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>>4428968
As it turns out you were right after all. With not much time to spare, Nakkun and Fujikaze-san arrive at the docks together. While the latter still doesn’t look too happy to be here, she is here.

“You better make good, girl,” Fujikaze-san mutters as she passes.

Nakkun pats her on the shoulder. “Trust me. Everything’s under control, Fujikaze-han.”

“I thought I told you to knock that off,” Fujikaze-san grumbles.

“Yeah no… it’s the way my mother spoke,” Nakkun glares back at her, hand still on her shoulder. “So it’s the way I speak too.”

“Oh...” Fujikaze-san replies awkwardly. “I… sorry.”

“Just be more considerate,” Nakkun shrugs, finally lifting her hand. “Okay? Everyone here’s been through a lot.”

“Well,” Ajisai muses. “I guess you were right.”

“Toldja,” you smirk.

…

Once aboard ship, the film crew goes to work transforming the deck into a film stage on the high seas… you watch as the makeup team turns Fujikaze Yukie into the Princess Fūn, and they begin shooting a scene where Shishimaru dies.

Wait… they kill off Shishimaru in this film!?

Fujikaze-san… seems totally different. For a few moments while watching her, you almost forget the fact that Princess Fūn isn’t real.

“Shishimaru, stay with me!” she cries out, grabbing her retainer by his red outer robe.

“I’m sorry...” he gasps for air. “I’ve failed you, princess… forgive me, I beg you...”

“How can you say that?” Princess Fūn pleads with him. “Without you at our side, we never could have found the courage we needed to make it this far!”

“I only wish,” Shishimaru replies wearily, “I could’ve seen beyond the rainbow… with you… princess...”

Then he slumps to the deck.

“Shishimaru! No!” she sobs for a few seconds… before abruptly stopping. “Hold on a second, guys!”

Filming comes to an abrupt halt. “Sandayu, bring me my drops so I can cry!”

The moment is totally gone among the filming crew as they reset for the second take.

“Alright, I’ve got them going! Let’s do this!”
>2/3

>>4428970
“I was right,” you muse quietly as the shooting resumes.

“What’s that?” Karin stage-whispers back to you.

“It only looks like she can’t cry on the outside,” you realize. “But on the inside, she’s hurting.”

“How can you tell?” Ajisai asks quietly.

“It’s hard to explain,” Karin admits, “but I don’t think she’s wrong.”

“It’s not hard to explain,” Nakkun sighs, having watched the same scene as you. “You can tell because it looks familiar.”

>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4428973

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4428973

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4428973

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4428973

>>4428973
The next morning dawns even colder, and it’d be hard not to see why.

“That… is one big ball of ice,” Karin muses, watching over the bow of the ship.

“Think of all the snow cones you could make out of that!” you add.

“What’s a snow cone?” Ajisai asks, drawing confused stares.

“How do you not know that, Ajissan?” you demand.

She shrugs. “The rare times it snows in Amegakure you… probably wouldn’t want it anywhere near your mouth.”

“It does tend to get dirty,” Nakkun agrees.

“I wonder if we have syrup down in the...” Karin begins, only for Nakkun to unseal three bottles of colorful flavored syrup.

“Huh,” Karin muses. “Neat.”

…

The director loudly proclaims that whatever this is… either a tiny island covered by a big glacier or the biggest honkin’ iceberg in the world… it’s a perfect place to shoot a scene. And so the ship ties up next to the ice shelf, throwing down anchors onto the ice, and the crew starts unloading massive amounts of film equipment.

It takes a while for all the actors to get into costume, and all that time Nakkun and Karin seem to be unusually tense.

“What’s up?” you ask Karin.

“I can sense a bunch of shinobi here,” she declares.

Actually, now that she mentions it, you do sense that something is off.

“Why haven’t you mentioned it?” you ask Nakkun.

“Because they haven’t done anything,” she declares calmly and quietly. “And even if they decide to make a move… they’re no threat. So I’d rather wait and see what they do, so we can figure out who they are and what they want.”

It doesn’t take long for them to make the first move, right in the middle of the villain Mao’s monologue too. It’s a big, showy explosion that… honestly, it makes no tactical sense whatsoever.

“Kinda signalling they’re here, aren’t they?” Ajissan muses.

Nakkun shakes her head. “Not the brightest bunch, it seems.”
>1/2

>>4429280
“Everyone get back to the ship!” she declares loudly. “Right now! We’ll handle these guys.”

“So we meet again, Princess Koyuki!” a man with light, almost icy-colored hair declares from atop a crag of ice. His outfit is bizarre, like warm padded pajamas mixed with armor.

Nearby a girl with bubblegum-pink hair and a similarly strange armor-like suit makes herself visible, and from a snowdrift a huge man with some sort of mechanical arm device pops up like a big, round daisy.

“They don’t seem that strong,” you scratch your head. “But still, Fujikaze-san! Please get back to the ship! Nakkun’s right, we’ve got this no problem!”

But Fujikaze-san seems paralyzed with fear, and isn’t budging from where she’s fallen to her knees.

>Fall back and protect her in close! These guys are after her, so let them come to you.
>The best defense is a strong offense! Go after the fat guy and see how big a crash he makes when you take him down!
>The one who called out feels like the leader. Take out the leader and the rest will probably get the picture!
>Other?

>>4429291
>The best defense is a strong offense! Go after the fat guy and see how big a crash he makes when you take him down!
>Tell Ajisai and Karin to defend Fujikaze-san. Nakkun can deal with whatever else there is going on.

>>4429291
>>The best defense is a strong offense! Go after the fat guy and see how big a crash he makes when you take him down!

>>4429297
>>4429280
supporting

>>4429291
>>The best defense is a strong offense! Go after the fat guy and see how big a crash he makes when you take him down!

>>4429291
This is probably part of the movie somehow and we're gonna get yelled at, but still supporting
>>4429297

>>4429291
>punch that fat guy into next week

>>4429291
>The best defense is a strong offense! Go after the fat guy and see how big a crash he makes when you take him down!

>>4429291
>>The best defense is a strong offense! Go after the fat guy and see how big a crash he makes when you take him down!

>>4429291
>1d6, best three of five

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4430148

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4430148

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4430148

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4430148

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4430148

>>4430148
“Karin, Ajissan, keep an eye on Fujikaze-san!” you decide out loud. “I’m gonna go say hi!”

You’ve spotted a potential problem, which is that the big guy who popped up out of the snow is charging you on some kind of floating board, kicking up a plume of loose snow behind him. So while Ajissan summons a giant gate to protect herself, Karin, and Fujikaze-san, you charge forward to meet him.

You’re not sure what Karin’s going to do since so far as you can tell there’s no earth underneath all this ice for her to use, but you are sure what your first move is gonna be. Instead of throwing a punch you plant your heel and let the snowboard-thing hit you… by focusing your chakra you actually bring the big guy’s attack to a screeching halt, and plant your shoulder in his chest.

All the wind goes out of his lungs, and you toss him over your shoulder, but he manages to roll to his feet.

“Wow, we’ve got a little freak here,” he grumbles, cracking his neck dramatically. “But that’s not enough to stop me!”

He throws a punch with his left fist, which is heavily armored with some kinda gauntlet, which you meet with your right fist. Your two attacks stop in the middle, and even as a bunch of steam shoots out of his gauntlet to create more force he can’t seem to overpower you.

“What the hell!?” he shouts in frustration, just before you do something he doesn’t expect.

Instead of continuing to meet his force equally you pull your fist back and step in, headbutting him in the chin and weaving a few quick hand seals.

“Hiden: Rinpungakure!” you call out, spraying a cloud of glittering scale powder straight into the big guy’s face.

“Gah!?” he shouts in confusion, struggling to get the dust out of his eyes. “Where are you, you little...”

“Hiden!” you follow up with an exploding tag wrapped around a kunai handle. “Rinpun Bakusai!”

When mixed with the air, your scale powder can make a very nasty explosion, which goes off right in the big guy’s face. He basically disappears in the middle of it, giving you a good opportunity to leap back through the air and land atop Ajissan’s little gate-wall.

“How you doin’!?” you ask cheerfully.

“We’re good,” Karin smirks as her Hōō firebird flies around overhead, instantly countering some massive animal-shaped attacks made from ice and snow, weaving around and dodging the pink-haired lady whose armor has sprouted wings somehow.

“Aw, man!” you protest. “You got all the interesting ones!”

“Here he comes,” Karin declares as the strongest of the three charges the wall behind a trio of massive wolves made from ice. “Ajisai, get ready! Fū, get Fujikaze-san out of here!”
>1/2

>>4430257
“Come on!” you insist, picking Fujikaze-san up off the snow and princess-carrying her back out of the blast zone. “We need to not be here.”

Behind you there’s a series of explosions, which you turn to watch just in time.

“Karin must’ve hidden Ajissan’s tags!” you realize. “Pretty good for a first time fighting together like this! And Ajissan’s using one of Nakkun’s techniques!”

“… techniques?” Fujikaze-san asks, despite being in a clear state of shock.

“Yeah!” you confirm. “Cept it looks like she’s doing it with twenty-one explosive tags. I don’t think Nakkun ever does it with less than a hundred and fifty-six.”

Between the clouds of explosions and the hail of shuriken, as well as your having taken Fujikaze-san back to where Nakkun’s watching intently, it seems that the attacking ninja lose their interest in pressing the attack.

“Let’s go,” Nakkun calls out to Karin and Ajissan. “I’ve got what we needed.”

As Karin and Ajissan fall back to the ship with you, the icy-haired jōnin grabs the big guy you fought with, who’s been standing slack-jawed in the snow since you blew him up, and all three of them turn tail.

“We could go after them,” Ajissan suggests once you’ve regrouped and the crew has hauled up the anchors.

“No need,” Nakkun shakes her head, before turning to Fujikaze-san. “So, Koyuki-hime, is there anything you’d like to say to us before I explain?”

“Princess?” you wonder aloud.

Fujikaze-san shakes her head quietly. “Not anymore.”

“This is why you didn’t want to come back here,” Ajissan realizes. “Isn’t it?”

“Very perceptive.”

“Those three serve a man named Kazahana Dōto,” Nakkun declares calmly, arms folded as she informs you all of what she learned. “Our ‘Fujikaze-han’s uncle, who staged a coup with the help of the Yukigakure ninja more than twelve years ago. They use high-tech chakra armor which serves as a chakra-absorbing barrier. It can be beaten in taijutsu or using highly-concentrated chakra to overwhelm it at a single point.”

“How did you learn this?” Asama-san asks with a frown. “Did someone tell you?”

“That big guy Fū blew up made the mistake of meeting my eyes,” Nakkun explains, “so I interrogated him using my sharingan. So I think you’ll find I know pretty much the whole situation.”

“So you should already know we can’t beat Dōto!” Fujikaze-san protests.
>2/3

>>4430269
“Yeah no, those three were their strongest fighters,” Nakkun counters.

“Really!?” Karin stares in shock. “You’re kidding!”

“Nope,” Nakkun shakes her head. “Rōga Nadare is the guy with the bluish hair, and he’s their strongest. The pink punk lady is Kakuyoku Fubuki, and the big guy is Fuyukuma Mizore. They’re the strongest team in their village.”

“You don’t say...” Ajissan muses.

“… why are you not getting this!?” Fujikaze-san demands angrily.

>We do get it. It’s just that those guys… weren’t really intimidating? Like at all.
>Sorry Fujikaze-san, but you’re the one ‘not getting it’ here. Nakkun is ABSURD.
>I mean if you REALLY don’t want your country back, that’s fine. But is that what you want?
>Other?

>>4430274
>I mean if you REALLY don’t want your country back, that’s fine. But is that what you want?

>>4430274
>we do get it, but those three were wimps?

>>4430274
>>I mean if you REALLY don’t want your country back, that’s fine. But is that what you want?

>>4430274
>Sorry Fujikaze-san, but you’re the one ‘not getting it’ here. Nakkun is ABSURD.
>I mean if you REALLY don’t want your country back, that’s fine. But is that what you want?

>>4430274
>>We do get it. It’s just that those guys… weren’t really intimidating? Like at all.

>>4430274
>We do get it. It’s just that those guys… weren’t really intimidating? Like at all.

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>>4430274
>I mean if you REALLY don’t want your country back, that’s fine. But is that what you want?

>>4430274
>We do get it. It’s just that those guys… weren’t really intimidating? Like at all.
>I mean if you REALLY don’t want your country back, that’s fine. But is that what you want?

>>4430274
>>We do get it. It’s just that those guys… weren’t really intimidating? Like at all.
>>I mean if you REALLY don’t want your country back, that’s fine. But is that what you want?

>>4430274
>>I mean if you REALLY don’t want your country back, that’s fine. But is that what you want?
test her character before showing how easy it'd be for us; we're not gonna be the ones running the country in the end

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>>4430274
“Who are you really?” you ask her. “And what do you really want? Cause if you really don’t want to stand up for yourself or your country then that’s fine, but is that really okay?”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m okay with it!” she protests. “How can you all be so calm about this? How can you fight against them and not be worried in the slightest?”

“I just don’t understand it you people!”

You pause for a moment. “I grew up an orphan, and the other villagers rejected me cause I had a giant bug monster sealed inside my guts. Karin suffered even worse than I did in some ways. This time last week, Ajissan was literally dead.”

“But we didn’t give up, and good things happened,” you insist. “I can tell you’re scared, and I can tell you’re upset, but what makes me sad is that you act like you’ve totally given up on everything including yourself.”

For a moment she just sits there, letting you continue.

“So knock it off with the doom and gloom already!” you tell her. “If you want to take your country back from this Dōto jerk we’ll come with you, but it has to be your decision and you have to believe in us and in yourself!”

“… do you really think you can do it?” she eventually asks you. “The last thing I want is for more people to die on my behalf.”

“I could handle any of those three guys,” you admit. “And Nakkun could probably take out their whole village on her own, so… you know. That helps.”

“That really sounds like you’re overstating things,” Fujikaze-san admits. “Every time you say something like that.”

“She’s really not,” Karin admits. “You heard what happened in Konohagakure, right? About how one member of Akatsuki destroyed the whole village and nearly killed everyone?”

“There have been rumors,” Asama-san admits. “It’s hard to tell which of them might be true.”

“Well, Nakkun fought that guy by herself and walked away without a scratch,” you observe.

Fujikaze-san stares at her in dawning comprehension. “Wait… so you’re saying she’s that strong?”

“It’s a little unclear how strong Akatsuki was at its height,” Nakkun muses quietly as she watches the massive iceberg disappear into the distance behind your ship. “The only real reference point is that Sasori-han killed the Third Kazekage, so it’s a question of who’s stronger or weaker than he was.”

“And?” Asama-san asks hesitantly. “Which were you?”

She allows herself a little smirk. “Oh, stronger for sure.”
>1/2

>>4430710
“So… I guess I should call you Koyuki-hime… or Koyuki-san… or what?” you ask awkwardly.

“Koyuki-san is fine,” she replies, just as awkwardly. “I’m no princess yet.”

“Okay,” you agree. “Koyuki-san it is then. So what’s the plan?”

“I don’t have a plan,” she admits. “I only just decided to go through with this.”

“I can have fifty samurai ready to fight at your word,” Asama-san declares.

Nakkun shakes her head. “Yeah, no, it depends on which kind of samurai. How many of your fifty can use Issen or Hadan?”

“What do you mean?” Asama-san asks.

“Then no thanks,” Nakkun counters. “It’d be better to have those fifty help after Dōto is out of the picture.”

“We’ve waited for twelve years to be of assistance!” Asama-san protests, only for Nakkun to release a curving arc of chakra from her kodachi’s blade that slices through the side rail of the ship and raises a long spray of seawater beyond it.

“That’s Issen,” she explains. “In the Land of Iron it’s considered a fundamental technique for facing shinobi… regular, unaugmented kenjutsu alone just won’t do it here.”

“You shouldn’t be in such a rush to risk your lives,” Karin agrees. “My sensing abilities confirmed what Naori is saying about the Snow ninjas… the three of us should be enough, and adding in Naori just makes it unfair.”

“The real question is still ‘what next’,” Ajissan muses.

“Use what you know about the situation to come up with a list of things that need to happen,” Nakkun suggests to Koyuki-san. “Then we can consider what we can do to find a way to make what needs to happen happen.”

>Well… we know they’ll probably come after Koyuki-san again, right? That makes them predictable.
>We could probably just go to wherever their village or their base is? Do they have something like that?
>Dōto’s the real problem here. We get rid of him, and it’s over, right?
>Other?

>>4430810
>>Well… we know they’ll probably come after Koyuki-san again, right? That makes them predictable.
one step at a time

>>4430810
>>Well… we know they’ll probably come after Koyuki-san again, right? That makes them predictable.

>>4430810
>Well… we know they’ll probably come after Koyuki-san again, right? That makes them predictable.
>If we capture and interrogate a few of them, we can find the rest easily.

>>4430810
>>Dōto’s the real problem here. We get rid of him, and it’s over, right?

>>4430810
>Well… we know they’ll probably come after Koyuki-san again, right? That makes them predictable.

I would say that when they act, we are ready immediately to act against them and deal with them once and for all. No time for them to react or be ready.

>>4430810
>>Well… we know they’ll probably come after Koyuki-san again, right? That makes them predictable.

>>4430810
>Dōto’s the real problem here. We get rid of him, and it’s over, right?

Could probably just make another shadow clone and slap them all down.

>>4430810
>Well… we know they’ll probably come after Koyuki-san again, right? That makes them predictable.

>>4430810
“Well, they’re gonna come after Koyuki-san again, right?” you muse. “Can’t we turn that to our advantage?”

“It certainly does seem predictable,” Karin agrees. “How about it, Koyuki-san?”

After a moment, she nods. “You’re right… I didn’t want to think about it before, but now that they know who I am… they’re not just going to let me walk away even if I tried. Dōto needs to wipe out my father’s bloodline if his rule is going to be secure.”

“Running was never an option, was it?”

Nakkun shakes her head quietly. “Nope.”

After taking another moment, Koyuki-san nods again. “Alright, I think I owe Makino-san a performance… so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Alright!” you cheer, before pausing. “Wait… what?”

“You heard the lady!” the director declares. “Let’s get ready!”

“But sir...” one of his assistants tries to butt in.

“This is great!” the director insists to his assistant. “Whatever god watches over film is smiling on me today… what other director’s been given the chance to film with a real princess and a real team of kunoichi?”

“I know, right!” you add excitedly. “I had no idea I’d be guarding a real princess on this mission! I’m so freakin’ excited!”

“Best. Day. Ever!”

As the two of you laugh maniacally together, Nakkun brings something up with the princess in question. “And the hex-crystal?”

She stares at Nakkun in surprise. “What… do you mean?”

“That’s also part of what they’re after,” she explains. “I think you can use that to your advantage.”

“Why?” Koyuki-san muses aloud. “What could they possibly want with it?”

“The guy I ‘asked’ about it didn’t know,” Nakkun admits. “But Dōto definitely wants the crystal as much as he wants you dead… maybe more.”

“Well then,” Koyuki-san replies with a smirk. “I think that means there is something that even I can do. When the time comes just follow my lead, and trust me. I know that’s a big ask. Can you do it?”

“Sure,” Nakkun answers.

“No problem,” you add.

“Your country, your rules,” Ajissan shrugs.
>1/2

>>4431682
“Please, Koyuki-hime,” Asama-san bows deeply. “If you insist on preventing us from fighting for you, at least carry my tantō with you.”

After frowning for a moment, Koyuki-san accepts the small blade that’s been offered to her.

“Cut that out before I change my mind about all this,” Koyuki-san insists. “There’s no need for it. You’re just making me uncomfortable.”

“Y-yes,” Asama-san bows again. “My deepest apologies.”

…

Filming resumes the next day, after the ship puts ashore in a small port where large vehicles with big wheels are waiting. Those wheels are designed to dig deep into the snow and ice as the whole crew follows a surprisingly flat road.

Eventually you stop for a break.

“This used to be a railway,” Asama-san explains. “If you dig down far enough you’ll probably still find the tracks.”

“This might be a good location to film some establishing shots,” the director decides. “Alright everyone, let’s get to work!”

Koyuki-san, in costume, is left without much to do until the director decides to take a series of still shots of her, standing dramatically in the blowing wind looking out over a vast, rugged terrain.

Meanwhile, Nakkun consults with Asama-san and decides to go out ahead along the rail line to check out a bridge he reported as being around the next bend.

…

“We’ve got trouble,” Karin declares. “Something big is coming up from behind us.”

“Something big?” Ajissan repeats. “Timing couldn’t have been much worse.”

“Shh...” you shush them both. “Was that… a whistle?”

“I didn’t hear anything,” Ajissan counters.

“No… something definitely went ‘woooo!’ over that way,” you insist.

“Why would they announce themselves like...” Karin begins, before she too hears the whistle.

“Everyone!” you shout as the ice over the train tracks Asama-san told you about begins to melt. “Get away from the tracks! Move it!”

“There’s chakra running through them!” Karin declares.

The next moment all heck breaks loose.
>2/3

>>4431704
Something wide enough to cover two sets of parallel tracks barrels through the center of your little camp, crushing two of the vehicles that brought you up here. It’s a train, with several cars trailing behind a massive armored engine. Sparks fly from the massive iron wheels as it grinds to a halt.

The rear cars slide open, revealing a wall of honeycombed chambers… you realize that they’re probably weapons launchers. Probably not enough for you and your team to worry about, but also enough to absolutely murderize anyone else.

Koyuki-san, who is on the same side of the train as you are, not quite ‘backed against’ a cliff but a bit closer to it than you’re comfortable with, watches as a large man in a cloak emerges from the back of the armored engine with a loudspeaker.

“Koyuki-hime!” he addresses her, with the three snow ninjas joining him. “It’s been twelve long years… so allow me to be the first to welcome you home!”

“Uncle Dōto!” she counters. “To what do I owe this… I’m gonna call it a ‘pleasure’?”

“You have something that no longer belongs to you,” Dōto declares. “Hand over the crystal to me and no one else will have to be hurt!”

“What do you want with the hex crystal!?” Koyuki-san shouts back. “You at least owe me that much!”

“The Kazahana clan’s fortunes were sealed away with that crystal!” Dōto shouts. “I’m simply laying claim to what is rightfully mine, and with that wealth I can revitalize our nation’s industries! With our chakra armor we will have the power to rival the five great nations!”

“How could you!?” you demand loudly. “First you murder her father, and now this!? Isn’t she your family!?”

Dōto laughs loudly. “And it’s exactly because we’re family that I know her better than that… she’s a coward who ran for her life twelve years ago. All she cares about is living to see the next day. She’ll give me what I want.”

“You have no idea!” you shout back angrily. “She’s nothing like… Koyuki-san?”

Koyuki-san starts walking towards the train engine, climbing up a small ladder on the side.

“Here,” she declares, handing off a small crystal suspended from a necklace. “Take it.”

Then she turns to face you with a wry smile. “I told you once didn’t I? I’m an actress… it’s the only thing I’m good at. I may have been a princess by birth, but I’m a liar and a coward by trade.”

Dōto laughs again. “There, see!? That’s what you get for your misplaced faith… this is no fairy-tale, girl. The plucky underdog never gets to see a happy ending, because pluck doesn’t matter!”

Then Koyuki-san abruptly stabs him in the chest with the tantō she had been hiding in her wide sleeves.

“What!?”

“I told you,” Koyuki-san muses. “I’m an actress… but I’m also a princess by birth. How did you like my performance?”
>3/4

>>4431716
I love happy endings

>>4431716
“It was pretty good!” Dōto replies, grasping Koyuki-san by the neck and picking her up off the deck. “But like I told you, this is no fairy-tale, girl!”

“Koyuki-san!” you shout, taking a step forward.

“One more step and I snap her neck!” Dōto roars. “It’s different when it’s someone else’s neck on the line, isn’t it!?”

“But that’s what power gets me! It’s the strong who decide who suffer...”

Koyuki drops back down to the deck and takes a staggering step back, gasping for breath. She knocks Dōto’s arm away from her throat, and after bouncing off the deck it falls over the side of the engine to the snow.

Nakkun turns to her left, sheathing her sword as Dōto stares at his new stump.

“How...” Koyuki-san gasps.

“Remember when I touched your shoulder at the docks?” Nakkun muses. “Back when we left the Land of Hot Water? I placed the marking on your back then.”

All the way back then!? So this whole time, Nakkun had this planned out in advance!?

“No way...” Koyuki-san stares in shock. “You can’t have planned all of this!”

“Nope,” Nakkun admits. “You’re totally right. But I suspected something like this might happen… your own plan to get close to Dōto suited me just fine.”

“You stood up for your home, and for yourself… so you’ve convinced me.”

Dōto turns his fury onto Nakkun. “How dare you!?”

“Shut up,” Nakkun sighs. “A would-be villain who loses their composure so easily is just pathetic.”

>Move in. Nakkun’s not going to finish Dōto, so you’re going to do that yourself.
>Summon bees inside the murder train. You don’t like all those weapons launchers being pointed at bystanders.
>Just flip the whole murder train over with Karin and Ajissan. With the tree of you it should be no problem.
>Other?

>>4431724
>Summon bees inside the murder train. You don’t like all those weapons launchers being pointed at bystanders.

BEES!

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>>4431724

>Summon bees inside the murder train. You don’t like all those weapons launchers being pointed at bystanders.

Like how could you not?

>>4431724
>>Just flip the whole murder train over with Karin and Ajissan. With the tree of you it should be no problem.

It's not suplexing the Doomtrain, but it's close enough for me!

>>4431724
>summon THE BEEES!!!
*For the meme!*

>>4431724
Let's go for the bees

>>4431724
>>Just flip the whole murder train over with Karin and Ajissan. With the tree of you it should be no problem.

>>4431724
>Summon bees inside the murder train. You don’t like all those weapons launchers being pointed at bystanders.
This is such a meme option but at the same time gosh darn it's definitely effective.

>>4431724
>Summon bees inside the murder train. You don’t like all those weapons launchers being pointed at bystanders.

>>4431724
>>Summon bees inside the murder train. You don’t like all those weapons launchers being pointed at bystanders.

>>4431724
>1d6 best three of four

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4431836
*METH BEE NO JUTSU!*

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4431836

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4431836

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4431836

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4431836
NOT THE BEES

>>4431704
>The next moment all heck breaks loose.

Fu is the purest girl in this setting. Which is definitely an accomplishment.

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>>4431836
Using the moment of confusion to your advantage, you rush the side of the train, bite your thumb, and slam your palm against one of the weapon launchers.

“Kuchiyose: Hachiryūdan!”

After the burst of smoke, the inside of the train car is suddenly full of giant bees.

You can hear the confused, incoherent screaming progress back from that car as the bees fly between them, stinging as they go back. It’s not lethal for the poor people trapped inside, but it’s definitely not going to be pleasant either. One of them clambers out the top hatch of his car, ripping off his clothes from the waist up, screaming the whole time.

Evidently he’s convinced that his body is turning to honeycomb, and more bees are crawling out of him.

“That’s… horrifying,” you admit.

Meanwhile you can see Karin’s Hōō continuing to put in spectacular work against the ice-based attacks of the Yukigakure shinobi, and Dōto finally gets his act together enough to act.

“I’ll kill you both!” he roars in fury, drawing out a stack of exploding tags from a pouch at his waist.

He doesn’t get the chance to use them, as Nakkun pushes the tantō that Koyuki-san stabbed into Dōto’s shoulder and flows lightning-nature chakra through the hilt.

Dōto shakes and shouts with the first jolt, dropping the tags immediately before collapsing.

“I thought he was wearing chakra armor?” Koyuki-san wonders aloud.

Nakkun wraps Dōto with a whole stack of sealing tags. “Your stab found a weak point, so the tip actually penetrated. So I flowed my chakra past the armor.”

Without the pain train there to back them up, the three remaining Snow ninja go down pretty easily. The Hōō knocks the pink-haired woman from the sky and she crashes into the big guy you beat up before, and the contact between their armors seems to cause them to explode for some reason? You’re not entirely sure why and Nakkun didn’t tip you off about it so you’d suggest it came as a surprise to the two of them too.

Unfortunately for them it’s a pretty fatal surprise, as the discharge of power basically fries them inside their own armor.

That just leaves one: Nadare, who has been weaving through a minefield of sealing tags laid out by Karin and Ajissan.

>Demand his surrender! There’s no need for him to die for a guy who’s already lost!
>Try to destroy his armor, he’ll be better-behaved if he knows there’s no chance to win.
>You hate to say it… but if this guy walks away he’ll just be a danger to Koyuki-san later.
>Ask Koyuki-san what she wants you to do with him.
>Other?

>>4432068
>Try to destroy his armor, he’ll be better-behaved if he knows there’s no chance to win.
>Demand his surrender! There’s no need for him to die for a guy who’s already lost!

Basically attack him and demand his surrender.

>>4432068
>>Try to destroy his armor, he’ll be better-behaved if he knows there’s no chance to win.

>>4432068
>Demand his surrender! There’s no need for him to die for a guy who’s already lost!
>Try to destroy his armor, he’ll be better-behaved if he knows there’s no chance to win.

>>4432068
>>Try to destroy his armor, he’ll be better-behaved if he knows there’s no chance to win.
>Ask Koyuki-san what she wants you to do with him.
she is the one that has to live with the people of that country, better to give her a reasonable start

>>4432068
>Try to destroy his armor, he’ll be better-behaved if he knows there’s no chance to win.
>Ask Koyuki-san what she wants you to do with him.

>>4432068
>Try to destroy his armor, he’ll be better-behaved if he knows there’s no chance to win.

>>4432068
>>Try to destroy his armor, he’ll be better-behaved if he knows there’s no chance to win.
>>Ask Koyuki-san what she wants you to do with him.

>>4432068
>>>Try to destroy his armor, he’ll be better-behaved if he knows there’s no chance to win.
>>Ask Koyuki-san what she wants you to do with him

>>4432068
You rush at Rōga Nadare, the last Snow ninja left standing, who flashes through four hand seals.

“Hyōton: Haryū Mōko!”

“Hiden: Rinpungakure!”

“Hey princess!?” you call out, setting off the scale powder and blowing the ice tiger away. “Whatcha want me to do with this one!?”

You can barely hear her response. “Just be careful! Worry about yourself, okay!?”

“Gotcha!”

Nadare starts weaving more hand seals, only to find a hail of kunai coming his way.

“You’ll have to do better than that!” he shouts. “Hyōton...”

You can tell you’re grinning as you spring your trap. “Sōshūjin!”

Spreading your arms wide you pull the chakra threads you attached to the kunai taut, changing their trajectories at the last second to plant them all around Nadare’s feet and tie him down at the same time.

Then you make the seal of confrontation in front of you, setting off the exploding tags wrapped around the handles of the kunai. But you already guessed all that would do is damage his armor.

“You seem pretty proud of that armor!” you taunt him as the smoke clears, and he finds you already up in his face. “It’d be too bad if something happened to it!”

He tries to block your hammer-blow punches with his arms, only for the gauntlet on his right wrist to crack. A right hook shatters the little yin-yang medallion on his left shoulder, and with a shoulder roll you plant an immediate left hook against the cheekpiece of his head protector.

That blow breaks the cheekpiece off entirely, cutting his cheek underneath and staggering him, letting you loop your left wrist behind his neck and pull him down to meet your knee.

Bloodied and battered, you snag hold of him and fling him high over your shoulder to crash headfirst into the ground, covered in chakra threads which you pull tight around him.

“Tah-dah!” you shout triumphantly.

…

“I can take these guys straight to Hozuki castle for you,” Nakkun offers to Koyuki-san as you, Karin, and Ajissan finish up tying the surviving Snow ninjas together. Honestly, all of them aside from the two that blew up when their chakra armor collided ‘survived’, though some are in pretty rough shape.

“That would be nice,” Koyuki-san agrees. “We’ll need to travel there some time for the trial though. The Land of Snow doesn’t allow for trials in absentia.”
>1/2

>>4433331
“What about Yukigakure itself?” you muse. “I mean, how many of them supported the coup twelve years ago?”

“It’s not entirely clear,” Asama-san admits. “We’ll still need to be careful, but at the same time a shinobi village relies on its daimyō for funding. So my expectation is that most of them will be loyal to whoever controls the purse-strings.”

“The only thing I’m still curious about is what they wanted the crystal for,” Nakkun wonders aloud. “I’ll be back in a bit… if you don’t mind, Koyuki-han, could you humor me after that?”

“After you saved my life it’s the least I could do,” Koyuki-san agrees. “Besides, Makino-san still needs an ending for his movie, and that seems like the ideal.”

“Perfect!” the director agrees enthusiastically. “You there, go with the scary kunoichi. I want some shots of the antagonists in lockup!”

Rolling her eyes, Nakkun quickly teleports herself, Dōto, Nadare, twenty Snow ninja, and three cameramen to Kusagakure.

“How does she do that?” Koyuki-san muses.

You shrug. “Even if I asked I probably wouldn’t understand the answer.”

“Fair point.”

…

After Nakkun and the cameramen return, it’s a long drive to where Nakkun identified a ‘vault’ from interrogating Dōto with her sharingan. It’s an open snowfield with six towering, sheer-faced pillars surrounding it. In the center is a stone platform, which may as well have a neon sign with the words ‘KEY GOES HERE’ on it.

“Well, this is it,” Koyuki-san signs dramatically once the film crew has had time to set up. “Time to see what this was all about.”

She dusts the snow off the top of the platform, and slides a purple crystal into it.

The whole snowfield starts to glow, lighting up from underneath in an expanding pattern like a snowflake… and the ice and snow begin to melt. Instead the whole valley lights up as the six towers begin to glow and shine, and the snowfield is replaced by a field of grasses and flowers.

“This is...” Koyuki-san looks around her as the landscape is transformed. “A heat generator? No… something more than that… it’s spring.”

You can see that for the first time since you met her, Koyuki-san is crying. But she isn’t just crying, she’s smiling at the same time, and not just for the cameras. Though they have a clear shot of her face you get the feeling she’s forgotten that they’re even there.

“This was my father’s dream.”
>2/3

>>4433354
You are Raishō Naori, a shinobi loyal to things greater than villages or organizations.

It’s very early in the morning… everyone else is still asleep. Fū’s sprawled diagonally across her futon with her tummy out again, so you pull the covers back over her. In the nearby alcove you added to the room specifically for her own keepsakes you spy the picture from your recent mission in the Land of Snow: the four of you who went are standing with Princess Kazahana Koyuki in her full costume, smiling warmly for the camera in the middle of a field of flowers ringed with icy mountains and snow. Everyone looks so happy… and contrary to what she once said as Fujikaze Yukie, the princess even autographed it for Fū, with her thanks and best wishes.

You can’t help but smile when you see it.

…

“Sensei,” you greet Konan-sensei with a yawn a few moments later, having moved effortlessly to her office in Amegakure. “What’s the big deal calling me out here so early?”

“I arranged for breakfast,” she offers politely, gesturing to a nearby meeting table where a familiar ‘face’ is waiting.

“Hatake Kakashi-han?” you muse. “Well that’s a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’ve been sent here to meet with your former sensei,” he explains calmly. “Though I gather this isn’t the first time?”

“You’d be correct,” Konan-han admits. “Though this is our first time meeting with my real appearance. My name is Konan, and for the time I am the leader of Amegakure.”

“I am Hatake Kakashi,” Kakashi-han introduces himself. “Here on behalf of the jōnin council of Konohagakure… among other interested parties.”

“May we have your reasons for being here?” Konan enquires.

“You may,” Kakashi replies as you take a seat and start nibbling at some of the little snacks Konan had prepared for you. “The Kazekage has called for a Summit of the Five Kages, to be hosted by Mifune of the Land of Iron. Currently the Mizukage, Raikage, and Tsuchikage have confirmed their attendance, and our own interim Hokage Shimura Danzō has reluctantly admitted that he now cannot refuse.”

“Sounds like something Gaara and I’ve been pushing for months now,” you admit. “The attacks on Konoha and Killer B finally shook things loose?”

“It seems that way,” Kakashi agrees. “However that’s not the reason I’m here. Mifune-dono has specifically requested a representative of the smaller shinobi nations be present.”

“I advanced your name as a candidate,” Konan-sensei informs you.
>3/4

>>4433360
You puzzle over this for a few moments. “Officially, you can expect official support for that from Kusagakure, Yukigakure, Hoshigakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure, and you’ll most likely get it from Takigakure and Iwagakure. The daimyō of This and That and the Queen of Rōran would also support it unequivocally. I think Mifune-tono will as well.”

“In spite of Danzō’s opposition,” Kakashi-han adds, “you’ll have the approval of the jōnin council of Konohagakure as well. We have no idea what the Raikage will say.”

>I don’t think he has the RIGHT to say anything. This isn’t Kumogakure’s business.
>He’ll probably want to speak with me anyway. And by speak with I mean shout at.
>I mean… if there's anyone else with that kind of broad international supprt I'm all ears.
>Other?

>>4433364
He'll probably want to shout at me anyway

>>4433364
>>He’ll probably want to speak with me anyway. And by speak with I mean shout at.

>>4433364
>He’ll probably want to speak with me anyway. And by speak with I mean shout at.

>>4433364
>>He’ll probably want to speak with me anyway. And by speak with I mean shout at.
Additionally
>>Be outraged that somehow, they passed on Kakashi to let the obvious scheming asshole with a history of dissident action be interim Hokage while Tsunade is unconscious. Demand to know why.

>>4433364
>>He’ll probably want to speak with me anyway. And by speak with I mean shout at.

Time to coalesce the smaller nations into a great power. A United Nations if you will.

>He’ll probably want to speak with me anyway. And by speak with I mean shout at.
>And by "at" i mean "while punching me"

>>4433441
>>4433364
Forgot to link. Sorry, just woke up.

>>4433364
>He’ll probably want to speak with me anyway. And by speak with I mean shout at.

>>4433364
>>He’ll probably want to speak with me anyway. And by speak with I mean shout at.

>>4433364
>>He’ll probably want to speak with me anyway. And by speak with I mean shout at.
>>I mean… if there's anyone else with that kind of broad international supprt I'm all ears.

>>4433364
“He’ll probably want to speak with me anyway,” you admit. “And by speak with I mean shout at. As for Danzō, why is he the interim Hokage when you exist, Kakashi-han?”

“For the same reason that Lord Third became interim Hokage after Lord Fourth was killed,” Kakashi explains. “When a Hokage is killed or incapacitated the precedent has become to fall back to a previous Hokage or Hokage candidate.”

“There were no alternatives?” Karin-sensei asks with a frown.

“The only others would have been Jiraiya-sensei, who turned the position down before Tsunade-dono accepted, and Orochimaru, who was considered alongside Minato-sensei.”

“Even dead, Minato-han would be a better choice,” you grumble.

What you decide against saying is that you could actually make that happen… you’re just not sure about the precise mechanics involved with using senjutsu to cheat the Shinigami the same way you used it to cheat the typical requirements of the Edo Tensei.

“Perhaps so,” Kakashi-han concedes. “But that’s not an option. Right now the only option is Danzō, which obliges us to find ways to deal with the fact.”

“Did Naruto ever tell you what I told him?” you ask.

“He hinted at some connection between Danzō and Akatsuki,” Kakashi explains. “But he also seemed convinced that he couldn’t tell me everything.”

“Danzō is partly responsible for Akatsuki taking the path it ended up taking,” Konan explains curtly. “His interference in Amegakure’s affairs prolonged our civil war by years and cost thousands of lives.”

“He is less than ideal,” Kakashi-han agrees. “But unfortunately our hands are bound to a certain point.”

“I understand that,” Konan admits. “But I felt you should know the truth.”

Kakashi-han nods quietly. “I suppose this is just a reminder of how much all of our villages have to apologize for.”

Konan-sensei shakes her head. “Though an apology would be appreciated… more important is that all concerned learn from their mistakes and continue to grow. That was Nagato’s failing, and it certainly sounds like it’s one of Danzō’s.”

“Though it doesn’t seem to be a failing shared by our star pupils,” Kakashi-han muses thoughtfully. “That much is a good thing, I think.”

“You must be proud of Naruto-kun,” Konan sighs. “He’s developing into a fine young man.”

“You never would have thought it a few years ago,” Kakashi chuckles. “He was the village’s biggest knucklehead ninja, always getting himself into trouble just to get himself noticed. And now he’s considered a hero.”
>1/2

>>4434678
“Naori was always a promising student,” Konan shrugs. “In a sense I suppose I had an easier time. Still, I am very proud of who she has chosen to be.”

“Our jōnin council knows what she did for us,” Kakashi-han frowns behind his mask, before glancing at you, “though Danzō has been quick to publicly minimize your role in defeating Pain. Otherwise you would be considered a ‘hero of Konoha’ as well.”

“That’s fine,” you shrug. “The people who count know… including Danzō. My real concern is that he must know that his newfound authority only lasts so long as Tsuna-han is in a coma. He’ll be looking to legitimate himself even if he has to resort to illegitimate means to do so.”

“That’s a concern for us as well,” Kakashi admits. “However, your main concern should be the Summit. You’ll be allowed two bodyguards as your retinue, so think carefully about who you want to come along in that role.”

Karin for sure. With a bunch of high-profile shady people all in one room bringing her ‘Kagura Shingan’ to the table is an absolute no-brainer. You’d be willing to bet each of the five Kages will bring someone like her, only not as good as her. The only question remaining is whether you want to bring a shadow clone of Yugito-han, leaving the real Fū and Yugito together at your hideout, or whether you want to bring a shadow clone of Fū.

You guess it’s just going to come down to how likely you think it is that seeing Yugito-han will send the Raikage off the deep end. A decision for later.

“Then I suggest we send out letters regarding this decision,” you muse, “if you haven’t already. I agree to accept the responsibility.”

“Will you be okay, Kakashi-san?” Konan-sensei asks politely. “I have to assume Danzō must be aware that you have left the village.”

“The official story is that I’m here to thank you for the machinery you lent our village,” Kakashi replies with a smirk. “Which is true of course, it’s been very helpful.”

“Do you believe he’s been fooled?”

“Not for a minute.”

Konan-sensei shakes her head. “Okay then. I’ll handle the messenger hawks on our end. You just be sure not to arouse any further suspicion.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Kakashi-han bows politely before turning to leave. “And you, Naori-san… good luck with the Kages.”

“Thanks,” you grumble. “I’m hoping I won’t need it, but I won’t turn it down either.”

>Take this straight to the hideout, come up with a plan of action.
>Make the rounds of everyone you’ve left a Hiraishin tag with. Save time on getting the responses.
>Go to Konoha and place a marking on Tsunade… just in case. Provocative, maybe, but reassuring.
>Other?

>>4434719
And a word of advice here, please don't just put "do everything". Consider each of these approaches carefully.

>>4434719
>Make the rounds of everyone you’ve left a Hiraishin tag with. Save time on getting the responses.
>Send shadow clone to the hideout to tell them what is going on and then pop it.

Surely just letting our friends in our hideout know about things could be done? I trust the Konoha Jonin can keep Tsunade relatively safe, but our smaller allies will be very important. So concentrate our efforts on them.

>>4434719
>>Go to Konoha and place a marking on Tsunade… just in case. Provocative, maybe, but reassuring.

>>4434719
>Go to Konoha and place a marking on Tsunade… just in case. Provocative, maybe, but reassuring.

>>4434719
>>Make the rounds of everyone you’ve left a Hiraishin tag with. Save time on getting the responses.
>>Go to Konoha and place a marking on Tsunade… just in case. Provocative, maybe, but reassuring.

>>4434719
>>Make the rounds of everyone you’ve left a Hiraishin tag with. Save time on getting the responses.
we have to know what those smaller nations might want to have considered or at least a concencus of opinions

>>4434719
>>Make the rounds of everyone you’ve left a Hiraishin tag with. Save time on getting the responses.

If we’re gonna represent the smaller villages, better to get a personal read on what they think and want.

>>4434719
>>Make the rounds of everyone you’ve left a Hiraishin tag with. Save time on getting the responses.
>>Send shadow clone to the hideout to tell them what is going on and then pop it.
Hopin' Granny will be okay

>>4434719
>>Make the rounds of everyone you’ve left a Hiraishin tag with. Save time on getting the responses.

I wanna chat with kurotsuchi and see if her gramps knows any dirt

>>4434719
“I can get some instant feedback,” you suggest. “Ask for comments from some of the people I know in the villages and nations in question. And Kakashi-han?”

“What is it?”

“Make sure Tsunade-tono is kept safe,” you ask him. “Please.”

After a moment, he nods. “Yeah. We’ll be sure to.”

…

“Natsuhi-han?”

“Good morning, Naori-san,” the red-haired Hoshi jōnin greets you behind her desk. “You’re here early.”

“Things are escalating,” you admit. “There’s going to be a Summit of the Five Kages soon and I’ve been asked to represent the smaller villages and nations. Is that fine with you?”

“Certainly,” she nods. “It’s hard to think of a candidate with a higher international profile.”

“For better or worse,” you admit. “Would you be willing to write a short message in favor? I can be by at the end of the day for it.”

“Not a problem,” she replies calmly. “Our village owes you its future after all. It seems the least we can do to put our faith in you.”

“Tayuya isn’t awake?” you realize.

Natsuhi shakes her head. “No, unless she has a mission or a job she’s rarely up much before noon.”

“Too bad,” you frown. “Tell her I said hi, okay?”

…

“Queen Sāra,” you bow politely.

“Naori!” the queen of Rōran rises from her seat and hugs you. “What a pleasant surprise!”

“I wish I could stay longer,” you admit, returning the embrace quickly. “But I’m here on business...”

“I will be happy to help!” she insists. “What is it you need?”

…

“Ryūzetsu.”

“Naori-san.”

“Think you can convince your faction to back me as a representative of the smaller nations at a Five Kage summit?”

“I can probably swing it,” she muses. “Think you’ll be able to sit down and tolerate them long enough?”

“We’ll have to see… and be sure to mention the Box?”

“Got it.”
>1/?

>>4434968
“Shibuki-san.”

“Naori-san,” Shibuki replies. “You look like you need something?”

“You’re not wrong...”

…

“Princess.”

“Naori-san,” Princess Koyuki rises from the meeting table, along with several of her advisors. “You’re back so soon. Has something happened?”

“I’ll be representing the smaller hidden villages at a summit of the Five Kages,” you explain. “All I need to ask is a short letter saying you’re okay with it, assuming you are okay with it.”

“I have no reason not to be,” she admits. “And several reasons to agree. But why ask?”

“The Raikage and interim Hokage won’t be too happy about it,” you explain. “So if I can put it beyond any question that I have significant backing in the role, it might shut them up.”

“I see,” Koyuki-han muses. “I wish politics were that simple for a head of state.”

“You don’t wanna be that kind of daimyō,” you shake your head.

“No,” she agrees, “you’re right about that. I’ll have something ready for you after lunch.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course. Our nation owes you at least that much.”

…

“Gaara.”

“Naori.”

“I’ll be representing the smaller hidden villages,” you explain. “I’d like you to write a note of support to keep the Raikage and Danzō off my back when the time comes.”

“That won’t be a problem. Will you be asking any of the other Kages?”

You nod curtly. “Probably Terumi Mei and old Ōnoki the Fence-Sitter.”

“You can tell them you have my support,” Gaara insists. “That may make things easier.”

“Thanks, Gaara.”

“Don’t thank me,” he insists. “At least not until after you meet the other Kages.”
>2/3

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>>4434970
“Terumi-tono.”

“Naori-san. Can this wait until after I’m out of the shower?”

“It’ll take five minutes. I can tell you through the door.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be representing the small villages at the Kage Summit. Gaara already backs me, but I’d like an official letter from you as well if you’re willing.”

“I doubt we’ll find a better candidate for the job,” she admits through the door. “I’ll start on in once I’m dressed.”

“Sorry for the interruption.”

“I’m not bothered by it,” she admits, before adding something under her breath. “Though it’d be nice if a cute young man...”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

…

The last matter… is the matter of Ōnoki and Iwagakure. You could call Kurotsuchi to your neutral ground in the Land of Grass, or ask her to meet you at the border… but both of those things would take some time to handle. Would it be better to send a personal message requesting a meeting with a hiraishin tag in the envelope, and spend the interim time planning things out with your own faction back at the hideout?

>Head for the border of Iwagakure. You can get there fastest from Takigakure.
>Arrange a meeting at the hidden teahouse in the Land of Grass.
>Head back to your hideout and send a messenger shrike instead. Better use of time.
>Other?

>>4434971
>>Head back to your hideout and send a messenger shrike instead. Better use of time.
we do also have to arrange our escorts

>>4434973
>>4434971
maybe also add a personal letter to kurotsuchi to it, not sure how long its been, but its the nice thing to do

>>4434971
>Arrange a meeting at the hidden teahouse in the Land of Grass.

>>4434971
>Head back to your hideout and send a messenger shrike instead. Better use of time.

I agree with >>4434976

>>4434971
>>Head back to your hideout and send a messenger shrike instead. Better use of time.

>>4434971
>>Head back to your hideout and send a messenger shrike instead. Better use of time.
>also send a personal letter to Kurotsuchi

>>4434971
>Head back to your hideout and send a messenger shrike instead. Better use of time.

>>4434971
this>>4434973
and
this>>4434976

>>4434971
>>4434976
this

>>4434971
You decide that the better use of your time is to return to your hideout and write a pair of letters over breakfast, to send to Iwagakure. So you do so, with the first letter being a matter-of-fact introduction to the situation for the Tsuchikage’s benefit, and a request for a meeting. This you mark with a hiraishin formula, with instructions to simply destroy the letter in the event of a refusal to meet. The second letter is a brief, more personal note for Kurotsuchi.

>Kurotsuchi,
>I know it’s been a while since my last letter, and I can only hope that my contacting you like this won’t be a problem.
>How have you been since the summit? I can only hope your life has at least been less eventful than mine lately.
>You may not know yet but we’ll probably see each other again at the Kage Summit.
>Mifune-han and Gaara-tono wanted a representative of the smaller villages and nations, and my name’s the only one under serious consideration.
>I’m asking your grandfather for a meeting because it would be nice to have the acknowledgement of three of the Kages beforehand.
>But in any event the smaller nations seem to mostly agree with my appointment.
>Here’s hoping this ends well.
>Naori

“Kuchiyose: Kijani!”

You summon your scroll-bearing compatriot, handing him the two letters. “I need you to get these to Kamizuru Kurotsuchi, in Iwagakure. Can you do that?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem, Lady Naori,” he replies, taking the scrolls in one talon.

“I’d prefer it if you sent one of the smaller shrikes,” you continue. “Avoid exposing yourself. Okay?”

“I can do it that way if you truly find it necessary,” Kijani-han agrees.

“Thank you, Kijani-han,” you bow politely. “Then please see to it.”

…

“So what was all that about?” Karin asks you a few minutes later.

“We’re going on a bit of a trip,” you explain. “The five Kages are going to be convening in the Land of Iron, and you’re coming with me.”

“I am?” Karin asks curiously. “Since when?”

“Yeah no, all the Kages will be bringing sensors,” you tell her. “So why not just bring a better sensor?”
>1/2

>>4436595
“So the remaining question is whether seeing a clone of Yugito-han would be a good thing for the Raikage,” you muse, “or a bad thing. That’s absolutely gonna decide who gets to send their shadow clone along.”

“I think it would be positive,” Yugito-han guesses.

“Then your clone, Karin, and I will go,” you decide. “I’m only allowed two attendants, so Fū, the real Yugito, and one of my own shadow clones will remain here.”

“Aw,” Fū pouts. “I don’t get to go?”

“Sorry,” you shake your head. “Not this time. But your job here’s just as important.”

“… ‘kay.”

…

Over the rest of the day you collect the letters you requested one by one… many are surprisingly glowing. Rōran credits you with guarding the Ryūmyaku and protecting their kingdom. The Land of Snow credits you for saving their new daimyō and setting them on a path to reform. The Kazekage credits you with saving his life. Kusagakure credits you with preventing the “Grass Fruit” faction from deploying the Box of Paradise, and for rooting out corruption in Hozuki Castle’s administration. Hoshigakure credits you with stopping the previous Hoshikage and saving all of the village’s children from agonizing deaths.

…

Eventually, late that evening, you get a signal from Iwagakure.

>Be cautious, take a companion with you.
>Be cautious, send a shadow clone first.
>Offer a show of trust, go in person.
>Other?

>>4436637
>Offer a show of trust, go in person.

>>4436637
>>Offer a show of trust, go in person.

>>4436637
>>Offer a show of trust, go in person

>>4436637
>>Offer a show of trust, go in person.

>>4436637
>Offer a show of trust, go in person.

>>4436637
>>Offer a show of trust, go in person.

>>4436637
>>Offer a show of trust, go in person.

Not really much danger in this, what with Hiraishin and Naori's general power. It'd take Onoki himself attacking to even force Naori to leave, I think.

>>4436637
>>Offer a show of trust, go in person.

>>4436637
>>Offer a show of trust, go in person.

>>4436637
>>Offer a show of trust, go in person.
if anything gets us at this point, i don't think caution woulda saved us anyway

>>4436637
>Offer a show of trust, go in person.

>>4436637
>Offer a show of trust, go in person.
>In Sage Mode.

Where a trusting person, not a stupid one.

>>4436637
You sense that there are no nasty surprises waiting for you immediately after arrival at the marking in Iwagakure… it’s in a room, and it seems that Kurotsuchi is the only one in the room with it. So you look at it from the perspective of the amount of time it would take you to enter sage mode were you to find an ambush waiting for you elsewhere in the village, versus the potential trouble it might cause were you to appear in sage mode as though ready to attack.

Eventually you decide that there are very few people who could even force you into sage mode in the first place, and that the odds of needing sage mode are lower than the odds that arriving in it will cause the sort of trouble you’re trying to avoid.

You do, however, travel with your armor and with Umekiri at your hip. You may be going for a show of trust, but you’re not going to invite trouble.

…

“Naori,” Kurotsuchi greets you with a frown.

“Kurotsuchi-han,” you incline your head politely. “Where are we?”

“It’s a standby station,” she explains. “I take it every village has someplace like this… I cleared ours out for the purpose.”

“… why?”

“Well,” she glances to the side, at the rest of the empty room, “I know you like to set up places to teleport to that are out of the way, so I figured it might be more… comfortable, or something?”

“You’re not entirely wrong,” you admit.

…

As luck would have it, this ‘ready room’ stands very close to the center of Iwagakure, and can access the combined Tsuchikage residence and academy building by just a single narrow bridge. So you’re soon outside old Ōnoki’s office when Kurotsuchi motions for you to stop.

“I don’t know how the old man’s going to greet you,” she admits. “So… yeah. Just be on your toes, ‘kay?”

“You’re not going in?” you enquire.

“No,” she shakes her head. “Remember to have fun in there.”

You roll your eyes at her and step into Ōnoki’s office.
>1/2

>>4437768
“So you came after all,” he muses behind his desk. Scanning the room, you see that he has the only chair in it… it seems he expects you to stand. “The last time we saw each other face to face was years ago… you’ve grown.”

“That’s what people my age do,” you frown, standing patiently across the desk from him.

“You’ve also decided to don armor,” he observes. “I haven’t seen that since I was a brat!”

“My kenjutsu style is based on samurai koryū,” you explain. “When I was fighting Pain I barely noticed it.”

“People your age should have more confidence in their abilities than to need armor,” Ōnoki quips.

“People my age won’t throw their backs out,” you counter, “from taking the extra precaution. But seriously, there’s going to be a time and place for criticisms if you’ve got them. That’s not what we’re here for.”

“You sound confidence.”

“No yeah, I’m here looking for support,” you clarify. “Not permission. I’ve already got the blessings of Ame, Taki, Kusa, Hoshi, and Yuki, along with several daimyō from non-shinobi nations. You’d be hard-pressed to find enough opposition for it to matter.”

“Why come here looking for support?” Ōnoki demands. “Let’s hear your reasoning.”

“Because Gaara-han and Terumi-han have already agreed,” you explain, “leaving me one short of a majority of the Kages. I can’t count on the Raikage, and the interim Hokage’s the problem so far as I’m concerned.”

“Shimura Danzō,” Ōnoki muses. “The worst Konohagakure has to offer.”

“No kidding,” you shake your head. “He’ll be seeking to legitimate himself, you know.”

“You’re saying you’re willing to undermine him?”

“My being there undermines him,” you admit. “I know too many of his dirty secrets for comfort.”

“So what exactly are you proposing?” the Tsuchikage asks.

>You get nothing from this aside from the pleasure of seeing me unload on Danzō.
>Your village hired Akatsuki the most often. Like it or not we're in this together.
>I’m ex-Akatsuki. My perspective will be invaluable at the Summit and you know it.
>Other?

>>4437785
>I’m ex-Akatsuki. My perspective will be invaluable at the Summit and you know it.
This first followed by this
>Your village hired Akatsuki the most often. Like it or not we're in this together.

Beneficial to both.

>>4437785
>>Your village hired Akatsuki the most often. Like it or not we're in this together.

>>4437785
>>4437787
Agreed

>>4437785
>>Your village hired Akatsuki the most often. Like it or not we're in this together.
>>I’m ex-Akatsuki. My perspective will be invaluable at the Summit and you know it.

>>4437785
>>Your village hired Akatsuki the most often. Like it or not we're in this together.

>>4437785
>>Your village hired Akatsuki the most often. Like it or not we're in this together.

>>4437785
“For real, your village hired Akatsuki the most often,” you smirk, “and so that means you have the most to answer for, so far as the other Kages are concerned. I already know I’ll have to answer for my previous associations, and when I do that it will deflect some of the attention away from you."

“So like it or not, we’re in this together.”

Ōnoki chews on that thought for a few moments before he admits defeat. “I see what you mean. I also understand from what my granddaughter says that you’re an extraordinarily reliable young woman, so I’m willing to believe you really think that your presence will lead to a more successful outcome to this summit.”

“Good to know Kurotsuchi-han does have my back,” you muse.

“She can be stubborn about such things,” the Tsuchikage muses. “A common characteristic of shinobi from our village. But on the other hand, don’t expect me to just go along with what the Kazekage and the Mizukage decide to say either. If they want the cooperation of the Kages they’ll have to define what 'success' looks like, then they'll have to earn it.”

“That’s the whole reason Gaara-han called the meeting in the first place,” you reply calmly. “I have faith in him.”

…

“So...” Kurotsuchi muses after the meeting has concluded, and you have a notice from the Tsuchikage supporting your participation in the Kage Summit. “We don’t… like… ever do stuff, you know?”

“Not really,” you agree. “Do you… want to do something together? Like dinner maybe?”

“I guess it’d be nice?” she admits awkwardly. “I mean every time we meet it seems that you’re the one treating me. It just feels uneven, you know? Like I’m being a lousy friend.”

“Well, if it really bothers you,” you muse, “I suppose I could let you treat me.”

“Cool,” she replies. “I know a place. Real traditional… my guess is you’d like that better than something you can get anywhere?”

“May as well,” you agree. “Lead the way.”

…

Your first foray into the local cuisine in Iwagakure is an exciting one. At the center of a round silver tray placed at the center of your table is a pinwheel-shaped loaf of steamed bread, made from barley flour, and around it are dishes to go with it, portioned for two. One is a soup made with spiced lentils, the second is a dish full of barley-flour dumplings filled with curried meat and potato, and the third is roasted cauliflower with peppers and spices. The dessert comes out with it in its own dish, full of candied fruits.

“What’s the meat in these?” you ask curiously.

“Buffalo,” Kurotsuchi-han informs you.
>1/2

>>4439290
“What’d you and Ōnoki talk about?” she wonders. “And don’t tell me it’s ‘classified’ or something like that. Gimme some details!”

“It wasn’t much,” you shrug. “I just pointed out quite correctly that he hired Akatsuki the most over the years, and that my being a former Akatsuki will split some of the scrutiny he’d normally face over it.”

“That’d do it,” Kurotsuchi-han nods curtly. “Anything else? Come on, spill it already!”

“There was a fair bit of banter over my armor,” you muse. “The only other topic that really came up was the interim Hokage...”

“That Danzō guy?” Kurotsuchi-han presses. “You know something about him?”

“I know a lot of things about him,” you smirk. “But I guess what’s most relevant is that he believes his own hype so much that in his head self-aggrandizement and the village’s interest are one and the same.”

“So he’s one of those,” Kurotsuchi rolls her eyes. “Got it.”

“There’s a lot more I could say,” you admit, “but it’s really not my place to say it.”

“Well, least now we know the kinda guy we’re dealing with,” Kurotsuchi-han muses. “Isn’t that a problem for you? One that you could… you know. Solve yourself?”

“Yeah no, I could probably make him disappear,” you admit. “But would that really make things better?”

“Probably?” Kurotsuchi-han insists. “I mean it sounds like his replacement couldn’t be worse?”

“True,” you agree. “But at the same time it’d probably cause chaos for one of my larger, more reliable allies. And if the Kage Summit goes well, they’re going to be your allies too, at least for a little while.”

“So it’s best to keep them at full strength even if it means they’re being led by an asshole?”

>That’s right. Because as soon as Tsunade-han wakes up from her coma, Danzō’s toast.
>You just leave Danzō to me. There are plenty of ways to undercut him without killing him.
>His own jōnin council doesn’t trust him. It’s literally just the daimyō and two elders.
>Other?

>>4439365
>>You just leave Danzō to me. There are plenty of ways to undercut him without killing him.
>>His own jōnin council doesn’t trust him. It’s literally just the daimyō and two elders.

>>4439365
>You just leave Danzō to me. There are plenty of ways to undercut him without killing him.
>His own jōnin council doesn’t trust him. It’s literally just the daimyō and two elders.

>>4439365
>>You just leave Danzō to me. There are plenty of ways to undercut him without killing him.
>>His own jōnin council doesn’t trust him. It’s literally just the daimyō and two elders.

>>4439365
>>You just leave Danzō to me. There are plenty of ways to undercut him without killing him.
>>His own jōnin council doesn’t trust him. It’s literally just the daimyō and two elders.
Fuck Danzo

>>4439365
>>You just leave Danzō to me. There are plenty of ways to undercut him without killing him.
>>His own jōnin council doesn’t trust him. It’s literally just the daimyō and two elders.

>>4439365
>>You just leave Danzō to me. There are plenty of ways to undercut him without killing him.

ALL OF THE DIRTY LAUNDRY. It’s gonna be good lol

>>4439365
>>You just leave Danzō to me. There are plenty of ways to undercut him without killing him.
Seriously, Konoha really needs more self awareness. Danzo as Hokage is the perfect way to get it.

>>4439365
>You just leave Danzō to me. There are plenty of ways to undercut him without killing him.
>His own jōnin council doesn’t trust him. It’s literally just the daimyō and two elders.

Bit excessive info, but fuck Danzo

>>4439365
“Leave it to me,” you shake your head. “It’s literally just the Fire Daimyō and a couple of their elders backing him, he doesn’t even have the loyalty of his own jōnin council. All I have to do is undercut him hard enough that he can’t solidify his position.”

“No one has to dirty their hands over the likes of him.”

That being said, there are two people you could talk to in order to get the full story… unfortunately both Senju Tobirama and Sarutobi Hiruzen are not only dead, but from what you understand both were likely sealed inside the Shinigami during the Third Hokage’s battle against Orochimaru. At least, that’s the rumor based on the observations of a few Konoha ANBU nearby.

Come to think of it, the style of barrier that you saw keeping the ANBU out was the sort that’s usually maintained as a cooperation ninjutsu, and you know that Orochimaru had the Sound Four at his disposal during the invasion attempt. And you also know that one of those four is still alive… the only living person who might know exactly what happened inside that barrier.

So maybe… just maybe… talking with Tayuya might give you a clearer understanding of whether or not bringing back one or more of the previous Hokages is possible, and if so whether it might be worth doing. At least, perhaps for the purpose of freeing their souls and ensuring that no one else can summon them to use for nefarious purposes.

“You still with me in there?” Kurotsuchi-han wonders.

You suddenly snap back to reality. “Hey, sorry. I was just mulling something over.”

“Can you talk about it?” she rolls her eyes.

You shake your head. “Yeah no… that’s a hard no.”

“Well, good luck with whatever it is,” she shrugs. “You gonna eat that fruit?”

…

After finishing your meal with Kurotsuchi-han, and enjoying a bit more chatter before you have to go about your business, you collect the last of the letters you were looking for and pass them off to Konan-sensei. She’ll hold onto them for now, collating them into a single file that you’ll take with you when the time comes.

But now you have a serious question… do you want to try to pursue the outstanding issue of the Hokages’ souls?

>Confirm it with Tayuya. If you can do it safely, freeing their souls would be worth it.
>Just ask Tayuya about it… but you’re not sure that it’s a good idea to actually go through with it.
>It’s too many unknowns, and too much of a violation of nature.
>Other?

>>4440960
>>Confirm it with Tayuya. If you can do it safely, freeing their souls would be worth it.

>>4440960
>>Confirm it with Tayuya. If you can do it safely, freeing their souls would be worth it.

>>4440960
>>Confirm it with Tayuya. If you can do it safely, freeing their souls would be worth it.
If Naruto taught me anything, it’s that necromancy is always a good option. As long as it’s not an Uchiha

>>4440960
>Confirm it with Tayuya. If you can do it safely, freeing their souls would be worth it.

>>4440960
>Just ask Tayuya about it… but you’re not sure that it’s a good idea to actually go through with it.
We already do necromancy under more dire circumstances (or to prove a big point), so this seems like a better option.

>>4440960
>>Confirm it with Tayuya. If you can do it safely, freeing their souls would be worth it.

>>4440960
>Confirm it with Tayuya. If you can do it safely, freeing their souls would be worth it.

>>4440960
>>Confirm it with Tayuya. If you can do it safely, freeing their souls would be worth it.

>>4440960
>>Confirm it with Tayuya. If you can do it safely, freeing their souls would be worth it.

File: 41426740_p0.png (928 KB, 934x1105)

928 KB PNG

>>4440960
You decide that if there are three souls trapped inside the Shinigami, and you can free them safely, it would be worthwhile to do so even if you got nothing out of it but the practice and experience. If things really work in your favor, it may also be possible to get some useful information in the process.

…

“Tayuya,” you greet the former Oto-nin quietly.

“This is rare,” she frowns at you. “Usually you don’t come and find me… it’s more like you make time when you’re here to butt in.”

“I realized you could help me with something,” you admit. “Can we talk in private?”

Tayuya leads you to her small apartment building… six small flats on two floors right on the edge of the clearing the village sits in, connected by an outdoor stairway and a covered walkway on the facade. The kitchen and sitting room probably isn’t much more than fifteen square meters, with a bedroom down a short hallway that’s probably about ten square meters, across the hall from a toilet room and a shower room.

She hits the lever on an electric kettle. “Herbal okay?”

You nod, taking a seat on a cushion at the low table. “That’s better, actually.”

“My own damn brain tends to keep me up,” Tayuya admits, getting out two cups, a tea ball, and a small saucer. “Doesn’t need the extra help.”

“I get the feeling,” you admit. “Are you… okay?”

“Yeah,” Tayuya sighs. “It’s just not as easy to… well, adjust… as I thought it’d be. It’s frustrating as hell.”

“You were what, fourteen when we met?”

She nods curtly. “Sucks hard, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” you agree as she sets the two cups down on the table. “Sorry, no coasters.”

“Your house,” you shrug. “Curse mark bothering you at all?”

“Only cause I can’t fall back on it,” she admits. “Pisses me off pretty good… I used to shittalk people all the time and now I get to feel like trash.”

“Is that why you’ve been working out?”

She allows herself a little smirk. “Hey, figured I couldn’t get away with those noodle-arms anymore. Not having a crutch and all.”

“So, what’s this really about?”
>1/2

>>4441203
“I need you to answer two simple yes or no questions,” you admit. “And seriously, I need you to never tell anyone what I asked you, or what your answers were. Can you agree to that?”

“Sure,” she shrugs. “Fire away.”

“Did Orochimaru land the killing blow against the Third Hokage?” you ask bluntly. “On the day of the invasion attempt?”

“Come to think of it...” Tayuya frowns. “No.”

“You’re sure?” you press. “Tayuya-han, I need you to be sure.”

She shakes her head. “No. Now that you mention it, the way their battle ended seems really weird. They were just… kinda standing there like morons.”

“And the second question,” you continue. “Did Orochimaru use the reanimation jutsu in that battle?”

Tayuya nods. “Yeah, I remember he tried to summon three dead old geezers, but only two of them worked.”

“That’s more than I needed to know,” you admit, “but the extra context will really help.”

“Hang on,” she frowns. “What the hell are you...”

“Don’t ask,” you interrupt. “Seriously, I don’t wanna have to lie to you, Tayuya-han.”

…

“Anything I can get you as a thank-you gift?” you ask her when you’re finally ready to go.

She shakes her head. “Not unless you can get me a house, no. I’m good.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” you shrug. “Thank you for the chat, and for the tea.”

“Sure,” she smiles. “Stop by whenever.”

…

So you’re actually going to do this. You figure the best way to do this is to mimic your solution to ‘sanitizing’ the reanimation technique by using senjutsu, only adding a step of putting the mask on the artificial ‘sacrifice’ and controlling it to perform a series of hand seals.

>Try to summon the Shinigami using a senjutsu ‘proxy’ body, and be ready to perform the Tensa Jōdo Tensei immediately.
>Create a body using senjutsu and attach Hidan’s head to it. Play your cards right and the Shinigami will solve another problem for you.
>Other?

>>4441213
>Create a body using senjutsu and attach Hidan’s head to it. Play your cards right and the Shinigami will solve another problem for you.

Oh yeah we have his head. Yeah lets use this, even if we fail and Hidan actually dies, we frankly don't lose anything with a worth.

>>4441213
>>Create a body using senjutsu and attach Hidan’s head to it. Play your cards right and the Shinigami will solve another problem for you.
War criminals have no rights.

>>4441213
>>Create a body using senjutsu and attach Hidan’s head to it. Play your cards right and the Shinigami will solve another problem for you.
Hidan can go fuck himself

>>4441213
>Create a body using senjutsu and attach Hidan’s head to it. Play your cards right and the Shinigami will solve another problem for you.

>>4441213
>>Create a body using senjutsu and attach Hidan’s head to it. Play your cards right and the Shinigami will solve another problem for you.

>>4441213
>Create a body using senjutsu and attach Hidan’s head to it. Play your cards right and the Shinigami will solve another problem for you.

>>4441213
>>Create a body using senjutsu and attach Hidan’s head to it. Play your cards right and the Shinigami will solve another problem for you.

Gotta love it when you can accomplish multiple goals with one plan.

>>4441213
You decide to try your best to get a two-for-one out of this, and head to the Land of Grass hideout to begin. First you enter sage mode and reinforce the barrier ninjutsu you have in place here, before creating a body using senjutsu flow. In theory it works the same way that you would do it for the Tensa Jōdo Tensei technique. But this time you create it without a head, and unseal Hidan’s head from its scroll.

“The fuck is going on now!?” he demands. “Where are we? When are we? Why’re you wearing armor?”

“Shut up,” you grumble, attaching Hidan’s head to the immobile false body.

“What’re you doing?” he demands. “Why’re you sticking me on a statue?”

“You’ll find out in a moment,” you tell him, placing the Shinigami mask over his face. “Seriously, just shut up for a moment.”

After several seconds you watch as the body straightens out into a T-pose, and a gaunt, spectral being manifests above and behind it with a tantō in hand. At your direction it slits its belly open, slitting the sacrificial body open in the same spot amid a lot of howling from Hidan behind the mask.

Five blue orbs of flickering energy emerge from the Shinigami, four of which float in the air between you and the Hidan-puppet. The fifth seems to quiver, before dissipating entirely.

Now you take the second step, manifesting four more false senjutsu-bodies into which the orbs stream into.

“Kuchiyose: Tensa Jōdo Tensei!”

Dust and debris swirls as the familiar summoning markings spread across the floor of the hideout, and coalesce around the four bodies, gradually becoming recognizable… or at least two of them are. One becomes the visage of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato-han. The second becomes the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, wearing the same combat uniform in which you understand he was killed. The other two wear the old-style shinobi battle armor: one with sharp tattooed markings on his chin and cheeks, silvery hair, and blue armor with a fur collar. The other with tanned skin, long black hair, and red armor… this last of the four feels different. You can feel exceptional raw power radiating from him, though his face is totally calm.

“What the shit!?” Hidan shouts.

You step past the confused Hokages, pulling off the Shinigami mask and separating Hidan’s head with a chop of your hand.
>1/2

File: 6633-naruto-shippuden-366(...).jpg (12 KB, 320x180)

12 KB JPG

>>4441324
“What the fuck was that supposed to be!?” Hidan protests loudly. “For fuck’s sake do you even know what you’re doing!? Were you trying to feed me to that thing!?”

“I didn’t know if it was going to take your soul,” you admit, taking out the sealing scroll, “but I’d certainly hoped.”

“You’re fucking with stuff that you have no way of understanding!” he insists.

“I know,” you reply, preparing to seal the head away again. “This is how I learn.”

...

“I have seen some strange things,” the man in the red armor muses, “and that was certainly one of them.”

“Sorry,” you apologize with a shrug. “I was hoping the Shinigami would take the soul of that mass-murdering immortal cultist off my hands, but no such luck I guess.”

“Hang on...” Hiruzen-tono muses. “I know your face… Naori-kun, wasn’t it?”

“That’s me,” you reply. “It’s been a while, Lord Third… and to answer the obvious question no, I’m not with Orochimaru.”

“Is that so?” he wonders. “So you figured out how to undo the Shiki Fūjin, then reanimated us into these bodies?”

“Yeah no, with senjutsu it’s almost trivial,” you admit. “Welcome back to the world of the living.”

“You know this girl, Hiruzen?” the man in the blue armor enquires. “She appears to be of Mito’s clan… and bold, to summon us without any sort of binding.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know two of you,” you admit. “Maybe we could do with a round of introductions?”

“Well, I guess I’m the ‘First’ Hokage,” the man in red begins. “Senju Hashirama is my name.”

“Senju Tobirama,” the man in blue continues. “I was the Second… Hiruzen it seems you know already, but one of us is unfamiliar to me.”

“Oh,” Minato-han realizes, turning to show off the back of his coat. “The Fourth Hokage, sir, Namikaze Minato.”

“Ah, so there was a fourth!” Hashirama muses happily. “That’s good news, it seems the village was stable for at least that long. How are things?”

“I actually don’t know, Lord First,” Minato-han admits. “I died and was sealed before Lord Third was.”

“Unrelated to when that stripling Orochimaru summoned us?” Tobirama-tono presses.

“Yes sir, a completely different incident.”
>2/3

>>4441347
“Now then,” Tobirama-tono turns his attention back to you. “The obvious question is why.”

“If you knew one of your ancestors was unable to move on to the Pure Land,” you muse, “wouldn’t you want to do something about it… grandpa Tobirama?”

He stares at you for a moment before it seems to dawn on him. “Is that so? Well… I suppose it’s harder to hold a grudge against your own grandchildren.”

“Great-great,” you correct him. “But thanks for the sentiment. In truth, I was also hoping for two things in addition to freeing you from the Shinigami… the first of which was preventing anyone else who may have learned your technique from using it the same way Orochimaru tried to.”

“I can certainly consent to anything that promises such security,” Hiruzen-tono admits, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “What do you propose?”

“A contract,” you offer. “It’s the only way I can think of. Establish a written contract for summons that you can refuse, and which even if it doesn’t prevent someone else from summoning you may allow me to circumvent their control of you.”

“That seems reasonable,” Minato-han agrees. “I would sign a contract like that, though I can only speak for myself of course.”

“And the second thing?” Tobirama-tono presses.

>A man by the name of Shimura Danzō has been causing problems for your village for the sake of his own advancement. I wondered if Tobirama-tono or Hiruzen-tono knew something I could use against him.
>I was hoping to trade information… catch you up on events which occurred after your deaths in exchange for insight into a few events which occurred before my birth. A fair trade, don’t you think?
>Things are getting out of control in the living world. I was hoping that I might be able to earn your trust, to the point that in a case of EXTREME need I might be able to call on one of you to help save the world.
>Other?

>>4441372
>>A man by the name of Shimura Danzō has been causing problems for your village for the sake of his own advancement. I wondered if Tobirama-tono or Hiruzen-tono knew something I could use against him.

The problems of the living are the purview of the living. I’m extremely hesitant to propose summoning them in the future.

>>4441372
>>A man by the name of Shimura Danzō has been causing problems for your village for the sake of his own advancement. I wondered if Tobirama-tono or Hiruzen-tono knew something I could use against him.

>>4441372
>>I was hoping to trade information… catch you up on events which occurred after your deaths in exchange for insight into a few events which occurred before my birth. A fair trade, don’t you think?
Yeah no, no summoning old Kages to solve our problems, we got plenty of capable good people with us.

>>4441372
>>I was hoping to trade information… catch you up on events which occurred after your deaths in exchange for insight into a few events which occurred before my birth. A fair trade, don’t you think?

Put emphasis on getting them free and not being inside Shinigami and being save from getting summoned by bad guys for info on Danzo.

As rude it might be, they are four Hokages. There will be uses for them when shit hits the fan.

>>4441372
>>A man by the name of Shimura Danzō has been causing problems for your village for the sake of his own advancement. I wondered if Tobirama-tono or Hiruzen-tono knew something I could use against him.
>>I was hoping to trade information… catch you up on events which occurred after your deaths in exchange for insight into a few events which occurred before my birth. A fair trade, don’t you think?
Just securing them out of play entirely is enough. Our side can probably handle it

>>4441372
>>I was hoping to trade information… catch you up on events which occurred after your deaths in exchange for insight into a few events which occurred before my birth. A fair trade, don’t you think?

>>4441559
its gonna be tough regardless, but Naori doesn't know that and not wanting or even preparing to summon them is the in character choice

>>4441372
>>A man by the name of Shimura Danzō has been causing problems for your village for the sake of his own advancement. I wondered if Tobirama-tono or Hiruzen-tono knew something I could use against him.
>Long story short the Fifth hokage, Tsunade, yes that Tsunade, was hurt while battling the leader of the Akatsuki, and is currently unable to do her duty. As all the other hokage are deceased it defaulted into Hokage candidates, the only one even semi-loyal to the village being Danzo. The same man who causes the formation of the Akatsuki in the first place. The man who has no real support except of the Daimyo who does not know any better and a few elder who have likely been in bed with him since before the Third stepped down to the Fourth. He's caused a great deal of pain without being the leader of a great ninja village, and if he secures his position he will cause a great deal more.

>>4441623
Mentioning Tsunade is smart. Supporting.

>>4441372
>A man by the name of Shimura Danzō has been causing problems for your village for the sake of his own advancement. I wondered if Tobirama-tono or Hiruzen-tono knew something I could use against him.
>I was hoping to trade information… catch you up on events which occurred after your deaths in exchange for insight into a few events which occurred before my birth. A fair trade, don’t you think?

>>4441372
“I figured we could take the chance to exchange information,” you explain. “I tell you about things that happened after your deaths, maybe help you rest a bit easier, and you tell me about some things that happened before my birth, and maybe I come away a bit wiser.”

The four Hokages seem to consider the offer for a few moments, until Hashirama-han laughs. “I see, I see! Very well then, how do you propose we do this fairly?”

“You can each ask one question, in numerical order,” you lay out your reasoning, “then I get to ask two… that way I’m both giving the most and getting the most.”

“Hmmm...” Hiruzen-tono muses thoughtfully. “That certainly sounds reasonable.”

“Then I’ll start,” Hashirama-han nods curtly. “Tell me this, Naori-san, who is the current Hokage?”

“Tsunade,” you reply.

Hashirama seems totally aghast.

“… Tsuna, huh? I wonder… is the village… okay?”

“Would it not be, sir?” Minato-han asks.

“Tsunade was my first granddaughter,” Hashirama explains with a wry grin, “so I spoiled her rotten. I’m afraid she might’ve also picked up my gambling habits!”

… this laughing idiot is the First Hokage revered as a ‘God of Shinobi’?

“Please forgive my brother,” Tobirama-tono frowns. “He’s an idiot sometimes...”

“… you don’t have to be so mean, brother...”

“… but can you tell me what the current situation with the Uchiha clan is?” Tobirama finishes his question, ignoring his brother’s plea.

“Yeah no, there is no clan,” you explain. “Only two survivors that I know of, down from three… a masked terrorist who calls himself Tobi, and Sasuke, a young man about my age who’s seen as a hero in Konoha. I suspect both have the Mangekyō… in fact I know that Sasuke has it.”

“Two others that I know of have a single sharingan,” you add, “both Mangekyō. Hatake Kakashi-han of Konoha, and myself. The rest were murdered to preemptively put down a rebellion.”

Tobirama-tono’s eyes narrow at this news, while Hiruzen-tono strokes his beard. “I suppose you answered one of my questions, and the other is more Minato-san’s place to ask… so may I ask where it is that you got that eye?”

“Itachi-han gave it to me,” you explain. “After I lost my original as a genin. He saved my life, and asked for nothing in return… so after he died, I helped Sasuke to repay him.”

“At least she seems to have a sense of duty,” Tobirama-tono grumbles. "The whole clan though..."
>1/2

>>4442396
“Do you know Uzumaki Naruto, and can you tell me how he’s doing?” Minato-han enquires.

“That’s two questions,” you point out, “but sure. He’s had a rough time lately, but along with Sasuke he’s considered a hero in your village. He fought hard and saved a lot of lives when Konohagakure was destroyed by Akatsuki… and before anyone wastes a question on it there were no casualties but the buildings.”

“Conflict no matter the era,” Hashirama-han muses quietly. “What a shame.”

“The entire village was destroyed?” Tobirama-tono grumbles. “Hiruzen, what is this ‘Akatsuki’ anyway?”

“A band of S-rank criminals and missing ninja, operating as mercenaries,” Hiruzen-tono explains for his seniors. “They came into prominence some time after the Third Shinobi war. I was investigating them when I died, as I had heard a rumor that Orochimaru had joined their ranks. I even planted a spy among their number.”

“Uchiha Itachi,” you add.

“So you knew that much,” Hiruzen muses. “I suppose that means you joined them at some point after my death… it would explain the pattern on your obi.”

“If you’d pardon my interruption, Lord Third,” Minato-han pipes up, “I think we had an agreement with the young lady?”

There are a few options here for you… you could go the more esoteric route, asking questions about the events which shaped the world you grew up in. But you can also ask some questions to either support for or disprove working theories you have, such as discerning ‘Tobi’s’ true identity, or learning more about Danzō’s misdeeds.

PICK TWO:
>Why was Danzō never made Hokage before now?
>What is the purpose of the hidden village system?
>What was Uchiha Madara’s Mangekyō ability?
>What is the worst thing that Danzō has ever done ‘for the village’?
>What is the purpose of having Shinobi in the world?
>Grandpa Tobirama, you seem conflicted about the Uchiha. Why?
>Other?

>>4442397
>Why was Danzō never made Hokage before now?
>Grandpa Tobirama, you seem conflicted about the Uchiha. Why?

One important question and one question that isn't as important. If we get second round of questions, then I think another Danzo question would be nice.

>>4442397
>>Why was Danzō never made Hokage before now?
>What is the purpose of the hidden village system?

I'm going with this, in the spirit of >>4442400

>>4442397
>>Why was Danzō never made Hokage before now?
>>What is the purpose of the hidden village system?
I'm leaning towards the villages versus shinobi, as Naori kinda makes the case for shinobi striking out 'alone', and we need to convince the Kages. Danzo is obvious. I'm curious about Grandpa Tobi but oh boi is asking about a genocided clan kinda awkward.

>>4442397
>Grandpa Tobirama, you seem conflicted about the Uchiha. Why?
>Why was Danzō never made Hokage before now?

>>Why was Danzō never made Hokage before now?
>What is the purpose of having Shinobi in the world?

>>4442477
link to post please, thank you

>>4442397
>>4442477
ffs i did link it

>>4442486
it happens, no worries

>>4442397
>>Why was Danzō never made Hokage before now?
>>What is the worst thing that Danzō has ever done ‘for the village’?

>>4442397
>>What is the worst thing that Danzō has ever done ‘for the village’?
>Grandpa Tobirama, you seem conflicted about the Uchiha. Why?

>>4442617
In case I don't get it done tonight, locking it in here.

>>4442397
“First question,” you begin. “Why was Shimura Danzō never made Hokage before this point?”

“I can perhaps answer that,” Tobirama-tono muses. “I was the one who trained both Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen, and I was the one who selected Hiruzen as the Third Hokage.”

“My brother may be an idiot,” he continues. “He may be idealistic to the point of naivete… but without that naivete, there would never have been a truce between the Senju and Uchiha, and Konohagakure could never have existed. I know full well that I lack my brother’s idealism, that I’m too much of a pragmatist. Hashirama was the leader Konohagakure needed in its early years, and I consider myself to have been successful only in that I passed on the mantle to another who shared that idealistic nature.”

“That was Sarutobi Hiruzen. But my intention was that after my death, throughout Hiruzen’s tenure, Shimura Danzō would be able to learn from Hiruzen’s idealistic nature, that the two would be able to find a useful working balance the same way that my brother and I were always able to maintain such a balance.”

“In that sense, I suppose I failed,” Hiruzen-tono admits. “I regrettably allowed Danzō unusual latitude in his own actions, which allowed him to create a subsidiary of ANBU that answered to him, rather than to myself. It was a similar failing to that I had with my student Orochimaru… both men grew power-hungry and arrogant. Both would argue that the naivete Tobirama-sensei spoke of would prevent us from going as ‘far’ as they felt was necessary in defense of Konohagakure. Neither truly understood that such recklessness and amorality betrayed the principles of Konohagakure the Hokage should preserve and nurture.”

“Ultimately, I could no longer turn a blind eye to him after two events… first, his attempt to have me assassinated, and second, his setting up the Uchiha clan massacre.”

“That cannot be considered your fault,” Tobirama-tono insists. “Perhaps I did not do enough to discourage him from such foolishness, or perhaps he is simply a grown man who refuses to learn from his mistakes and no one else but him can be blamed for it. It’s not for the dead to pass judgment.”

“Second question, while I have Tobirama-tono talking,” you muse. “You seemed conflicted about the Uchiha when you mentioned them previously. Why?”

“The Uchiha were old enemies of the Senju,” Tobirama-tono explains. “We fought many times when Hashirama and I were children, and I personally killed the younger brother of their leader, Uchiha Madara, during one of those clashes. Many Uchiha, including Madara, fell to madness in their time.”

“How much do you know about the sharingan?”

“A lot,” you admit. “At least about the Curse of Hatred and the Eternal Mangekyō.”
>1/?

>>4442797
“That makes it easier,” Tobirama-tono nods curtly. “Good. Both our clans were known to produce technically-adept shinobi, but where the Senju were known to derive strength from their vitality and zeal for life, the Uchiha were thought to derive strength from their kekkei genkai.”

“I assume you disagree with that?” you muse.

“Correct. Many would also incorrectly state that the Uchiha were cold, devoid of love, when the exact opposite is true. It is when an Uchiha experiences the loss of something which they love that they become truly strong… but this loss also triggers the Curse in many individuals. Kagami, Naori, and from the sound of it this ‘Itachi’, did not suffer the curse. But others were driven mad, as Madara was.”

“The Uchiha clan was always dangerous, but also tragic… it was a complicated issue. And so I always treated the Uchiha as a possible threat, but at the same time a threat that should be avoided by ensuring they had a sense of purpose fitting their abilities, and a sense of belonging within the village. I take it this did not continue after my death?”

“I’m afraid that was partly my fault, sir,” Minato-han admits frankly. “I was killed after a battle with the Nine-Tails… my guess is that a lot of people thought one of the Uchiha was responsible. And they weren’t exactly wrong.”

>Okay, I’m taking my next round of questions here. What makes you say that, Minato-han?
>Allow Hashirama to ask his question now, work your way back round and see what comes up along the way.
>Other?

>>4442805
>>Allow Hashirama to ask his question now, work your way back round and see what comes up along the way.

>>4442805
>>Okay, I’m taking my next round of questions here. What makes you say that, Minato-han?
lets be real, while we had this arrangement, its broken up now, we can still let the ask questions after we had our questions

>>4442805
>>Okay, I’m taking my next round of questions here. What makes you say that, Minato-han?

>>4442805
>Allow Hashirama to ask his question now, work your way back round and see what comes up along the way.

Be polite and allow them to ask, we set the rules so we follow the rules

>>4442805
>Allow Hashirama to ask his question now, work your way back round and see what comes up along the way.

>>4442805
>Allow Hashirama to ask his question now, work your way back round and see what comes up along the way.
There is no real reason to break it up too much, but that question is definitely something to keep in mind.

>>4442805
>>Allow Hashirama to ask his question now, work your way back round and see what comes up along the way.

>>4442805
>>Allow Hashirama to ask his question now, work your way back round and see what comes up along the way.

>>4442805
>Allow Hashirama to ask his question now, work your way back round and see what comes up along the way.

>>4442805
>Allow Hashirama to ask his question now, work your way back round and see what comes up along the way.

>>4442805
“Yeah no,” you muse, “that raises some questions from me… but I was the one who decided on the format here, so I’m obliged to follow it.”

“I see,” Hashirama-tono nods curtly. “Very commendable… I’d like to ask you, what is the current state of the world?”

“Clarify,” you reply. “That’s a really broad question.”

“I guess… focus on Konohagakure’s state of affairs and the general stability of geopolitics,” Hashirama clarifies… finally sounding a bit like a leader.

“Konoha’s position is weakened,” you admit. “Pain, the former leader of Akatsuki, out-fought the entire village until I arrived. And after I forced him into a corner he destroyed the whole village with a single attack. All I managed to protect were the hospital and the civilian evacuation centers. But the rebuilding is going quickly, and I helped arrange for shelf-stable food, heavy machinery, water treatment equipment, and that sort of thing to be sent in from my contacts in Amegakure, Takigakure, Hoshigakure, and Kusagakure.”

“Konoha also has a lasting alliance with Sunagakure, particularly thanks to the current Kazekage’s friendship with Uzumaki Naruto.”

“Naruto, hm...” Minato-han muses. “That’s good to hear.”

“But the rest of the world is as chaotic as most of you probably remember it being,” you admit. “Plus Akatsuki has been doing substantial damage.”

“You were once in Akatsuki,” Tobirama-tono presses. “What are your current intentions and loyalties?”

“My intentions are what they’ve always been,” you frown. “To do the best I can with what I’ve been given. At one point I thought that meant working with Akatsuki, reforming it from the inside. When I realized that was impossible I fought against Akatsuki alongside Konoha and Suna. I’ve made friends and useful contacts in most villages… Konoha, Suna, Iwa, Kumo, Kiri, Kusa, Hoshi, Ame, Taki, and Yuki.”

“The five Kages will be meeting shortly in the Land of Iron to discuss the situation with Akatsuki, and I’ve been invited by the hosts to represent the smaller villages and nations. My loyalties… if you can sum that up easily I’d say I’m more of a ‘woman of the people’ than of just one nation.”

Once Tobirama-tono seems satisfied with your answer, you move on to Hiruzen-tono, whose question has a much harder answer. “You mentioned that Tsunade-hime has been made the Fifth Hokage. Tell me, what has happened with Jiraiya and Orochimaru?”

You frown, considering how to break the news to him.

“I take it by your hesitation that the news isn’t good.”
>1/2

>>4443635
“They’re both dead,” you reply, avoiding his eyes. “Jiraiya was killed by Pain when he infiltrated Amegakure, which is where Akatsuki was notionally headquartered. Two of his students are still alive at least… Konan, my sensei from Amegakure, left Akatsuki after Pain, who was her childhood friend and a fellow student of Jiraiya-sensei’s, gave his life to revive the Konoha villagers his attack killed.”

“Uzumaki Naruto is regarded as a hero in the village after fighting Pain… he’d say we played an equal role in that outcome, but I think his idealism did more than he gives himself credit for in reaching the man Pain once was.”

You can tell that Minato-han is proud to hear your account of Naruto’s role in the village’s recent history, and of his studies under his own former sensei, but Hiruzen still seems troubled.

“You should give yourself more credit too,” he insists sternly. “After all, Jiraiya chose to instruct you as well, even for a short time. He may always have seemed frivolous, but he never did anything pointless. And Orochimaru? How did he die?”

“Uchiha Sasuke left the village to study under him,” you explain. “Orochimaru wanted his sharingan… well, he got what he deserved, if not what he wanted. Sasuke killed him.”

“I see,” Hiruzen frowns. “I put him through a lot I fear. His brother as well. Though… at least it’s good to hear that he has returned to the village of his own accord.”

“Thank you for telling me about Naruto,” Minato-han bows politely. “I know you didn’t have to go into such detail.”

“It’s no problem. I said those things because I wanted to.”

“Then tell me something… what do you know about this Uchiha you mentioned that is a part of Akatsuki?”

“I know Itachi-han was wary of him,” you muse. “I also know that he’s very skilled, a natural manipulator. Pain and Konan once seemed to answer to him rather than being the true leaders of Akatsuki, so he might be more powerful than Pain was.”

“I also know that he put Yagura, the former Three-Tails jinchūriki and previous Mizukage, under a long-lasting genjutsu. Complete control, from the current Mizukage’s description, both of the host and of Isobu itself. The genjutsu was apparently so strong that breaking it killed Yagura on the spot.”

PICK TWO
>You know something about this, don’t you Minato-han? Share with the class.
>Between the four of you, what are ALL of the Mangekyō abilities you know and who did they belong to?
>What was the original purpose of the Hidden Village system?
>What is the purpose of Shinobi in the world?
>Other?

>>4443636
>You know something about this, don’t you Minato-han? Share with the class.
>Between the four of you, what are ALL of the Mangekyō abilities you know and who did they belong to?

Two important questions this time. Hidden Village system and Shinobi question are good, but imo they don't provide us with relevant information that would help us to defeat the bad guys.

>>4443636
>You know something about this, don’t you Minato-han? Share with the class.
>What was the original purpose of the Hidden Village system?

>>4443639
>>4443636
Supporting this

>>4443636
>What is the purpose of Shinobi in the world?
>You know something about this, don’t you Minato-han? Share with the class.

I like that Naori is hosting her own Kage summit.

>>4443636
>>What was the original purpose of the Hidden Village system?
>>What is the purpose of Shinobi in the world?

>>4443636
>>4443639
This

>>4443636
“You know something about this, don’t you Minato-han?” you muse. “Care to share?”

“I guess now is as good a time to explain the events of that night,” he sighs. “On the night Naruto was born. It’s a long story, so I apologize in advance.”

“That’s fine,” you insist. “I’m in no hurry.”

“When a jinchūriki gives birth the seal holding their tailed beast weakens,” Minato-han begins. “We thought we had tight security, but somehow a third party found out our plans. That third party managed to release the Nine Tails, and forced me pretty hard in a short fight. His abilities were at least on par with the hiraishin, but were totally different… I eventually bested him with a hiraishin stage two, using a rasengan to counterattack.”

“But the damage was done. Kushina and I managed to contain the Nine Tails, though we both took fatal wounds in the process. I used the Shiki Fūjin to seal half the Nine Tails into myself, and half into Naruto.”

“And you suspected something about this mystery man’s technique?” Tobirama-tono asks, bringing Minato-han back to the main point under discussion.

He nods curtly. “That’s right. I suspected at the time that he must be Uchiha Madara, or at very least an Uchiha with the Mangekyō sharingan who wasn’t Uchiha Fugaku-san.”

“Second question then,” you continue, “open to anyone who has an answer… what are all of the Mangekyō abilities you all know of? Mine allows for the control of ‘flow’: chakra natures I normally don’t have access to, kinetic energy and movement, and to a very limited extent, the flow of time.”

“You probably already know of Itachi’s,” Hiruzen-tono offers. “One eye allows for use of the powerful genjutsu Tsukuyomi, while the other allows for the creation of inextinguishable black flames. I do not know what Fugaku-san’s abilities were… if he ever used the Mangekyō I have no knowledge of it. He was extremely hesitant to rely on it, and only informed me that he had awakened it out of courtesy.”

“Uchiha Shisui could use the Kotoamatsukami, a genjutsu that can so perfectly manipulate a target that no one could possibly know that he had done so. He wished to use that technique on Fugaku-san to prevent the looming Uchiha coup, though he was killed before he could do so. My guess is that Danzō was responsible, though I have no proof.”

“During the war six Uchiha possessed the Mangekyō,” Hashirama adds. “Rai, Baru, and Naka all fought and killed each other on the battlefield… I never got the chance to meet them while they lived. I also know that Naori-san and her friend Naka both possessed it, though each ended up sacrificing one of their Mangekyō to perform kinjutsu with them.”

Then he grins. “Sorry, but my brother’s the expert when it comes to that sort of thing!”
>1/2

>>4444132
“Izanagi is a genjutsu applied to the world itself,” Tobirama-tono explains, “essentially reducing a real event to a dream. Izanami was developed to counter Izanagi, a genjutsu which loops a subject’s experiences until they essentially give up trying to fight it.”

“A genjutsu that breaks its victim’s will,” Hiruzen-tono muses.

“That’s right,” Tobirama-tono confirms. “Both techniques will blind their user in one eye.”

“Do you know what either one’s eyes could do?” you press.

Hashirama nods with a smile. “Naori-san and I knew each other pretty well. She explained that her remaining eye could see things even other sharingan couldn’t… she could discern chakra with greater detail over greater distances, or see heat and magnetic fields, and read movements in the air with incredible precision.”

“The obvious outstanding issue,” you muse, “is Madara.”

“Izuna, his brother, never developed a more complex technique,” Tobirama-tono tells you. “Madara is another question for Hashirama.”

“I only believe I experienced it once,” Hashirama admits. “But I got the impression that he had a way to turn back time, and take a second attempt at events. It was very subtle, but during our last fight I definitely noticed that a few objects in what would eventually become the Valley of the End moved slightly from where they should have been… it suggested that about five seconds passed without my awareness.”

>So in other words, the man Minato-han and I briefly fought isn’t Madara.
>Feel free to ask me questions… I need to think about this a minute.
>Other?

>>4444133
It sounds like the man Minato han fought was the same one I know as Tobi, and while he claims to be Madara that doesn't fit with the abilities I have witnessed.

>>4444150
>>4444133
Hmmmm, .... Oh, >Feel free to ask me questions… I need to think about this a minute.

>>4444133
>>So in other words, the man Minato-han and I briefly fought isn’t Madara.

>>4444133
>Feel free to ask me questions… I need to think about this a minute.

>>4444133
>So in other words, the man Minato-han and I briefly fought isn’t Madara.
>Feel free to ask me questions… I need to think about this a minute.

Getting confirmation that Tobi isn't Madara is good info. The amount of missing Uchiha or those whose deaths weren't confirmed probably isn't that big, so checking potential identities of Tobi could be done.

>>4444133
>>Feel free to ask me questions… I need to think about this a minute.

>>4444133
>>Feel free to ask me questions… I need to think about this a minute.

>>4444133
>Feel free to ask me questions… I need to think about this a minute.

>>4444133
“Feel free to ask me some more questions,” you insist with a shake of your head. “I’m gonna need a minute to mull this over.”

“I’m curious,” Hashirama admits. “You’re a sage, right? Where did you learn to harness senjutsu?”

“I associate with the Shrike clan,” you explain. “Nyoka-han and Zenkibo-han are the ones who’ve done the most in my training. I hear that your clan once had some ties to the region the Shrikes live in now?”

“We did, once,” Hashirama nods. “I learned senjutsu there myself, despite not having a formal summoning clan. Tobirama also took his students there once if memory serves.”

“It was a mistake,” Tobirama-tono admits.

“Having faith in your students is never a mistake,” Hashirama insists.

“Most things when taken to an extreme become mistakes,” Tobirama-tono counters.

“As in many instances,” Hiruzen-tono muses thoughtfully, “the best approach is somewhere in the middle, it seems.”

“You always did have a way of finding balance, Saru,” Tobirama-tono shrugs. “That wasn’t the way of our times. Speaking of which, Naori-kun, you wear armor as we did, and not the flak jackets that it seems later generations adopted. Are we to infer that the current era has grown more warlike as to make such measures necessary?”

You shake your head. “Yeah no, some clans in Konoha still wear armor. For me it’s down to two facts: the kind of opponents I should be expecting, and the style of kenjutsu I use.”

“You learned from the samurai in the Land of Iron, I suspect?” Hiruzen-tono enquires.

“Exactly. So pretty much all of my combat techniques already allowed for armor… in a sense, finally committing to it is more like completing what I’ve spent years working on.”

“How do you find the samurai concepts of the martial arts?” Hiruzen-tono presses. “Consider that my next question.”

“It’s rooted in old philosophies,” you muse politely, “philosophies I wasn’t raised with. But yeah… I thought the idea of a budō was one worth considering as a shinobi. To me at least, blind loyalty to my village just… never seemed like enough, I guess.”

“The samurai also tend to value individual growth and development, both in ability and in mindset,” you add. “Which is something I think gets forgotten sometimes when shinobi are being trained to serve their village.”

“I think you and I are thinking along the same lines,” Minato-han sighs, “so for now let’s agree to dispense with the formalities. Do you believe that the Uchiha you suspect is involved with Akatsuki might be the same man who used the Nine Tails to attack Konohagakure?”
>1/?

>>4445600
“I can’t know,” you admit. “But I strongly suspect. It seems I had a similar experience… did the guy you fought use a chain that trailed behind him, to loop around you after he passed through you?”

“Yes!” Minato-han exclaims. “I almost didn’t realize it in time, but it was actually a really clever approach to combat given his abilities.”

“So it was the same person,” you confirm. “Honestly… I almost died.”

“It seems then that at least some members of your Akatsuki were trying to lay claim to tailed beasts quite some time ago,” Minato-han concludes.

“And the failure probably left him cautious,” you guess. “Someone like me, whose abilities are perfect for capturing a tailed beast solo… it would be much easier to kill a jinchūriki then let me ‘clean up’ afterwards.”

“But he wasn’t counting in your personality,” Minato-han reasons. “Your apparent ability to rise above the bitterness you might understandably feel towards the ‘great nations’ which waged wars across your homeland. Does that sound about right to you?”

“We may be looking too deep into it,” you admit. “But it’s not totally unreasonable either.”

>I also think we can fairly safely say that this mystery man isn’t Madara. Their abilities don’t match.
>Hashirama-han… is it even POSSIBLE for Madara to still be alive?
>I need one more piece of advice… there’s going to be a Kage Summit soon. How the hell do I DEAL with these people?
>Other?

>>4445664
>I also think we can fairly safely say that this mystery man isn’t Madara. Their abilities don’t match.
>Hashirama-han… is it even POSSIBLE for Madara to still be alive?
>I need one more piece of advice… there’s going to be a Kage Summit soon. How the hell do I DEAL with these people?

The first one is more of a statement and both of these questions are quite important. Last one maybe a bit more relaxed.

>>4445664
>>I need one more piece of advice… there’s going to be a Kage Summit soon. How the hell do I DEAL with these people?

>>4445664
>>I also think we can fairly safely say that this mystery man isn’t Madara. Their abilities don’t match.
>>I need one more piece of advice… there’s going to be a Kage Summit soon. How the hell do I DEAL with these people?

>>4445677
>>4445664
this

>>4445664
>>>I also think we can fairly safely say that this mystery man isn’t Madara. Their abilities don’t match.
>>>I need one more piece of advice… there’s going to be a Kage Summit soon. How the hell do I DEAL with these people?