I suddenly adopted a horrific smile I rarely used except when playing a freak during mealtime at home. “You did it, didn’t you? Killed Hideo? Think they won’t know?” 

Sharkbait spluttered and I dropped the expression from my face as easily as one washed their face in the morning. “That,” I said, pointing at him.  

“Urgh, alright alright! How do I deal with it?” he asked. 

“Hmmmm we’re going to have to play some games of bullshit with Himeko and Akiko I think,” I replied. 

“The card game?” said Sharkbait. 

I nodded. “If you can get away with lying to them, you have a chance of pulling off a great lie.”

“That won’t work,” he pointed out. 

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s why I’m going to apply a genjutsu to make you feel pressured and scared. Then you’re going to try it,” I said. 

Sharkbait’s mouth flopped open. “While I’m already terrified? Man, first Akiko, and now you?”

I merely grinned. “It’ll help me work on my genjutsu skills?” I added. “Please, so you don’t end up blabbing something you shouldn’t and get us all killed?” I said with a fake-looking yet pleasant smile.

“Urgh! Don’t look at me like that! It looks weird!” he said, speeding up. 

I matched him, a pleasant smile still in place. “Like what? This is just my normal smile,” I chuckled placidly, toying with him. 

“Like hell it is!” Sharkbait took a swing at me with his staff and I blocked it with mine. 

We spent the rest of the run trading blows like that, making it a longer run, but also a lot more enjoyable. 

That night I introduced the game of bullshit to Akiko. Himeko, having trained and spent time with our group during our academy days, was aware of the rules. Koremei and a few sailors also ended up joining in, which made for a much better training exercise for Sharkbait. 

I counted it a win that by the time we reached Kirigakure, he barely flinched when he came under direct scrutiny for his lies and his truths. 

The true test would, of course, be the review board. 

Koremei grinned as she walked down the gangplank, making sure to take her time leading us to the Mizukage’s office. I activated the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura to give myself better awareness. Instantly, almost thirty chakra signatures that I wouldn’t have been able to detect previously appeared.

Huh, nice, I could track actual ANBU agents now. 

On the way, shinobi that were walking through the streets glanced at us only to do a double take when they spotted Shibuki on Koremei’s back. 

The tall woman’s grin grew the closer we got to the office.

More and more people began to appear briefly and several had wide eyes. One man stared at Koremei only to break down crying. 

I shot Koremei a look and she had the good grace to grimace for a moment. “That was Nami’s partner… Well, ex now I guess.”   

“The one that called you Meimei?” said Himeko. 

“Urgh, she always tried to be cutesy to get under my skin, her and Masashi with their stupid nicknames,” grunted the taller woman. “Assholes.”

“Dead assholes,” Himeko commented aloud. 

The man who’d been sobbing broke out into louder sobs and I shot Himeko a look. “Bit soon, don’t you think?” I said, alluding that she perhaps shouldn’t disparage the dead. 

“What’s that got to do with anything? They’re dead, we have their corpses sealed up, even!” 

A sad keening proceeded the man running off and I sighed. “I think Yumi was a bad influence on you.” 

Himeko bared her fangs at me, as if smiling. 

Our entrance into the building caused a stir. Which for shinobi meant everyone went still to assess the threats before dismissing us and returning to their tasks. All but a few took particular interest in us or Koremei. 

I could feel a few people that were hidden in the walls and ceiling space also observing us but made no sign to indicate that I’d noticed them. 

Akiko stepped forward, leading us to a side desk. “Jonin Akiko, reporting mission success, but there was a side complication on an adjacent mission. One Hideo Munashi was slain.”

“The Shibuki blade?” asked the clerk without even looking up. 

“Reclaimed without a need for payment, details are in my report,” she said, setting down two scrolls.

I blinked. I hadn’t even seen her write those. She must have done so during one of our training bouts with Koremei. I considered them, wondering how much she’d stated, only to blink as the clerk opened them to find a scroll with minimal information. 

Even upside down, I could read that it detailed the mission was complete, the client was satisfied, and that there had been no complications during the course of the mission. With only one which arose outside of the mission. 

The second listed off the complication and what it had entailed, which was a few lines longer but, again, was kept to minimal details. 

At the bottom, it merely said that the blade was reclaimed.

“This seems in order for our records, the review board will wish to discuss Hideo’s death with you,” said the man with the air of one who considered death and fighting to be minor details in his forms. Boxes that he ticked or left blank. 

He waved us to the side. “The board has no doubt been notified that you made landfall and you will be called when they have assembled. Wait over there,” he said disinterestedly. 

I shared a look with Sharkbait and Himeko. This... was not what we’d been expecting, but… it sort of made sense that a shinobi office would make missions or deaths into mundane events. 

There was too much separation of relevance to them after all, and it was probably rather rote for any experienced desk shinobi. 

“I was expecting to be dragged in really quick,” commented Sharkbait. 

“We’re not that important,” said Akiko. She then pulled out a brown Bingo book. “Here, I remember you asking about these earlier.”

I caught the book—an Iwa Bingo book—and began flipping through the pages. Both Himeko and Sharkbait leaned in to follow along. 

“Huh, you are in here, Sensei,” I said, showing a picture of her, albeit still with her facial scars. She was listed as only a C-rank threat and as a chunin. Huh, these really were not to be trusted for accurate information.  

Akiko snorted. “It’ll take them a while to get my updated picture,” she said. 

I blinked. “How do they even get these pictures?” I asked, flipping through to find Hideo’s page which listed him as a B-rank threat.

Sharkbait’s lips twitched into a tiny smirk and I jabbed his side surreptitiously, masking the action with a turn of the page. 

I continued to flip through the pages and found Jiraiya of the Sannin with a picture of him facing to the front and to the side. “Seriously. How do they get these pictures?” I asked.

“There’s a bit of a market for selling information like this, but there is also an interest in making sure people know that you’re a big fish who should be left alone,” said Koremei, leaning in to spot what I’d been reading. “Huh, he and the other pair in their little trio are getting pretty famous. He’s the weakest though, so don’t be too surprised if it comes down to a duo.”

I glanced over Jiraiya’s sheet and noted that it only had him listed as a generalist ninjutsu user. It had nothing about his toad summons, his understanding of fuinjutsu, or taijutsu skills. It did list him off as a student of the current third Hokage however, and there was a slightly higher bounty for anyone that could capture him alive.

“What’s up with him having the two bounties?” asked Sharkbait.

Koremei grinned. “Some people have political connections that can be exploited. If Iwa got their hands on him they’d be able to force Konoha to do certain things for them. The same is true for a few of the big clans that Konoha has.” 

I flipped to Tsunade’s page and her blonde, much younger visage stared back at me neutrally. She was listed as less of a threat than her teammates, but also a priority target in any extended battle. She had a few notable feats which included creating antidotes against Suna Puppeteer poisons and healing a squad of people that fell under the influence of Hanzo’s poison mist attack.

Orochimaru was noted as a powerful ninjutsu specialist while also having strong skills in tai and genjutsu. He had the second highest bounty of the Sannin but Tsunade having the highest was linked to her status as a Senju.

I flipped through until I found another interesting page, this one listing one Hirashi Hyuga, the current Clan head of the Hyuga clan. Huh. 

Another flip revealed Hiashi with the next page featuring Hizashi, notable due to his forehead protector while Hiashi and Hirashi both had their foreheads bare to the world. 

Another page revealed a nearly blank page with a single line of text. 

“Any live Hyuga of the main household is worth an A-rank mission?” said Himeko with surprise. 

“Main house Hyuga don’t seal themselves up, but they trigger retaliatory strikes,” Akiko replied, glancing at me. “As you no doubt recall?” she asked.

This drew a trio of curious stares from my other companions who hadn’t been part of the deployment to the Land of Wind. 

I pursed my lips. “Is it wise to talk about that?” I asked. 

Akiko nodded. “It is known to those who matter, trust me. The fact that the mission failed in the end is not a reflection of you but rather the shinobi who ‘took over.’”

“I don’t remember getting a payout?” I asked. 

Akiko pursed her lips. “Fucking Wano,” she said. “I… might not be able to do anything about that, except stir up a bit of trouble for him stealing your payout.”

I grunted, returning my attention to the Bingo book, noting that the current Clan head for the Uchiha was Kotatsu Uchiha with Kagami being another notable name that triggered a memory from my past life. 

This was the father of Shisui. He was also recognised as a high-level threat, more so than the Clan head as an A rank. This was mostly attributed to the Second Hokage being his teacher. 

I turned another page only to blink when a very young face was revealed. 

“Mikoto Uchiha?” I said, staring at a rather… cute-looking girl that would one day birth Itachi and Sasuke. She didn’t look like much.

“She doesn’t look like much,” said Himeko after I lingered on the page a little while. 

“She’s our age,” I said. “How does she already have a B-rank threat assigned to her?” I asked, reading her profile. “She’s been listed as running two A-rank missions alongside other shinobi and has strong skills as an infiltrator, illusionist and shurikenjutsu expert.”

“She’s got a notable feat in that she killed five people with one thrown Fuma Shuriken!” Sharkbait exclaimed. His head tilted to the side. “What’s a Fuma Shuriken?”   

Koremei reached into a pouch and unsealed a giant four-bladed shuriken. Each blade folded in on itself and with a flick of her wrist, it took up a four-pointed position. I noted that each blade was at least as long as Koremei’s forearm. 

“This is a Fuma Shuriken. They’re expensive and kinda tricky to train, but they have some extremely nice tricks you can use if you’re a skilled user, like hiding a second in another’s shadow or even making it arc around. It’s big and flashy and best used as a distraction,” said Koremei dismissively. 

Our group stared at her and Sharkbait voiced our thoughts. “How many weapons do you have on you?” 

“More than enough,” replied Koremei with a grin. She then winked. “I’m from a weapons clan, we like to keep our options open and while we might not master every weapon in our arsenal, we do usually get good at two or three,” she said.

I nodded, noting that down for future reference. 

Akiko leaned over to glance at Mikoto’s file. “About the deadliest thing that girl has going for her is the infiltrator tag to her name. Means she is smart enough to pick up microexpressions and cues while making leaps of logic, which probably suggests she also has a fully active Sharingan. Girls like her are why we have randomised challenge phrases worked into anything with planning.”

She tapped the page. “She’s not that good yet though as her having this tag means she got spotted, but not detained. Which is one thing, but also means she will be better the next time she infiltrates anywhere.” 

“Huh,” I said, giving the page another look. Before I could turn the page however, another shinobi flashed up to us. 

“The board is assembled,” said a masked shinobi.  

I licked my lips and stood with the others, making to hand back the Bingo book but Akiko waved me off. “Nah, you keep it, I can get another,” she said easily. 

“Thanks,” I replied.

A small shift in the clerk’s posture indicated that we shouldn’t keep the board waiting.

Alright then, show time.

We marched into the room and it was immediately obvious that this was a pseudo trial. 

We weren’t offered any chairs while the various members were arranged in a half circle around us. 

Only four of them were actually seated at the table. I could also detect four other chakra signatures in the room with one belonging to what appeared to be a clerk that I gave a brief look over before pointedly ignoring the trio that were hiding in the ceiling directly above us.

If the board didn’t like our answers, I suspected they wouldn’t have to dirty their own hands. 

The occupants of each chair had no plaques or forms of identification. If you got summoned before them you were expected to know who they were, or at the very least understood that you were well and truly outranked.

Thanks to Akiko’s debrief, which included henges for each person of significance, I could recognise that we had Kiri’s Arbiter, the ANBU director, the Chamberlain, and the Jonin Commander sitting before us. 

Akiko was pointedly staring at the final chair, the occupant of whom was very much not one Gendo Hozuki. 

More interestingly, I knew who it was despite having never met them before in person.

The man was rotund, with a mouth that stuck out slightly while his teeth bulged, causing him to always be baring his fangs. In another setting, I might refer to him as bulldoggish in appearance. His orange hair was done up in an elaborate knotwork with four pins holding it in place and he bore markings along his cheeks.

Even sitting, it was obvious this man was a giant with how he filled his chair and loomed over the room at large.

On his back, the Samehada blade peeked out. 

“L—lord Suikazan?” said Koremei with surprise before twitching into a bow. “Congratulations on your victory!” she said quickly. 

Fuguki Suikazan, who in another life was most well known for being the sensei to one Kisame Hoshigaki. Here and now it seemed he’d ascended to the role of Leader of the Seven.

“Ahhhh little Koremei isn’t it?” he said, rubbing his chin. “Well, I must rebuke my agents, especially since they had it as a sure thing that Nami would be the most likely to ascend to the role of Swordsman of the Mist.” 

He took his time to consider her before grunting and waving his hand. “You may stand. You have, through some trick, pulled off quite the upset by not dying,” he said.

Koremei did me a favour by not even twitching in my direction. She merely nodded again. “I was fortunate and was able to slay my former fellow apprentices,” she replied. 

“Hmmmm good, loose ends always need to be tied up,” he said firmly before shifting so that it was obvious he had nothing else to say to her. Koremei stepped back.

Something about what he said triggered a memory. Hadn’t Kisame killed him for… selling information to other nations? 

Hmm, that was worth keeping in mind when dealing with him in the future, especially if I came under his command. 

A cough to the side drew everyone’s attention to the Chamberlain, Nezda Terumi, who was a man with auburn hair that was set in a dishevelled mop that hung limply. On his chin, a sizeable goatee jutted out. He toyed with a trio of copper coins that were the cheapest form of currency we had. He laid them out and tapped each once as though counting them, but a flicker of chakra entering said objects made me wonder if there was something else at play. 

He spoke with a strong baritone that filled the room, “I think we need not delay, I have better things to do. Jonin Akiko, you were on the ship that departed to the Land of Vegetables with Hideo Munashi, therefore you and your team were the last shinobi to make contact with him. Were you aware of his mission?”

“Yes!” Akiko said, not volunteering anything more. In this case, as with any court situation, less was better. 

“So you were aware he was hunting Uzumaki fugitives fleeing the destruction of Uzushio? No need to answer that,” he said, holding up a hand. “It’s obvious from your previous answer. Did you feel there was any conflict between your team and Hideo?”

“Hideo got under their skin from the minute he joined us on the ship. He made demands and tried to push his weight around. When I stood my ground, he used his authority to ‘train’ with my team. He pushed them further than was safe on many occasions and I had to call him out on his behaviour. So there were levels of annoyance but no more,” Akiko said firmly.

“Levels of annoyance? Ha!” Fuguki barked out a laugh. He pointed at Himeko. “You, Kaguya girl! How annoying was he?” he said with a grin.

“Very,” growled Himeko, “He liked to throw explosions around and I had to… dodge more than a few of them.”

“Tagged you, did he?” Fuguki said with a grin. 

“Yes,” grunted Himeko. 

“Can you put a date to the time that he would have died? And to whom did he die?” asked the Arbiter. 

As Akiko had mentioned, the Arbiter’s face was masked in the shadow of their hood. Their voice was also as flat and neutral as they came. There was either a seal at play somewhere or the Arbiter had undergone serious vocal training.

Akiko nodded slowly. “Our mission had us moving around but there was quite a lot of noise made when the blade got uncovered at the site of a battle.” Akiko produced yet another scroll. “This scroll details my observations of the battlefield.”

One of the chakra signatures dropped from the ceiling to collect the scroll. The ANBU agent checked over the scroll before handing it to the Head of ANBU who wore a blank mask. 

“Summarise for the rest of the board,” said the ANBU director. 

Akiko nodded. “I surveyed the battlefield roughly two days after the fight took place by my estimate. There were at least two people fighting against Hideo as shown by the widespread attacks that were used as opposed to something more controlled. The combatants forced him to use several explosions with a wide area of effect.”

“You couldn’t get any more details?” asked Fuguki. “The weight or approximate size of who he fought?” he prompted. 

“I have some training in tracking but the site was contaminated with the local… samurai stomping through it. It is from them that my team and I learned of Hideo’s death,” she said with an almost bored tone. 

“Chunin Matsu, did you feel any conflict of interest, knowing that Hideo was hunting your kin?” Nezda suddenly spoke, flicking one of the coins to spin which drew my eye.

A flicker of chakra shot into me and I realised what he’d done. He’d created a conditional genjutsu earlier. I dispelled it easily and answered the question before the ANBU above me could even prepare to launch themselves at me.

“None, why would there be? Those people aren’t my kin. I’ve never met them nor have I been to Uzushio,” I said without a hint of emotion.

The room stayed silent for a long drawn-out moment. I recognised it as a method to make one volunteer more information but I wasn’t going to fall for such a trick. Perhaps they thought I was under the effects of the genjutsu?

“Hmmm,” Nezda mused, scrutinising me before waving his hand dismissively. 

“Genin Kenta,” said the Arbiter and I felt a chakra weave enter Sharkbait, “What was your mission in the Land of Vegetables?”

“W—we were escorting a g—Geisha?” he said with a stutter. He swallowed when everyone locked eyes on him, before straightening up. “It was successful, with the client achieving great fame!’ he announced. 

“Hmpf, no one cares about some whore,” Fuguki said with a scoff and I held back a bristle. geisha and courtesans were not whores. 

“Did any of you encounter any Uzumaki?” asked the Head of ANBU.

Himeko nodded and for half a second my heart stopped. 

Then she pointed at me. “Lord Gengetsu had him recognised as an Uzumaki. We spent every day with him.”

I held back from smiling at that. It was a perfectly obtuse answer. 

Nezda shook his head and flicked another of the copper coins. Whatever was set into it made Himeko flinch, so it had to be a pain response genjutsu. I narrowed my eyes but knew I couldn’t do anything. 

Himeko glowered at him still but the man ignored her as he glanced at Akiko as a report was handed to him. “You secured the Shibuki blade without paying for it and stated that you… added to its legend? Elaborate,” he said.

“We caused chaos throughout the Capital and then covered our tracks by creating a story of Vegetables Samurai stealing from the armoury. My team also spread rumours that the blade caused the chaos with it inflicting madness into those unworthy to wield it.”

“Hah! Those jumped-up peasants would believe that!” bellowed Fuguki. He glanced at Koremei. “Anything to add?”

“Only that Akiko and her team should be commended and rewarded for their work,” she said.

“Tch,” said Nezda. “Very well, you and your team will be awarded a C-rank mission payout each for reclaiming the blade. It doesn’t sound like you had too much trouble regathering it so don’t cry foul to me,” he said, standing and dusting his hands off. “Meeting done?” he asked, glancing around only for the Arbiter and Head ANBU to already be gone. 

Fuguki stood and gestured for Koremei to follow him. “Let’s test your skills, girl,” he said. 

I watched her go only for Nezda to draw my attention as he stepped in close. “Hanahime told me about you,” he said with a smile before leaving. 

I stared after him. “That… doesn’t sound good?”

Akiko sighed. “Hard to tell with him,” she said before leaning over and flicking Himeko to disrupt her chakra when the girl flinched again. “Got you with his coin trick, eh? Better than him launching them at you, but still annoying.”

I chose not to correct her that I’d broken it almost absentmindedly. We were still pretty close to the office and I could feel Nezda’s chakra nearby.

Sharkbait shook himself as we exited the room and moved towards another clerk. “Urgh, that wasn’t fun.” 

I clapped him on the shoulder. “Not to worry, we got a reward for getting the Shibuki blade back! Let’s collect that and go see who’s in the Village!” I said as the clerk handed over a stack of ryo to each of us. 

Akiko nodded. “I’ll catch up with you all in two days at your little hangout.” She then pointed at me. “Do not cause trouble,” she said before marching off. 

I shook my head. “No faith,” I said. 

Himeko nodded. “Yeah, I give it an hour,” she said. “Later,” the girl added before punching both me and Sharkbait in farewell. 

“Argh! Why?” Sharkbait muttered 

I rolled my shoulders and decided not to comment that violence was her love language. It fit all too well for her. 

Instead, I waved Sharkbait off and ambled towards home.

I noted that I could still feel Nezda and Akiko sensei. Something that I typically wasn’t able to do due to her stealth. So, she wanted me to know she was shadowing me. Or was it that she wanted Nezda to know?

Regardless, the man didn’t wait long before making his move.

It only took walking down one street before he appeared at my side, walking along next to me like we were two old old chums. A genjutsu shroud wrapped around us. I pointedly glanced towards Nezda. “Chamberlain Nezda,” I said in greeting. “Fancy meeting you here.”

He smiled back in a friendly manner. “Indeed, indeed. I thought I’d just share a little talk with you, seeing as you’re such a busy little minnow. You dart here and there and chaos just seems to follow in your wake,” he commented idly. 

“I like to think that I am a person suffering from being cursed with an interesting life,” I replied.

“Witty,” he said. 

For a while, we walked along and I felt Akiko continue to shadow us. It felt rather nice to know she was there, watching and possibly waiting to help me if Nezda did anything I couldn’t handle. Like my very own guardian angel. 

“Hanahime still thinks about you,” Nezda said suddenly, “Asks after you even.” His gaze suddenly bore into mine. 

I felt a small trickle of sweat run down my spine. 

A father talking with the boy who his girl was “thinking and asking” about was never a good thing.

“I must have left an impression,” I said. 

“Yes, you certainly have at that,” he agreed before holding up a hand and signalling for us to stop walking. “If she makes contact, you are to be nothing but cordial and contrite. Don’t think for a moment I won’t have you gutted in the town square. I’ll get away with it if I need to.” His head turned to where Akiko was hiding. “And not even that little Jonin will stop me,” he added. 

He turned back to me. “Do I make myself clear?” he said.

“Crystal clear,” I replied. 

He held my gaze for a moment, then nodded. His hand soon slipped into his robe and withdrew a black book. “There’s been an interesting addition to the Konoha Bingo Book. Keep an eye out, little minnow, people might decide to pluck you should you grow too ambitious,” Nezda said, tossing me the book. 

Without another word, he turned and walked away. 

Akiko dropped in next to me. “What does it say?” she asked. 

I flipped through it, searching for a picture that I hoped I wouldn’t find. I cursed upon finding a page with my face on it staring back. 

Matsu Uzumaki, it read. 

For taking part in the capture of Hanae Hyuga. C-rank reward for a confirmed kill. 

I stared. “How did they know I was part of that?” I said in shock. This made no sense… unless someone had sold me out? 

My mind instantly went to Jonin Wano. 

Akiko frowned. “It looks like they don’t know you were personally involved with her capture.” At my confused look, she tapped at the reward. “This should be way higher. If they knew you’d been part of the specific team that took her down I’d expect a higher reward.” She took the Bingo book from my hands and began leafing through it. 

She paused on various Kiri shinobi pages and pointed out additions. “Takeo was part of the mission in Suna and he survived Konoha’s attack. He’s got it,” she said as she flipped to another shinobi. “Hito, Hanzo, Dende, Ala, Maiko, Yayoi, Mari, myself, and even Wano have all had this added.” She handed the book back and chuckled. 

“This is the Hyuga clan throwing its weight around. This is an attempt to dissuade people from trying again.” 

“Oh!” I said, realising what was going on. This was about preventing further attempts at their clan members. “So everyone that they know was in Suna now has this?” 

I frowned. “I killed all of the Konoha nin that I fought so… ah, wait, that Monkey masked ANBU,” I said with a curse. 

“Him or another Hyuga that sighted you,” she pointed out with a shrug. “Well, this is annoying but not the end of the world.” She lightly tapped her fist into my shoulder. “Congratulations. I think with this you’re one of the youngest to ever make it into the Bingo books.” 

“Oh, great,” I muttered. 

Akiko ruffled my hair, causing long red strands to spill about all over the place. I sighed and combed at my hair with a hand, weaving it into a position that looked nice. 

Akiko nodded. “Nothing changes with your plan, you’ll just need to be more mindful in future, alright? Take this as a lesson, some chickens come home to roost.” 

I nodded and shared a relaxed look. “Cool, well, like I said earlier, don’t do anything stupid for a few days,” she said before turning and walking away.

I huffed, a bubbling feeling of annoyance building within me. I perked up when a chakra signature entered my range. Ah, that could work to help me relax. 

I changed directions and marched straight towards the trio of familiar chakra signatures. Soon, several Kaguya youths led by Kitoma appeared. 

“Ha! You’re back and not hiding from me! Good! Let’s fight,” he said with a savage grin. 

I returned the look. “Perfect.” 

Time to see how I measured up after a few months of training. 

I had a good feeling Kitoma was in for a rude shock when he got to experience my upgraded Iron Body jutsu. 

Violence might not be my love language, but damn was it cathartic. 

___________________

This chapter comes about thanks to subscribers!

They put forth an idea to get an early chapter and I have agreed to it! Expect another chapter at the end of the month still!