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>>4469748
“Sasuke, hm?” Yugitō-han shakes her head, even as she pours herself some dried oats to make her breakfast. “How you feeling about this, Naori-san?”

“Honestly it’s hard to feel anything about it,” you admit. “It’s too far in the future, too many unknowns. I’m supposed to meet my other company members in about a week, and there’s a lot I want to do before then.”

“Such as?”

“Well, I had wanted to practice using rasengan as chakra flow,” you admit. “I also have to distribute hiraishin tags to people… at very least, to the division captains.”

“Who?” Fū enquires curiously.

“The three of you obviously,” you muse. “Konan-sensei has one, and some of the other Kages too. But all five should have one… same with some of the daimyō that I know. Temari, Kurotsuchi, Darui, Kankurō, Baki, Naruto, Killer B, Kagerō and Natsuhi… those are the others I think absolutely should have a tag.”

“So that you can move them around the battlefield if need be,” Karin realizes. “Or respond instantly to back up their units.”

“It covers all the Divisions at bare minimum,” you add, “along with all the special assets.”

>If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to spend my morning distributing some of the tags personally.
>I’ll be out training. The tags can mostly get where they need to go through the Kages.
>I think I’d like to know who will be in my unit NOW rather than later, so I can plan.
>Other?

>>4469751
>I think I’d like to know who will be in my unit NOW rather than later, so I can plan.
>The tags can mostly get where they need to go through the Kages.

Know your unit to get most out of it.

>>4469751
>I’ll be out training. The tags can mostly get where they need to go through the Kages.

>>4469751
>I think I’d like to know who will be in my unit NOW rather than later, so I can plan.

>>4469751
>>I’ll be out training. The tags can mostly get where they need to go through the Kages.

>>4469751
>>I think I’d like to know who will be in my unit NOW rather than later, so I can plan.

>>4469751
>I’ll be out training. The tags can mostly get where they need to go through the Kages.

>>4469751
>I think I’d like to know who will be in my unit NOW rather than later, so I can plan.

Razor sharp Rasengan is cool and all but the priority is definitely the team right now.

>>4469751
>>I’ll be out training. The tags can mostly get where they need to go through the Kages.

>>4469751
>>I think I’d like to know who will be in my unit NOW rather than later, so I can plan.

>>4469751
>I think I’d like to know who will be in my unit NOW rather than later, so I can plan.

>>4469751
>>I’ll be out training. The tags can mostly get where they need to go through the Kages.

>>4469751
>I think I’d like to know who will be in my unit NOW rather than later, so I can plan.

Also what happened to the finals for our chuunin exam? Is this still the day before them?

>>4469961
A whole bunch of really uninteresting fights is what happened. Most of the bunch that Naori recommended for promotion would've been promoted.

Also I'd started writing when it was tied, so I'm trying to decide whether to count this vote or not. Since I'm probably not going to update until tomorrow.

>>4469965
I don't mind if you disregard my vote.

Wonder if Naori can make another breakthrough with Sage Mode+gates.

>>4469751
“There’s going to have to be an exchange of information,” you muse thoughtfully. “I want to know in advance who else will be in my company, but I also need to distribute the hiraishin tags. So I can probably send the tags to the villages in question and they can send me back their unit recommendations.”

“But Kijani-han can handle all of that while I work on my chakra flow training.”

“Shall we just not bother you for a while?” Karin muses.

“That might be best,” you admit. “Yeah no, it’s gonna take some real focus this time.”

“That’s alright,” she sighs, “just come back in when you need us to feed you and it’ll be fine.”
>1d6, best three of four
>higher is better

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4469985

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4469985

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4469985

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4469985

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>>4469985
The first day, you spend doing nothing but trying and mostly failing to find ways to compress the chakra into the right shape. But by afternoon, you come up with something novel: you actually end up using your hanaseki-ceramic saya to perform the compression, giving you a much better feel for the process. If you left it at that you could probably perform an iai technique and deliver a nasty blow using just that step. But that’s not what you’re aiming for.

By the third day you find that you’re able to create a properly-shaped chakra flow contained around Umekiri’s blade without relying on the saya. It has no edge of course, so it’d really be like smacking someone with a vaguely sword-shaped rasengan… not exactly the level of improvement you were aiming for.

But on the afternoon of the sixth day…

“Well,” you declare, returning to the safehouse late for lunch. “We’re going to have to move, sorry. We’ll go to the Grass safehouse.”

“Wait, we need to move?” Yugitō-han demands as Karin simply stares at you in shock. “We’re just sitting down for lunch, why now of all times!?”

“I… might’ve accidentally...” you begin, embarrassed at your mistake.

“… cut off the top of the mountain? A little?”

“You what!?” Yugitō demands, aghast.
“You what!?” Fū presses, excited.

“Yeah no, I didn’t know the ‘Tenrantō’ was gonna be that powerful!” you protest your relative innocence. “So I took a swing with it and vaporized part of the mountaintop. It’s totally obvious where we are now, so we have to move.”

“Oh, fine then,” Yugitō-han sighs dramatically.

“But hey, upside,” you insist, clapping your hands together, “I managed to put a cutting edge on a rasengan, so that’s new!”

…

By the afternoon of the seventh day, you’ve moved everyone out of the Land of Hot Water hideout and into the one in the Land of Grass. That means not only teleporting everyone and their belongings and restocking the kitchen, but also ensuring that the barriers and the internal circuits are powered and adjusted for long-term use.

You’ve also had Kijani bring you a list of personnel, all of whom you assemble in the tea room near the ruins of the Kannabi Bridge by use of shadow clones and hiraishin. You of course are seated calmly in the usual position for a host, with hot water ready to make matcha, along with a tray of little plates for snacks. And of course, you’re also wearing your armor with your swords laying at your side.
>1/2

>>4471098
“Sai-kun, Sasuke-kun,” you greet the first two shinobi, offering them refreshments. “Good to see you both well. Sai-kun… am I to assume your ink summons can create large birds?”

“That is correct,” Sai bows politely. “My understanding is the same as yours… I’m here specifically because of that.”

“Very good,” you nod with a smile. “You can both sit. Kiri-han, I presume?”

A young man just a few years older than you steps forward… spiky black hair, dark eyes, and an unimpressed look on his face, obviously from Kirigakure. “Correct.”

“You’re a medic-nin?”

“That’s right,” he confirms.

You gesture for him to sit. “Good. Please have a seat.”

As he follows what he must view as more of an order than a suggestion, you call the next name forward. “Tango-han.”

A man with a bandanna-style forehead guard, stern eyes, and a flat nose steps up. “Ma’am.”

You repeat the gesture, he takes the tea and a wagashi, and sits next to Kiri. Both shinobi seem a little tense about it.

“Hyūga Kō-han,” you call the next name. So this is the guy Tsunade-han mentioned… rather plain, but not in a bad way. “Tsunade-tono mentioned you to me. Good to have your skillset.”

“Thank you, Raishō Naori-sama,” he replies with a polite bow. “But I don’t...”

“Take the tea,” you order.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Nara Daen-han,” you continue.

An uncle of Shikamaru-kun’s, you figure… a rather large man with a dark ponytail and a kind expression bows politely. “Raishō-san.”

“I see Tsunade wanted us to have Konoha’s diverse abilities at our disposal,” you smile. “I’ll make good use of you.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” he bows a second time. “I’ll be sure not to disappoint.”

“I’m sure you won’t,” you assure him. “Maki-han, it’s been a while.”

The kunoichi you’ve only met once bows curtly. “It has, since the incident with Gaara-sama.”

“Have a seat,” you insist. “You’re a fūinjutsu expert, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Good,” you nod, “that’s good. And… Omoi, wasn’t it?”
>2/3

>>4471101
“Yes!” the newly-minted chūnin yelps. “It’s been since the exams!”

“I’m aware,” you muse. “You did pretty well in the finals… your specialty is kenjutsu?”

“That’s right ma’am!”

“You can stop yelling,” you chuckle, “grab some tea.”

The next face is one you weren’t expecting. “Guren-han, I see they finally let you out of house arrest… we must really be screwed.”

“I requested this, actually,” she admits… she’s changed her outfit, going for a shorter sleeveless kimono that only comes down to her thighs. She now wears tights underneath this, with a short-sleeved shirt under the kimono, and with a sash around her waist.

“I can’t be left sitting idly by at a time like this,” she continues.

“And so they stuck you in my company so I could keep an eye on you,” you sigh, shaking your head. “Don’t worry about it, I trust you.”

“Thanks,” she inclines her head politely, taking her tea and snack.

“And last but not least, Ittan-han,” you conclude. A shinobi from Iwagakure, Ittan steps forward and takes his tea quietly. His spiky hair and beard are a dark brown, and his skin is tanned. “Earth release, right?”

“That’s right,” he confirms as he takes his seat. “Moving cores, rock shelters, and that sort of thing are my bread and butter.”

>Have them exchange their headband insignia for the Allied Forces equivalent. While they wear it, you expect their cooperation and discipline.
>Press them right out of the gate: can they do their jobs together with one-time enemies? If not, then they’re worse than useless to you.
>Explain one member at a time why each of you is here, and what you will expect them to do as a member of your command.
>Other?

>>4471104
>>Explain one member at a time why each of you is here, and what you will expect them to do as a member of your command.

>Have them exchange their headband insignia for the Allied Forces equivalent. While they wear it, you expect their cooperation and discipline.

>>4471104
>>4471116
This looks good order to do things. Supporting!

>>4471116
>>4471104
This one has it right

>>4471104
>>Have them exchange their headband insignia for the Allied Forces equivalent. While they wear it, you expect their cooperation and discipline.

>>4471104
>>4471116
This.

>>4471104
>>4471116
This

>>4471104
>Explain one member at a time why each of you is here, and what you will expect them to do as a member of your command.

>>4471104
“Good,” you muse. “I hope you all know this by now but I’m Raishō Naori, and you’re all here because you’ve been assigned to my unit, under the Headquarters Division. I’ve asked you all to come here in person so that I could get a better feel for your abilities and personalities.”

“We’re meant to be the fast response company,” you continue, “intended to travel between battlefields swiftly to back up units that are in trouble. Any questions so far?”

“Why are there only eleven of us?” Tango-han enquires curtly. “Isn’t a company supposed to be a thousand shinobi?”

“We’re below numbers, even if we get one more addition,” you admit, “but we’re way over-strength. By my count Sasuke-kun, Guren-han, and I are each worth at least a company.”

“That’s pretty arrogant,” Kiri frowns.

“It’s not,” Maki insists curtly. “Raishō-san is at the level of a Kage. If anything, a thousand is too low.”

“Specifics aside, this unit is a force multiplier,” you continue, ignoring any further arguments about your level of strength. “I’m capable of flying, as are my summons, and I can use Hiraishin. Sai-kun can create birds out of ink as summons, which can also help our whole unit move swiftly.”

“We have a medic-nin in Kiri-han, experts in sealing and binding targets in Daen-han, Maki-han, and myself, multiple sensory-types in Sasuke-kun, Kō-han, and myself… it’s actually a carefully-crafted unit. But if this is going to work, we’ll have to be committed to making it work.”

“That’s going to be a hard sell,” Sasuke-kun sighs deeply.

“My father was killed by Iwagakure,” Kiri glares at Ittan.

“And both my parents were killed by Konoha shinobi,” you counter. “So yeah no, I get it. But at the same time Ittan-han didn’t kill your father… in fact, Ittan-han is going to help you fight. Isn’t that right, Ittan-han?”

“Those are my orders,” Ittan agrees with a frown. “My understanding is that we all have similar?”

“We’re trying to do something that’s in everyone’s best interests,” Guren-han muses. “It seems we’re the backup… and while it’s true that the units we’ll be backing up have members from former rival villages, they’ll also have members from your own respective villages.”

“That’s by design,” you explain. “So I want everyone here to unpin the village insignia from their forehead protectors.”

“Ma’am?” Daen-han muses.

“Do it,” you confirm your order. “Consider it my first official order. You’ll understand in a moment.”
>1/2

>>4472672
Once your new subordinates follow your order, you produce the replacements: insignia sent to you by Mifune-han with a single character for ‘shinobi’ on them, to replace the village-specific engraved plates.

“As of today, we’re on the same side here,” you declare. “We fight not for our separate villages but for a single shared goal… so long as you wear these insignia I trust you to remain professional and disciplined. And until such time as you remove them, I trust you to treat everyone else who wears one as a comrade.”

“Betray my trust, and you will regret it.”

Then you rise to your feet. “Enjoy the tea.”

…

For your own part, you step outside and sit on the engawa and watch a light mist fall amidst the bamboo grove. It’s very calming… a tranquil scene like this is a key component not just of a proper tea experience, but of good architecture in general. And in times such as these, it feels even more important to take the few moments of calm and quiet that you can get.

It gives you a moment to consider your next move from here.

>Check in on some of your now-comrades, see how their preparations are going.
>Check in with the Raikage, you want the latest intelligence briefings you can get.
>Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact.
>Other?

>>4472716
First, since we are here >>Check in on some of your now-comrades, see how their preparations are going.
second: >Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact

>>4472716
>>Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact.

>>4472716
>Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact.

Yeah uhhhh, might have a thing or two to talk about

>>4472716
>Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact.

>>4472716
>Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact.
Might as well address it while we can.

>>4472716
>>Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact.

>>4472716
>Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact.

As much I want to check in with our new squad, we haven't talked with Tsunade.

>>4472716
>Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact.
>Check in with the Raikage, you want the latest intelligence briefings you can get.
>Check in on some of your now-comrades, see how their preparations are going

We have shadow clones, so why not just do all three?

>>4472791
Because the QM probably doesn't want to do all those updates.

>>4472791
>>4472812

Shadow Clones are literally perfect for multitasking, but it kinda same time runs against the idea of Quests that you have handful of options which to choose from. Like holy shit we could do everything with Naori's expertise on Shadow Clones, but that would be silly in the long run. At that point King could just replace >Other? with >Everything!

>>4472819
yeah, it's fine to combine options sometimes, and it makes sense IC to just "do everything" with shadow clones, but it's inconsiderate towards the person actually having to write it all and make the story work and flow properly.

>>4472716
>>Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact.
i miss her

>>4472716
>>Check in with Tsunade-han. There are some things you need to discuss… four things, in fact.

>>4472716
You leave a shadow clone here at the teahouse, because at the very least you’ll need to teleport all these people home when you’re finished. It’s a little early in the process, but it’s strange that there’s no permanent center of operations for the Alliance right now. That was basically the first thing you considered when you went your separate ways from Akatsuki.

In any event, you teleport to a hiraishin-marked kunai hanging over the door to Tsunade-han’s office and knock on the doorframe.

Tsunade glances up and motions for you to step in.

“There’s a lot of back paperwork,” she admits wearily from behind several stacks on her desk. “I can’t tell how much of this was because Danzō wasn’t doing his damn job and how much was because Kakashi wasn’t in the office very much.”

“Sorry I haven’t been by to see you,” you greet her with a calm smile, taking a seat across her desk. “It’s good to have you back… but yeah no, I have a bit of a headache for you here.”

“How bad?”

“How secure is this room?” you reply.

Tsunade-han frowns. “Fairly, especially with Danzō out of the picture.”

You briefly stand up and close the door, before sitting back down across from her. “So you must already know by now that I have a version of the reincarnation technique?”

“I’ve heard,” Tsunade-han replies. “Where is this going?”

“You also know by now that I am an Uzumaki,” you continue. “I mean, I’m definitely guilty of all the slightly insane stuff that made the clan infamous.”

“You are,” Tsunade agrees.

“I found the shinigami mask in the Uzumaki temple,” you admit, “on the edge of the village. I found it and figured out how to use it, and confirmed independently that all four of the previous Hokages were stuck inside the shinigami.”

“You released them?” Tsunade presses, suddenly much more interested in what you’re leading up to. “And then… you reincarnated them, didn’t you?”

“I did,” you admit. “Partly I wanted to make sure that it had worked… Hashirama-tono, Tobirama-tono, Minato-han, and Hiruzen-tono, are all free of the shinigami. That’s definite.But I also wanted to make sure that they couldn’t just be summoned by anyone from the afterlife… so I also convinced them to contract with me.”

“Alright, I need you to explain something to me,” Tsunade-han admits, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms. “How can this be acceptable to my village?”
>1/2

>>4474699
“They have the right to ignore my summons,” you explain carefully, “it was baked right into the contract. So if I tried to summon them to, say, attack your village with them? They’d just refuse. Crisis averted.”

“That’s a good step,” Tsunade agrees calmly. “So may I ask how you intend to use this ability?”

You can’t help but frown at the question. “I can offer you an example… I took the opportunity to ask them questions, and offered to catch them up on what happened after they died in exchange. Then I let them go.”

“And would you summon them again?” Tsunade asks you.

“It’s complicated,” you openly admit. “Even if the Raikage ordered me, I’d need a damn good reason to do it. But if that particular ‘solution’ finally finds a problem that justifies it… yeah, no, I’d probably agree to call on them.”

“I have to admit it’s a remarkably tempered position you’re taking,” Tsunade-han admits. “I know that Orochimaru would never toe this particular line with nearly so much thought.”

“It’s not much different from any other technique,” you shrug, admitting your honest feelings. “Orochimaru used the Edo Tensei to destroy indiscriminately, Tobirama-tono used it to protect things that were important to him. I ‘sanitized’ it, and now hardly ever use the Tensa Jōdō Tensei at all. But when I do, it’s usually for the sake of closure.”

“And if you were to learn that someone else had ‘improved’ the Edo Tensei?” Tsunade-han enquires. “What would your immediate thoughts be?”

“Not great?” you reply, suddenly concerned. “No yeah, is this a hypothetical, or is it something the Alliance is actually concerned about?”

“We’ve been searching,” Tsunade-han admits, “but the Alliance hasn’t been able to locate Yakushi Kabuto, a missing ninja who worked for Orochimaru. My concern is that he may have a working knowledge of the Edo Tensei, so if Uchiha Obito can secure his loyalty...”

“That could be how Obito-han thinks he can take on the rest of the world,” you muse.

>In that case, I think I need to summon a certain someone who might have a solution. With your permission… and STRICT secrecy.
>In that case I have a mission for my newly-formed company: I need to search known former Otogakure hideouts for information.
>In that case I have a mission for my newly-formed company… at least I will, as soon as you have a target for us to attack.
>Other?

>>4474719
>In that case I have a mission for my newly-formed company: I need to search known former Otogakure hideouts for information.

While it is a huge boon that we have Tensa Jodo Tensei, I don't feel using it that much.

>>4474719
>>In that case I have a mission for my newly-formed company: I need to search known former Otogakure hideouts for information.

>>4474719
>In that case, I think I need to summon a certain someone who might have a solution. With your permission… and STRICT secrecy.

>>4474719
>In that case I have a mission for my newly-formed company: I need to search known former Otogakure hideouts for information.

>>4474719
>>In that case, I think I need to summon a certain someone who might have a solution. With your permission… and STRICT secrecy.

>>4474719
>>In that case, I think I need to summon a certain someone who might have a solution. With your permission… and STRICT secrecy.
more talking yay

>>4474719
>>In that case I have a mission for my newly-formed company: I need to search known former Otogakure hideouts for information.

>>4474719
>In that case I have a mission for my newly-formed company: I need to search known former Otogakure hideouts for information.

Yeah no. Let's keep the revival to the minimum.

>>4474719
“If I revived Naruto’s mother I could have an answer in five minutes,” you muse, before continuing even before the look of horror can appear on Tsunade’s face. “But yeah, no, it’s better that I search Orochimaru’s remaining hideouts with my new unit… Sasuke-kun and Guren-han being there should make things easier.”

“What is it you’re looking for?” Tsunade-han frowns.

“I’m chasing a rumor,” you admit. “Something I’ve read about, that I suspect must exist, but that wasn’t properly written down… like the information I had about the Shiki Fūjin, and its reversal technique. And I know that Orochimaru was probably researching it along with the other Uzumaki clan techniques.”

…

You trade places with your clone and arrive at a tense moment… Kiri and Ittan are glaring at each other after the former started asking too many questions about his father’s death at the hands of Iwagakure’s shinobi, and the latter felt like he was fishing for the information he’d need to take revenge.

“Knock it off, both of you,” you order. “I have a mission for us.”

“Is that so?” Maki muses. “When did that happen?”

“The Captain left a shadow clone behind to watch us,” Kō-han muses… no wonder, his Byakugan probably saw you do it. “Where she went I can’t say, she used the hiraishin… those were not words I ever expected to say out loud...”

“We’re chasing a rumor based on a concern,” you frown, realizing how that sounds without needing to be told. “Yeah no, the short version is the other side may have the Second Hokage’s reincarnation technique on its side, and I’m looking for an answer to it.”

“What answer would that be?” Sasuke-kun muses. “It seems like you have something in mind.”

“I do,” you admit. “The biggest problem in facing the Edo Tensei is that even if you kill the user, that doesn’t undo the technique.”

“That sounds incredibly broken,” Guren-han sighs dramatically, “why would anyone create a technique like that!?”

“Power,” you reply. “That being said it’s based on a summoning technique, which may give us a clear answer. The Uzumaki would never allow a technique like that to exist without coming up with an answer to it… a fūinjutsu that can sever the link between summoner and summons will likely work as a counter to the Edo Tensei.”

“That’s what we’re looking for, and we’re going to need Sasuke-kun and Guren-han’s knowledge to do it.”
>1/?

>>4474719
Between Sasuke and Guren, you narrow down the most likely places to search to just three: the now-destroyed hideouts in the Land of Sound and the Land of Grass, both of which you’ve been to yourself, are the first two of these. They were the largest bases of operations for Otogakure and for Orochimaru personally, and are most likely to have extensive notes still existing there, buried under the rubble.

There’s also an island base near what was once Uzushiogakure, which was more Kabuto’s domain. Your understanding, mostly by way of Sasuke’s information, is that there is an extensive amount of medical equipment and a vast array of specialized medical laboratories. But its proximity to the ruins of Uzushiogakure also suggest that it may be worth your time… as well as the fact that it hasn’t been destroyed yet.

So that’s why you head there, by way of your formula marking at Hoshigakure… you contemplated launching this trip from your former safehouse in the Land of Hot Water, but once Obito is out of the picture it may be nice to move back there again.

Instead you fly almost due north in a trial of your unit’s flight abilities. Sai-kun’s presence is predictably a major boon, as while you have your own summons in Nyoka-han and Sasuke-kun evidently started summoning giant hawks at some point, no one else has their own equivalent. So Tango, Kiri, Kō, Daen, Maki, Guren, Omoi, and Ittan are all reliant on Sai-kun to keep up.

…

“There it is,” Nyoka-han muses as you circle the island Sasuke and Guren told you about. “My, but it looks like the sort of lair a creep would build.”

“That’s certainly true,” you agree. It’s built into a cleft in an island which rises almost straight up from the boiling waves of the sea beneath it, mostly surrounded by cliffs. A small square tower with a blue tiled roof gives it away, set to one side across a wide chasm between a smaller rocky islet and the ‘main’ island, connected by a bridge. The actual hideout is a series of rectangular buildings set into the main island, in essentially three ‘stacks’ about five stories tall from what you can see.

The central tower has a flat roof with equipment atop it, such as a water cistern and a fan unit. A good place to land for an aerial assault.

>Land your team on the island above the main hideout, take Guren and Sasuke in across the bridge: that’s probably the ‘intended’ entrance.
>Land your team on top of the flat roof and force your way in through that point. Move quickly, but carefully… there will likely be traps.
>Land your team on the island above the main hideout and search the rest of the island before entering the hideout itself from above.
>Nobody would expect an aerial insertion from INSIDE the compound...
>Other?

>>4475521
>>Nobody would expect an aerial insertion from INSIDE the compound...

>>4475521
>Nobody would expect an aerial insertion from INSIDE the compound...

>>4475521
>Nobody would expect an aerial insertion from INSIDE the compound...

>>4475521
>Nobody would expect an aerial insertion from INSIDE the compound...

Come on, if you word a option like that everyone is gonna pick it.

>>4475521
>Nobody would expect an aerial insertion from INSIDE the compound...

>>4475521
You get an idea… maybe not a good idea, but one that’s at least worth investigating as a tactical option in the future.

“Nyoka-han,” you muse, “I’m going to take you for a bit of a trip. Are you ready?”

“This one wonders what you could mean,” she replies thoughtfully. “Though she must also confess her curiosity.”

“Wait for my signal!” you order to the rest of your unit, before dropping a cluster of marked shuriken down into the main compound where it sinks into the ground in front of one of the buildings. “Let’s see if they’re expecting an aerial assault from inside their little hideout!”

At your insistence Nyoka-han swoops upwards, and you teleport yourself and your summons down to the base of the building. Nyoka-han digs her talons into the side of the building to halt her movement, tearing great chunks out of the concrete and shattering glass, allowing you easy access into the fourth floor.

You land calmly in a crouch, glancing around the abandoned room. Other than the fact that a good amount of what looks like very expensive and fragile lab equipment has been scattered across the room, presumably in a great many more pieces than it started off in, it seems nothing has changed for your abrupt arrival.

“I’m teleporting you back out,” you tell Nyoka-han. “I’ll be in touch through the wave transmission method.”

“This one will be nearby,” Nyoka-han replies as you unseal a marked paper shuriken and send it spinning out into the air.

Then you teleport Nyoka-han out to the shuriken, before destroying it for good measure.

…

Inside the building, you tread carefully and lightly up the stairs towards the rooftop. There are a few simple traps at the top for you to disable, completely obvious to you with a senjutsu-enhanced Mangekyō. Clearly whoever planned the defenses here didn’t anticipate that particular combination. So you can simply stab through the walls and incinerate the explosive tags and the fūinjutsu tags, with only the latter taking any significant amount of effort. It’s a four-corner type array with sealing tags that need to be destroyed simultaneously, which means shadow clones stabbing them with lightning chakra flow at the same instant takes care of it easily enough.

You swiftly slice through the door and have your shadow clone lower it to the ground before she disappears, and you step out onto the flat rooftop.

“Okay, you can send them down,” you tell Nyoka-han. “Then continue circling… for real, I doubt it’s going to be a quick or simple job.”
>1/3

>>4477167
Your company land on Sai-kun’s ink birds, which dissipate shortly after arriving atop the flat roof you noted from above.

“Okay, so listen close,” you insist. “This was once one of Orochimaru’s hideouts… so expect traps, and expect a lot of messed-up stuff inside. Be careful. Don’t. Touch. Anything.”

“We don’t have to split up,” Guren-han muses, “but it would probably be best.”

“Omoi-han,” you decide, “you stay here with Kiri-han, keep him under guard. Daen-han, remain with them. First team will be me, Guren-han, Kō-han, and Ittan-han. Second team will be led by Sasuke-kun, taking Sai-kun, Tango-han, and Maki-han.”

This way both the main teams have at least one sensor-type, one sealing specialist, and someone familiar with Orochimaru and Kabuto’s work. In addition, your medic-nin will be left with a Nara and a kenjutsu expert for his defense, well outside harm’s way.

“Does anyone have any radio equipment on them?” you ask.

Maki-han nods. “I do.”

She unseals a heavy pack and a series of earpieces.

“Good,” you nod curtly. “Tango-han.”

“Ma’am?”

“Take the back-mounted unit,” you order, unsealing a similar unit of a different design from Amegakure and handing it to Ittan. “Ittan, you do the same for our team.”

Then you teleport back to Amegakure, create a shadow clone, and teleport back to where you left a marking at the island hideout. “I’ll have my shadow clone return in a moment with a third unit for the medical team.”

“Good luck everyone.”

…

You take Guren-han and the rest of your team to the next building over, leaping to one of the slanted rooflines and clambering up onto the top of the structure. “Ittan-han, make us an opening here.”

At the spot you indicated, Ittan opens up a hole in the roof with his earth release. “Kō-han, do you see anything?”

“Nothing,” he reports, flashing you a thumbs-up. “It looks like the room you had us open up is clear, Captain.”
>2/3

>>4477168
“We’re in,” you report by radio contact. “Sasuke-kun, how does it look on your end?”

“Proceeding downstairs,” he replies. “I’ll let you know if we find anything on fūinjutsu.”

“Until then we’ll keep off the comms,” you decide. “See you on the other side.”

>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4477170

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4477170

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4477170

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4477170

>>4477170
You eventually locate what looks to be a study, located on one of the lower floors, tucked back into what should be the rock that makes up the island itself. Inside you find a locked shelf.

“I’ll handle it,” Guren-han insists, producing a small sliver of crystal in her hand.

You gesture for Kō-han and Ittan-han to watch the door and hallway as Guren-han goes to work, carefully expanding her crystal within the lock in just such a way as to push each pin into place one at a time.

“There,” she muses, having heard a faint metallic click. “That ought to do it.”

“Very nice,” you muse appreciatively. “Now it’s my turn.”

“You suspect a trap?” Guren-han muses.

“With Orochimaru?” you shake your head. “Always.”

“That’s wise,” Guren-han nods.

Behind the formerly locked doors are scrolls, stored on overlapping diagonal shelves. You tell Sasuke to stand by, for the time being.

“How do you intend to do this safely?”

You answer Guren-han’s question by touching the edge of the top scroll on the left side, sensing the location of the ink markings and ‘unrolling’ the scroll in your mind. Its contents are perfectly safe… but also not particularly relevant.

“Yeah no, this one’s just a scroll going over the Uzumaki clan’s early history and beliefs,” you declare, taking the scroll out and setting it aside on the floor. “I’m gonna look at the next one now.”

All of the ones located near the top of the cabinet are like the first: descriptions of the Uzumaki clan and their religious and philosophical beliefs.

“Interesting,” you muse. “I already knew the Uzumaki clan revered the Shinigami, but I never knew why. Evidently they believed that death was an equalizer… that all mortals are equal in the face of their own mortality. Fūinjutsu is similar in that logic… things that either aren’t mortal or that are too powerful to be killed can still be sealed.”

“How are you doing that?” Kō-han wonders aloud.

“I can sense the location of ink on a page,” you explain, taking out another scroll. “I’ve been doing it since I was a genin.”

“Can we help?” Ittan asks.

You shake your head. “Not unless you can read sealing script… yeah no, I’m also not sure how many of these might be trapped...”
>1/2

>>4477387
“… like this one,” you muse, sensing that a very clever curse mark has been placed inside the scroll you’ve just touched. “This one has a curse mark on the inside that seems to trigger when it’s seen. A nasty piece of work.”

“What else is in it?” Guren-han enquires.

“Basics,” you explain, setting the scroll aside to check the next one. “This one’s about jūinjutsu… this one is about sealing individual elements… this one was actually written by Orochimaru? It’s a form of jūinjutsu that interferes with a victim’s ability to knead chakra into elemental releases.”

“That sounds rough,” Kō-han frowns. “Actually, kind of horrifying.”

“It’s a pale imitation of the Kongō Fūsa,” you observe calmly, “though yeah, that one’s a hiden technique for a reason.”

The next few scrolls mostly talk about things you already know, but one in particular contains some new information on fūinjutsu.

“Here we are,” you muse appreciatively. “The Keiyaku Fūin, a sealing technique devised by the Uzumaki clan to sever any links between a summoner and a summons and the solution to the Edo Tensei.”

“Can you use it?” Guren-han asks you.

You nod. “It doesn’t seem to be that difficult, though it requires direct physical contact with the summoner.”

“In terms of limitations that hardly sounds that bad,” Ittan-han admits.

“Sasuke-kun,” you report over the radio, “you can withdraw your team back to the roof. I’ve found what I came for.”

>Evacuate everyone and use the Shiyō Kibaku seals you left at the base of the buildings to demolish the hideout.
>Do a little more poking around together with Guren-han, see what else was going on in this hideout.
>Just withdraw. Leave everything where and how it is… except the scrolls of course, those come with you.
>Other?

>>4477393
>>Do a little more poking around together with Guren-han, see what else was going on in this hideout.

>>4477393
>>Do a little more poking around together with Guren-han, see what else was going on in this hideout.

>>4477393
>>Do a little more poking around together with Guren-han, see what else was going on in this hideout.
Orochimaru really does have some of the best toys.

>>4477408
the only problem is, his toys are either humans, mutants or torture devices 9 times out of 10

>>4477393
>>Do a little more poking around together with Guren-han, see what else was going on in this hideout.

>>4477393
>Do a little more poking around together with Guren-han, see what else was going on in this hideout.

>>4477393
>Do a little more poking around together with Guren-han, see what else was going on in this hideout.

>>4477393
>>Do a little more poking around together with Guren-han, see what else was going on in this hideout.

>>4477393
>Do a little more poking around together with Guren-han, see what else was going on in this hideout.

>>4477393
>Do a little more poking around together with Guren-han, see what else was going on in this hideout.

Morbid curiosity sure, but it's good to give a small cursory glance before you demolish things.

>>4477393
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4478371

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4478371

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4478371

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4478371

File: Vanillynsfw_1291997869923(...).jpg (33 KB, 616x465)

33 KB JPG

>>4478379
>>4478386
>>4478389
Bruh...

>>4478371
Deeper into the laboratory, you and Guren-han stumble onto the gruesome evidence of Kabuto’s medical experiments. Various creatures in jars, all dead of course, line the walls of the corridor, along with human bodies in various states of dissection, transformation, and decay.

“This… isn’t something people should see,” Guren-han admits. “I wont think any less of you if you turn around.”

“Yeah no,” you shake your head. “There may be information in here we can learn from.”

…

As it turns out there isn’t.

It’s just one horror after the next, and all it tells you is that Kabuto is a damned freak. You’re not even convinced all of these projects of his were intended to work. It’s all capped off with a huge blood smear in a room that seems designed to administer large-scale injections. The blood is definitely dried, so you scrape a sample off the floor and seal it in a tag.

Then you weave a few hand signs and draw a little of your own blood.

“Kuchiyose: Isoka!”

Isoka appears in a tiny puff of smoke, perched on your outstretched fingertip.

“What’s going on?” she chirps. “You want me to fight this lady?”

“Nothing like that,” you quickly insist. “Seriously, take a look at where we are.”

“I did,” Isoka insists, “and figured anyone else in a place like this must be an enemy.”

“It’s a good instinct,” Guren-han admits, “but I came in with Naori-san.”

“Ah, okay!” Isoka flutters briefly. “Sorry about that!”

“No, yeah, I need you to examine this blood,” you tell her, kneeling down next to the stain. “If you don’t mind telling me if it’s anyone we know?”

After examining it, Isoka flits back to your finger. “Nope, can’t say I know who it is. I know I know it, but not who it belongs to.”

“Thanks,” you nod politely. “That narrows it down at least.”

“Anything else?” Isoka asks you.

You nod. “Uchiha Sasuke-kun is upstairs, please go let him know that I’m going to blow this whole wretched place to hell.”
>1/2

>>4478400
Once Isoka heads off to do as you requested, you begin to use your chakra control to relocate the Shiyō Kibaku tags around the bases of each building in the compound.

“Let’s get out of here,” you insist. “Trust me, you don’t wanna be around for what happens next.”

…

Once you determine that there are no living… whatever these things are… left in the compound, you set off the tags. A series of explosions so close together in timing that they register as a single continuous blast essentially erases the bottom floors of the compound, leaving the upper floors to collapse into total ruin.

You return your various subordinates to their home villages along with written reports on their satisfactory performance, with a promise to come and collect them once there’s a more permanent location for them to live and work.

>Take the blood sample to Konohagakure for analysis. You’re curious to know who it matches.
>Go home and meet with Ajisai. The two of you have a lot to talk about, including the fūinjutsu you discovered.
>There needs to be a meeting of the minds… you’re NOT the top expert on the Edo Tensei after all, Tobirama was.
>Other?

>>4478436
>>Go home and meet with Ajisai. The two of you have a lot to talk about, including the fūinjutsu you discovered.

>>4478436
>Go home and meet with Ajisai. The two of you have a lot to talk about, including the fūinjutsu you discovered.

>>4478436
Go home and ...
I am always up for more ajisai

>>4478436
>Go home and meet with Ajisai. The two of you have a lot to talk about, including the fūinjutsu you discovered.

>>4478400
>>Take the blood sample to Konohagakure for analysis. You’re curious to know who it matches.

>>4478436
>Take the blood sample to Konohagakure for analysis. You’re curious to know who it matches.
>Go home and meet with Ajisai. The two of you have a lot to talk about, including the fūinjutsu you discovered.

Could we go and bring Ajisai with us for the trip to Konohagakure? It could be nice to bring her out to meet with people.

>>4478436
You finally return home, taking a seat in one of your hideout’s gardens. Best to let her come to you instead, it’s better that way given what you have to say to her.

“Hey,” Ajisai greets you with a faint, abeit cheerful, smile. “Business of some sort?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” you reply calmly, taking out a fresh scroll and putting the characters onto it before tossing it her way. “I want you to take a look at this.”

“A fūinjutsu,” she realizes. “Impressive.”

“It’s a contract seal,” you explain. “You’re familiar with the reanimation technique, right?”

“Naturally,” Ajisai replies, crossing her arms. “It seals that?”

“No yeah, we’re concerned someone may be intending to use it,” you frown. “So this is one likely counter, you know?”

“I understand,” she nods slowly. “You want to practice it with me?”

“That would be nice,” you insist. “But there’s one more thing I have to ask...”

“About the war.”

“About the war,” you agree. “I think you could really help… so I’d like you to consider it.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready,” she admits.

>That’s fine, I won’t force you to commit to anything.
>If it helps, consider this: you’d be joining my company.
>Lets’ work on this technique for a while. Just think about it.
>Other?

>>4478805
>That’s fine, I won’t force you to commit to anything.
>If it helps, consider this: you’d be joining my company.

If she wants to participate, Ajisai is welcomed in our company. If she thinks that she is not ready, but wants to help, I think we can find a spot somewhere where she could provide help.

>>4478812
>>4478805
This one has it right, all the facts, but no pressure

>>4478812
this

>>4478838
link to the story post as well please, or it won't count

>>4478841
I really wish he wasn't so anal about that.

>>4478842
i am not sure he is anymore, but why test it if an extra link is barely any effort

>>4478847
Because sometimes i just forget, and i don't want to post a second time just to link it

>>4478805

>That’s fine, I won’t force you to commit to anything.
>If it helps, consider this: you’d be joining my company.

Did we remember to pass on Hashirama's advice about always hedging your bets to Tsunade?

>>4478805
“For real, I’m not about to make you do anything,” you sigh, “but I am going to ask you to consider it. You’d be in my company if that makes any difference.”

“As one of how many?” Ajisai asks uncomfortably.

“You would make eleven,” you reply.

Ajisai narrows her eyes, more out of confusion than anything else you recognize. “What? Eleven counts as a company?”

“When three of its members are each at company-strength on their own,” you shrug, “then yeah, no, I guess even three could count as a company.”

“Who are the other two?” Ajisai asks.

“Uchiha Sasuke and Guren-han,” you tell her, before quickly amending yourself. “You won’t have met Guren-han, I met her when you were dead and she’s been under house arrest ever since.”

“Sounds lovely.”

“Actually,” you admit, “she is… underneath everything she layered up to hide her true self… if you forgive me for getting a little sentimental about it like that.”

“Forgiven,” Ajisai replies with a little sigh. “That side of you is hardly novel.”

“I suppose so,” you chuckle quietly. “I suppose so.”

“That said,” she continues, “I know I will be ready. I just won’t feel that way.”

“Take some time,” you insist. “There’s still no indication when things will go into motion.”

>Until then, help me out with this fūinjutsu?
>I need to deliver a blood sample I collected to be identified. Tag along?
>Other?

>>4480085
>Until then, help me out with this fūinjutsu?

>>4480085
>>Until then, help me out with this fūinjutsu?

>>4480085
>Until then, help me out with this fūinjutsu?

>>4480085
>>Until then, help me out with this fūinjutsu?

>>4480085
>>Until then, help me out with this fūinjutsu?

>>4480085
>>Until then, help me out with this fūinjutsu?

>>4480085
>>I need to deliver a blood sample I collected to be identified. Tag along?

>>4480085
>I need to deliver a blood sample I collected to be identified. Tag along?

>>4480085
>>Until then, help me out with this fūinjutsu?

>>4480085
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4481353

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4481353

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4481353
ROLL HIGH!

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4481353

>>4481353
“But for now at least,” you muse, “would you mind helping out with this fūinjutsu?”

“No,” Ajisai agrees curtly. “Of course not.”

…

You spend the rest of the day, and the whole next day, training together with Ajisai. Aside from meals, bathing, and sending your sealed blood sample to Tsunade for analysis, you spend your time working out the intricacies of the sealing key required to sever the link between summoner and summons. It’s… honestly, no simple task. But since you don’t have to ‘compress’ it, you can leave it in its simpler form, ready to be used.

“It’s so damn complicated,” Ajisai muses.

“Yeah no,” you frown, “what’s worse is it can’t actually dispel or un-summon the targets.”

“Is that a problem?”

You honestly aren’t sure. “Maybe. Seriously… it’s frustrating that I don’t know how this is gonna interact with the Edo Tensei.”

“What are the possibilities?” Ajisai wonders. “Maybe considering it will help?”

“Yeah no, based on how it works there are two,” you assert. “Edo Tensei uses a human sacrifice as a vessel for the summoned soul. Either the Keiyaku Fūin disrupts the bond between sacrifice and soul or it doesn’t.”

“If it does, the reanimates just fall apart on the spot,” you continue to play out the possibilities aloud. “If it doesn’t, then at very least the caster loses any control over them and some of them can ‘choose’ to return to the afterlife. At best, it might also make those that choose to linger possible to ‘kill’.”

“How so?”

“There’s nothing definite to suggest it,” you admit, “but it’s not impossible that severing the link between caster and reanimate could also prevent the reanimates from reconstructing themselves.”

“I guess we’ll just have to find Kabuto and see, if it comes to that at all.”

>Check in on some of your other contacts, see how their own preparations are going.
>Check in with the Raikage. You’ve… never actually SPOKEN with him, aside from at the summit.
>Go to Amegakure and see what Konan-sensei thinks about all these developments.
>Other?

>>4481452
>>Check in with the Raikage. You’ve… never actually SPOKEN with him, aside from at the summit.
>>Go to Amegakure and see what Konan-sensei thinks about all these developments.
both of these, konans input in what Obito does/thinks/plans might be useful and lets at least make sure how we stand with our short term 'boss'

>>4481452
>>4481454
Agreed, supporting this.

>>4481452
>>Check in with the Raikage. You’ve… never actually SPOKEN with him, aside from at the summit.

>>4481452
>>Go to Amegakure and see what Konan-sensei thinks about all these developments.

>>4481452
>Check in with the Raikage. You’ve… never actually SPOKEN with him, aside from at the summit.

>>4481452
>Check in with the Raikage. You’ve… never actually SPOKEN with him, aside from at the summit.
>Go to Amegakure and see what Konan-sensei thinks about all these developments.

>>4481452
Once you take your leave from Ajisai, which is shortly after making lunch, you move yourself to the hiraishin tag that you sent to Kumogakure. Of all the various Kages, it surprises you the least that the Raikage would place his tag somewhere else in the building, far from his own actual office. In fact, judging by the back wall of the room you’ve teleported to and the relative location of the Raikage’s chakra, you’d say that you’ve popped back into existence on the opposite side of a round building, a floor above the Raikage’s office.

The marked kunai itself is pointing pommel-up, stuck deeply into a wooden table in front of a low couch.

“Can I help you?” a dusky-skinned woman with short white hair asks from behind a desk. “You’d be miss Raishō Naori, correct?”

“That’s right,” you confirm. “I’d like to speak with the Raikage, if that’s possible.”

“Typically a meeting such as this is arranged quite in advance,” she insists sternly. “It’s actually pretty rude to come in here all of a sudden like this.”

“Okay, first off, let’s dial back the hostility here,” you reply with a frown. “If you were listening closely you’d have heard me say “I’d like” and “if that’s possible”, I’m not just barging in here making demands. Second, I’m not gonna send a letter first or anything like that when I can literally be here in an instant, from anywhere in the world.”

“That’s the entire reason for this thing,” you declare, flicking the kunai’s ring pommel with your fingernail. “Remember? If my turning up like this bothers you, complain to the Raikage, not to me.”

She bites her lip for a moment, considering her next words carefully. “We may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I’m Mabui, the Raikage’s personal assistant.”

“Yeah no, you know me already,” you sigh, “but I’m Naori. I wanted to come here because I might have a solution to that little Edo Tensei difficulty.”

Mabui’s expression instantly changes, and after a moment she buzzes the Raikage’s office. “Sir, there’s someone here I think you should meet with.”

There’s a loud grunt over the intercom. “I’m in the middle of my workout.”

“She mentioned the Edo Tensei,” Mabui insists.

There’s another pause. “Send her in.”

…

The Raikage’s office is mostly empty space: a low desk, a couch, and an extensive array of weights… but at least there’s a hell of a view out the expansive back windows.

“I thought you were supposed to have a spotter for this kind of thing?” you muse.
>1/2

>>4481793
“Aren’t too many people who could do it,” the Raikage shrugs dismissively as he sits on the couch, having wiped up the sweat hastily before you arrived. “You mentioned the Edo Tensei to Mabui, you better be able to deliver.”

“The Uzumaki clan had a fūinjutsu that sealed a summoning contract,” you explain. “I’m sure Omoi-kun reported something to you along those lines?”

“He may have mentioned that you went on a field trip to one of Orochimaru’s old hideouts,” the Raikage grumbles.

“Long story short, I learned how to use it,” you cut to the chase. “So long as I can put a hand on that nerd Kabuto I can undo his Edo Tensei… and yeah, I think you’re right to suspect that’s what he intends to do.”

“So now we have an answer for that,” he muses. “That’s the first bit of good news I’ve had all day. Though now that I have you in private, I’ve got one outstanding question.”

“And that is?”

He frowns at you. “Where did you learn the Hiraishin? That’s no technique for an ordinary shinobi, or even for most extraordinary shinobi.”

>It’s complicated, and there’s a long story behind it. But I didn’t do anything unethical.
>The answer is actually classified, and you might not believe me if I explained it to you.
>I had all the tools to recreate it when I was a chūnin. I just had to refine my abilities.
>Other?

>>4481813
>>It’s complicated, and there’s a long story behind it. But I didn’t do anything unethical.
And due to a whole lot of stuff you might not even believe me if i told you.

>>4481813
>>It’s complicated, and there’s a long story behind it. But in nutshell I had to basically recreate the jutsu.

>>4481813
>>It’s complicated, and there’s a long story behind it. But I didn’t do anything unethical.

>>4481813
>>>It’s complicated, and there’s a long story behind it. But in nutshell I had to basically recreate the jutsu.
i like this mashup

>>4481813
>It’s complicated, and there’s a long story behind it. But in nutshell I had to basically recreate the jutsu.

>>4481813
>It’s complicated, and there’s a long story behind it. But in nutshell I had to basically recreate the jutsu.

>That’s no technique for an ordinary shinobi, or even for most extraordinary shinobi.

Lets see, we're a character with Uzumaki blood, sage mode, mangekyo eyes, Senju blood, sealing master.... extraordinary sort of falls flat

>>4482186
To be fair, just the one mango eye, and the Senju is very diluted. Like if the Senju were Italians you couldn't get an Italian passport that's how dilute it is.

That's a real specific punchline I know.

>>4481813
>It’s complicated, and there’s a long story behind it. But in nutshell I had to basically recreate the jutsu.
>also, i'm not even using the original hiraishin anymore, i've improved upon it just a bit since then

>>4481813
>>It’s complicated, and there’s a long story behind it. But in nutshell I had to basically recreate the jutsu.

>>4481813
“Well,” you muse thoughtfully, “the full story is pretty long and pretty wild, but the short of it is I recreated it.”

“You recreated it?” he repeats.

You nod. “No yeah, I’m fluent with sealing script, and my own style of fūinjutsu formulae is similar to Minato-han’s, so once I’d found Tobirama-tono’s Raijin sword and a kunai left in Rōran by Minato-han I had everything I needed.”

“Fluent in sealing script, you say?” the Raikage frowns. “You mean, as if it were an actual spoken language? Ridiculous.”

“Yes, agreed,” you shrug, producing two blank sealing tags. “But here’s the thing… my mother was an Uzumaki survivor, and after she passed away I was raised in a shrine.”

You infuse the first tag with water and ink, forming inkwash scenery of a full moon and the silhouettes of trees before pulling the water out of the first tag and sealing it into the second, which you then crumple up and throw into the Raikage’s little trash bin against the far wall without looking.

“I had an international reputation at the age of eleven, not as a shinobi,” you explain, unsealing a traditional brush and loading it with just the right amount of ink. “But for my calligraphy.”

To illustrate your point you brush on a poem, albeit not one of your own composition, written in sealing script with little translations in kana next to them.

“ozora ni
kokoro no tsuki wo
nagamuru mo
yami ni mayoi te
iro ni medekeri”

“although seeing
the moon of the mind
in the great sky
being deluded in the darkness
I praise it for its shape and color”

“… what is this?” the Raikage frowns.

“A very old poem,” you muse, “one my mother was fond of. It plays with the concepts of kenshō and beauty… just because we know ‘beauty’ is a trick of our senses doesn’t mean we shouldn’t appreciate it.”

“You’re unusually chatty today,” the Raikage observes.

“Yeah no, you asked me a question,” you counter with a smirk. “And remember, that’s not even the full story.”
>1/2

>>4483016
“So these are the skills you used to do it,” the Raikage holds his chin, thinking carefully about it. “Together with two examples of the formula itself.”

“I wouldn’t call Tobirama-tono’s ‘primative’ per se,” you muse. “But it’s more obvious about what goes into it… I’ll spare you a detailed explanation of the spatiotemporal manipulations involved. Minato-han’s version is much more refined, and between those refinements and the original I could reconstruct most of the missing details.”

“From there it was just a matter of refinement.”

“You’re talking like it was an easy feat.”

You shake your head. “Of course not! Even though I had the knowledge it took me years to get it right. Anything else on your mind?”

The Raikage shakes his head. “For the time being, no.”

“Then if you’ll excuse me.”

>Go see what’s going on in Amegakure.
>Go see what’s going on in Sunagakure.
>Go see what’s happening in the smaller villages.
>Other?

>>4483030
>Go see what’s going on in Sunagakure.

I think Raikage now feels that he is old. These younglings surpassing their elders

>>4483030
>>Go see what’s going on in Amegakure.

>>4483030
>>Go see what’s happening in the smaller villages.

>>4483030
>Go see what’s happening in the smaller villages.

>>4483030
>>Go see what’s happening in the smaller villages.

>>4483030
>>Go see what’s happening in the smaller villages.

>>4483030
>>Go see what’s going on in Amegakure.

>>4483030
>Go see what’s happening in the smaller villages.

>>4483030
>Go see what’s going on in Amegakure.

>>4483030
>>Go see what’s happening in the smaller villages.

If we’re representing them on the international stage I feel it behooves us to touch base with them.

>>4483030
You decide to teleport yourself first to Hoshigakure, where you find Kagerō out in the open training.

“Hi there,” you greet the incredibly slight, almost fragile-looking young woman cheerfully as she yelps in surprise, accidentally connecting a chakra thread to a rock and throwing it at a nearby wall.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you!”

She takes a quick breath. “That’s fine.”

“I’m curious to see what people have been up to,” you admit. “I realize it’s been a while since we’ve talked.”

“True,” Kagerō agrees. “Things have been hectic here.”

“I can imagine,” you sigh, walking towards a nearby bench to sit next to Kagerō, “what with Natsuhi-han being made a Division Captain.”

“I have also been made a company commander,” Kagerō informs you. “It’s… a strange feeling.”

“I’m familiar with it,” you admit. “Though to be fair… I’ve always opted for small teams, and I’m getting the smallest company out of them all.”

“Fast response, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m a little jealous,” Kagerō admits.

“I know you have two releases and chakra threads,” you muse thoughtfully. “Your skills are definitely sharp enough.”

“My personality is wrong for it,” she insists quietly. “You know that.”

“I do,” you agree. “And yet Natsuhi-han recommended you for it.”

“I don’t understand why,” she admits.

“Because she knows you can do it,” you shrug. “Least that’d be my guess… I can’t see her suggesting you otherwise.”

“You’re probably correct,” she frowns. “I suppose I’m still not used to people having actual faith in my abilities, not just a willingness to use me.”

>If it helps we can train together a little. What would you like to work on?
>You should trust others a little more. What about training with Tayuya?
>If it’s just about communicating, I’m sure there’s a training method for that.
>Other?

>>4483342
>>You should trust others a little more. What about training with Tayuya?
>>If it’s just about communicating, I’m sure there’s a training method for that.

>>4483342
>You should trust others a little more. What about training with Tayuya?

>>4483342
>You should trust others a little more. What about training with Tayuya?

>>4483342
>>You should trust others a little more. What about training with Tayuya?

File: 74172842_p0.jpg (2.49 MB, 3000x4000)

2.49 MB JPG

>>4483342
“Maybe… if you asked Tayuya-kun, she’d be ready to join you? Having someone to rely on might help?”

After taking a few moments to ponder your suggestion, Kagerō nods in agreement. “Maybe.”

…

After knocking at her door for a few minutes, Tayuya finally comes to the door. “Yeah, what the hell do you...”

She pauses as you grin at her, and Kagerō stands there looking uncomfortable.

“… oh, it’s only you two.”

“I… wanted to know if you wouldn’t mind joining me?” Kagerō asks hesitantly.

Now it’s Tayuya’s turn to look awkward. “Why?”

“Well…” Kagerō frowns, as you spare her a glance. She notices, and takes a deep breath. “Because I need someone I can rely on. You’re that person.”

“I know, it may sound like I want to use you… and it feels strange to ask,” she admits. “But you know as well as I do, I’m not cut out to give orders… it would be better for everyone involved if I had someone I could trust at my side.”

“So?” you muse. “What do you say, Tayuya-kun?”

With a deep sigh, Tayuya surrenders. “Okay, fine… I’ll lend a hand.”

“Great,” Kagerō lets out a breath in relief. “Thank you.”

…

After Tayuya and Kagerō have begun seriously discussing how to coordinate in battle, both tactically and in terms of issuing commands to a company of a thousand other shinobi, you decide that they’re on track to do well… so you make sure that Kagerō has a hiraishin kunai before teleporting to Konan-sensei’s office.

Or at least you intended to do that… instead you find yourself outside in the rain, on one of the three large training grounds within the village of Amegakure proper. This one in particular is all water… so you have to carefully balance to avoid falling in.

“This is strange,” you muse, unsealing a raincloak and covering yourself, before using water release to force the rain that’s already fallen on your clothes and armor to the ground at your feet. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you training before, sensei.”
>1/2

>>4484517
“You did give this to me as a gift, Naori-kun,” Konan points out calmly, hefting the large fan you gave her for her birthday. “It would be rude not to use it.”

“I didn’t expect it to turn into work,” you muse. “Yeah no, that’s not a great gift now that I think about it.”

“I had wanted to start practicing with my wind release anyway,” she admits, waving the fan and producing a powerful blast of wind… not as strong as Temari’s would be, but it’s still very strong. “It’s been a long time since I relied on anything but my paper ninjutsu.”

“You’ve placed markings on the folds,” you observe.

“I took inspiration from my beloved student,” she informs you, giving the fan another wave and releasing a blast of wind that carries dozens of exploding tags from the markings on her fan, which all go off in a powerful blast.

All told, it may be comparable in strength to your own Shiyō Kibaku sealing technique.

“That’s a pretty strong technique,” you admit. “It hits pretty hard initially, which my own equivalent doesn’t.”

“Oh?” Konan-sensei muses playfully. “You learned something to match that?”

“It’s based on the Second Hokage’s Gojō Kibaku Fūda,” you explain.

“So it would concentrate the explosions?”

“Exactly,” you nod. “Yours I’d imagine you can spread the explosives out if it’s dodged?”

“Exactly,” Konan nods. “Well-considered.”

“So is there any particular reason you’d be brushing up on techniques like this, Konan-sensei?” you ask curiously.

“I have been asked to raise a company from Amegakure,” Konan-sensei admits curtly. “And so I conferred with Kakashi-san regarding large group combat tactics. Akatsuki was never large enough to warrant practicing in such things.”

With Kakashi-han, huh?

>Muse that she and Kakashi-han have seen a lot of each other lately.
>Enquire as to who she intends to take and what sort of company it’s meant to be.
>Ask her about the ‘original’ Akatsuki. You MAY be close enough now.
>Leave that be for now, see what Ryūzetsu is up to.
>Other?

>>4484566
>Muse that she and Kakashi-han have seen a lot of each other lately.
Konan's got a booooyfriiiieeend~~

>>4484566
>Muse that she and Kakashi-han have seen a lot of each other lately.
>Enquire as to who she intends to take and what sort of company it’s meant to be.

>>4484566
>Enquire as to who she intends to take and what sort of company it’s meant to be.

>>4484566
>Muse that she and Kakashi-han have seen a lot of each other lately.

>>4484566
>Muse that she and Kakashi-han have seen a lot of each other lately.

>>4484566
>>Muse that she and Kakashi-han have seen a lot of each other lately.

>>4484566
>>Enquire as to who she intends to take and what sort of company it’s meant to be.

>>4484566
>>Muse that she and Kakashi-han have seen a lot of each other lately.

File: 80691316_p4.jpg (621 KB, 768x1024)

621 KB JPG

>>4484566
“I didn’t know Kakashi-han was on a mission here,” you muse deviously. “You two sure have been seeing a lot of each other lately, haven’t you?”

Konan-sensei rests her fan on her shoulder, and awkwardly avoids meeting your smirk. “That… may be true.”

“Hey, if it’s true I’m happy for you!” you insist, laughing about it, “and if it’s not, maybe consider it? I’ve always thought Kakashi-han was a good guy.”

“We’ve been meeting to talk,” Konan-sensei eventually admits. “By shadow clone, strictly off the record.”

“I think that’s good,” you muse. “I don’t know everything about you yet, and I’m absolutely not going to press you on it… but I do know you’ve lost a lot over the years. And I hope you can gain some of that back.”

Konan-sensei nods politely. “I envy you for that, you know… for having had new things come into your life. For many years I… refused to allow that. It was all for the sake of achieving Nagato’s objectives.”

“Yeah no, not quite what I was talking about,” you sigh. “I know you’ve lost people, but what I really hope you gain back is what you sacrificed after the original Akatsuki… you know.”

After a few moments of silence Konan-sensei speaks her mind. “There is a concept, regarding a successful relationship between master and pupil, is there not? That there should be a separation once the pupil has learned enough to become a master in their own right, but that they should ideally return to their master as friendly coequals?”

“Is there now?” you chuckle. “I may’ve heard something about that in the Land of Iron, yeah.”

“I’m glad that we had a chance to reunite,” Konan-sensei admits. “For a while, I was concerned that...”

You interrupt her, reaching behind her head and pulling her in for a gentle headbutt. “Yeah no, ‘course I came back. I’m not a complete ingrate… we can disagree on things, and that’s fine, you know? Cause I have faith in the kind of person you are.”

“In any event,” Konan-sensei mutters after you release her, slightly red from embarrassment. “Thank you.”

“So,” you muse, abruptly changing the subject. “What kind of company is this going to be?”

“Probably posion specialists,” Konan-sensei clarifies. “Both in neutralization as well as various dispersal and delivery tactics.”

There’s a pause. “There’s no shame in getting a bit emotional. I can understand your emphasis on self-control… but take care not to let that cross into self-denial, as I did.”

"What you deny, you risk losing."
>1/2

>>4485767
You have to take a few moments to reorient yourself after that conversation. But once you have, you head to Ryūzetsu’s office to confirm something that you expect… only to find that she’s not in her office at all.

You find her outside the castle, by a large, old tree within view of the walls but at a good distance. She’s leaned against the base of the trunk with a book in hand, looking about ready to doze off. You sit against the tree, turned about 45 degrees away from her.

“So I see it worked.”

You don’t see her move at all, so she must have known you were here. “The notes you shared helped me figure it out. I’ve made the necessary modifications… I can leave the castle whenever I wish, though the higher-ups want me to stick close anyway, in case there’s trouble.”

“That makes sense,” you admit. “I take it you won’t be going to war any time soon.”

“That’s right. It’d be a pain in the ass if I died out there.”

“Understandable,” you sigh. “Though this Alliance can use all the help it can get, there’s some problems that are best avoided even if it costs us someone as skilled as you.”

“There’s plenty of shinobi out there who can replace me.”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

>We should celebrate. How about I make you something nice for dinner?
>Catch up with Ryūzetsu before dinner… you owe Ayame a good meal and you intend to pay up.
>To hell with it, have a big event in Rōran, get a bunch of people together and go nuts.
>Other?

>>4485770
>catch up with ryuzetsu, you owe Ayame a meal

>>4485770
>>We should celebrate. How about I make you something nice for dinner?

>>4485770
>>Catch up with Ryūzetsu before dinner… you owe Ayame a good meal and you intend to pay up.

>>4485770
>We should celebrate. How about I make you something nice for dinner?

>>4485770
>We should celebrate. How about I make you something nice for dinner?

Ahh shoot. Was hoping to mention something while we were with Konan.

It occurred to me that if Obito has access to Kabuto's Edo Tensei, then he has a way to get the Rinnegan again. Even in canon Nagato gets revived as a zombie.

Might be worth summoning him back to give him the same deal as the Hokages to keep him from being used by the snake.

>>4485770
>>We should celebrate. How about I make you something nice for dinner?

>>4485846
Really good idea this.

>>4485770
>Catch up with Ryūzetsu before dinner… you owe Ayame a good meal and you intend to pay up.
rude, making me choose between Ryū and Ayame. But really Ayame has been neglected, so

>>4485770
>>We should celebrate. How about I make you something nice for dinner?

>>4485770
>>We should celebrate. How about I make you something nice for dinner?
More attention for third best girl. Only beaten by ourselves and Konan.

>>4485770
“How about we celebrate?” you muse. “I’ll treat you, somewhere that’s definitely not here. Whaddya say?”

After a few moments, Ryūzetsu turns over her shoulder. “What time?”

“Yeah no, there’s a few things I have to prepare first,” you muse. “Seven too late?”

“It’s a little later than normal,” Ryūzetsu admits, “but I can wait.”

…

When you teleport her to the teahouse, everything is already set up to make things easy to finish with just the little miniature kitchen setup you have available there… all you can really do is steam, so some aspects had to be handled in advance. Stacked up on top of each other are five bamboo trays, each with four dumplings inside: xiaolongbao with mud crab and clear broth, white shrimp-filled shaomai topped with salmon roe, monkfish bites steamed with ginger and spring onions in translucent wrappers, fluffy steamed buns filled with braised grilled eel, and finally steamed sweet cream buns.

“This is super-traditional for Amegakure,” you explain as you bring out the stack, still kept warm by the rising steam, and first open the monkefish. “Advantage being you get to try a lot of little dishes.”

“All this is made with fish and shellfish?” Ryūzetsu realizes. “Ah, I forgot… your village is built into a lake, isn’t it?”

“That’s right,” you reply, serving yourself now. “We actually get a pretty wide variety of freshwater stuff… it’s our staples that get pretty limited. Too wet and too deep for most crops.”

“Which also,” you continue, producing a small bottle of sake from a kitchen cabinet, “means our sake tastes a bit different… or so I’m told.”

…

You guess you’ve never actually noticed how tense Ryūzetsu always is. A lot of it is how she carries herself, which really never changes even though the way she speaks to you has become much more relaxed and open with time. She was after all an ANBU for many years, in a village that has been set against itself as often as against its foreign rivals, if not more bitterly so.

Even at times she’s wanted to relax, her instincts may no longer let her… which is why it’s nice to see her posture gradually relax. Good food, good company, laughter, and a pretty setting have always done that to you.

“It really is amazing,” she muses as you set out the custard buns for dessert. “The way you move, I mean.”

“How so?” you ask.
>1/2

>>4486962
“It doesn’t seem practiced,” she tries to explain. “It seems… natural, I guess.”

“Yeah no, it’s not,” you admit as you sit, now conscious of exactly the sort of poised, fluid movement she’s talking about. “I’ve just been ‘practicing’ since I was little… my mother was the oiran of a mid-sized nation. A courtesan of such high regard and standing that she could refuse even daimyō… and sometimes did.”

“Moving as she did, writing and speaking as she did… I’m rarely aware of it. Same as how you’re always so tense.”

Ryūzetsu looks out at the bamboo grove, now lit mainly by stone lanterns as the sun has already set. “I don’t feel that way right now.”

“I can tell,” you admit. “I was just thinking how nice that is.”

“I… have a question though,” she muses. “So, is this...”

“No,” you shake your head. “For real, I’m starting to get used to having to say this… I wouldn’t mind, but that’s not what I’m thinking.”

“Is that so...”

“Listen,” you muse, “You’re one of the people I decided that I wanted to keep close, and those people I always try to do right by.”

“So that’s what this is?” Ryūzetsu muses.

“Like I said,” you shrug. “I was raised among courtesans. My way of showing appreciation is often… intimate. It’s the kind of friendships I have. It’s how I am.”

“I think I understand,” Ryūzetsu assures you. “And… thank you for this.”

“Of course.”

After taking Ryūzetsu home, and a good night’s sleep of your own, you’re left with a decision.
>Sunagakure
>Iwagakure
>Konohagakure
>Other?

>>4487044
>>Sunagakure

>>4487044
>>Iwagakure

>>4487044
>>Sunagakure

>>4487044
>>Iwagakure

>>4487044
>Iwagakure

>>4487044
>>Iwagakure

>>4487044
>>Iwagakure

>>4487044
You decide to leave bright and early for Iwagakure, teleporting to a room just outside the Tsuchikage’s office. You can tell that old Ōnoki, Kurotsuchi, and two others are inside, so you knock politely at the doorframe.

It’s Kurotsuchi who answers the door, stepping out to talk with you.

“Ah, great to see you!” she grins. “We were just talkin’ about you!”

“Really?” you muse.

“Yeah, my pops wants to grill you before we go through with this,” she explains. “Just a warnin’ though, they’re not in a good mood about it.”

“Kurotsuchi-han,” you wonder aloud. “Please tell me they’re not getting ready to give me ‘the talk’, I don’t think I can deal with that kind of thing twice in as many days.”

She blushes as she realizes what you’re saying. “Wait, what? Oh no, nonono, I’m straight! Which, I mean, not that it’s not okay if you aren’t… I mean… you know what, I’m just gonna shut up now.”

“Relax, it’s fine,” you insist quickly. “You just made it sound like… you know it’s actually a good thing that someone I know knows what team they’re playing for.”

“So anyway,” Kurotsuchi insists awkwardly, “let’s get in there, shall we?”

…

You can tell that she was right about one thing… the three men in here aren’t thrilled about something.

“What took you so long?” the middle-aged one of the three asks with a frown.

“Nothing!” Kurotsuchi laughs awkwardly. “Nothing at all! Isn’t that right, Naori-san?”

“Pretty much,” you shrug. “I hear you wanted to speak with me”

“Tell me this,” the Tsuchikage stares at you curiously. “Would it be possible for eight members of Akatsuki to be active in the Land of Fire right now?”

You shake your head. “Not unless Uchiha Obito got very busy hiring replacements for their losses… otherwise you’d need me and Konan-sensei there to reach five.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“Early this morning we got a report,” the Tsuchikage informs you. “Konoha sent a team to handle it, but it sounds like Akatsuki is active within their territory, near some sort of training facility in the forests.”

“Training facility?”

“It’s literally called the ‘training cave’, actually,” the middle-aged man informs you.
>1/2

File: c591c4df14d6c6ccb106c58e7(...).gif (512 KB, 500x281)

512 KB GIF

>>4487557
>Missed an opportunity for this gif

>>4487557
“So this is the plan,” Kurotsuchi tells you. “You teleport us to that teahouse of yours and we cross the border… easy peasy. We can check it out, back those Konoha nerds up if they need it, great idea right?”

“I don’t see a problem with that,” you shrug. “I’d actually like to get to the bottom of this myself.”

“I keep saying she’s crazy if she thinks some little girl can use Hiraishin,” the man who you now assume is Kurotsuchi’s father, muses. “It’d be interesting if you could prove me wrong, cause when I can see it I’ll believe it.”

You toss a kunai at him, sending it whizzing past his ear… and then you catch it, placing it against the side of his neck.

“Believe it,” you smirk, teleporting back to a tag you left behind and sealing both the markings away again.

Placing a hand on Kurotsuchi’s shoulder, you teleport the two of you to the Grass teahouse.
>1d6
>best three of four

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4487584

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4487584

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4487584

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4487584

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4487584

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4487584

>>4487584
>Believe it
We Naruto now

>>4487584
You arrive at the scene of the battle in enough time to watch something obviously wrong occur… Hinata fighting evenly with Konan-sensei? Kiba and Akamaru taking out the Deva Path? Tenten and Neji taking out Kakuzu? Ino and Sai taking out Itachi-han? Deidara losing to Sakura? Hidan shutting the hell up?

“Well that’s not right,” you declare as the members of Akatsuki vanish into the ground in defeat.

“Hey, if you’re here to back us up you’re too late!” Kiba declares proudly. “We’ve already fought them off without you!”

“You knucklehead,” you sigh. “Not counting Naruto-kun, Kakashi-han, and Guy-han, all of you here together couldn’t take out Deidara, and he was trash compared to Pain and Itachi-han.”

“And since when does Hidan fight quietly? Shikamaru-kun, you fought the guy.”

“It is strange that the ones we know are dead were here,” Shikamaru admits warily.

“Wrong thing to focus on,” you insist.

“I see,” Kakashi-han muses with a nod.

“Yeah no, the Deva Path would have killed you all by itself,” you frown, “except for Naruto-kun. Not only him, but none of the others used their unique abilities either, which is weird. But that’s not the weirdest thing… the weirdest thing is that even the four I know to be alive were here.”

“Konan-san,” Kakashi-han agrees, “along with Hidan and Kisame. Who is the fourth?”

“Sasori-han,” you admit. “He left the organization even before I did.”

“Why don’t you come back to Konoha with us?” Kakashi-han suggests with a frown. “We could use your perspective in trying to figure out what exactly this was.”

“Hey wait!” Kiba protests. “You mean this wasn’t the real Akatsuki?”

“Are you alive right now?” you ask.

“Obviously.”

“Then it wasn’t them,” you frown.

>I’ll go on ahead and meet you there. Kurotsuchi-han, you coming?
>I’ll take Kurotsuchi-han home then meet you back here.
>I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.
>Other?

>>4487631
>>I’ll go on ahead and meet you there. Kurotsuchi-han, you coming?

>>4487631
>>I’ll go on ahead and meet you there. Kurotsuchi-han, you coming?

>>4487631
>I’ll go on ahead and meet you there. Kurotsuchi-han, you coming?

>>4487631
>>I’ll go on ahead and meet you there. Kurotsuchi-han, you coming?

>>4487631
>I’ll go on ahead and meet you there. Kurotsuchi-han, you coming?

>>4487631
>>I’ll go on ahead and meet you there. Kurotsuchi-han, you coming?

Just keep breaking barriers and having ninjas from different villages interact.

>>4487760
agreed
additionally, she did have some very limited interaction with Akatsuki members, by way of her grandpa hiring them, she would have also realized that his was at best a bad joke

>>4487631
>1d2, taking the second roll only

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4488616

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>4488616

>>4488616
“I’ll go on ahead and meet you there,” you decide. “Kurotsuchi-han, you coming along?”

Kurotsuchi shrugs. “Sure, if it keeps me from having to sit through another war meeting with no new information I’m game.”

“Great!” you reply with a cheerful slap on the back, timed carefully to coincide with teleporting to Konohagakure.

Kurotsuchi blinks awkwardly. “Wait, what?”

“We’re here,” you muse.

“Couldn’t you have brought the others with us?” she wonders aloud.

You shrug. “Yeah no, they can manage just fine on their own. Can’t have them getting totally dependent on me.”

“I… guess?”

…

“Naori-san,” Tsuna-han greets you over a stack of paperwork… it never seems to get smaller, that stack. “I assume you tagged in on the mission today?”

“Not quite,” you admit. “No reason to.”

“I take it that means it wasn’t Akatsuki?” she asks you.

You nod in confirmation. “I’m not sure what they were, but they weren’t the real thing. Two were people I knew for a fact were somewhere else.”

“Which ones?”

“My sensei and Hidan,” you clarify. “None of the copies were reanimated, and none of them used the abilities that got them recruited into Akatsuki.”

“So they were something else?” Tsunade muses, setting aside her work for a moment. “In that case… what?”

“No idea,” you admit. “It doesn’t match with any ability I saw from any Akatsuki member.”

“And you,” Tsunade continues, looking hard at Kurotsuchi. “What did you see?”

“I don’t know about any of that,” Kurotsuchi admits, “but what I saw looked like a bunch of chūnin punching even with enemies they had no business even getting close to.”
>1/2

>>4488767
You spend some time mulling it over… Kurotsuchi wanted to try one of the restaurants here, a yakiniku place, and you saw no reason not to oblige her. It’s not bad, of course, and it takes up some time with chatting and eating and a little bit of shameless day-drinking.

By the time the Konoha team gets back it’s a bit of a joke… Kiba still seems to think they actually achieved something with this, and a lot of the chūnin’s parents meet them near the gate. You and Kurotsuchi are both listening in when Shizune informs them all that the jōnin applications her office received for many of them was a bit premature.

“Whaddya mean?” the woman who you’re pretty sure is Kiba’s mother demands. “Are you sayin’ our intel guys got it wrong?”

“It seems that way,” Shizune admits with a sigh. “These things happen from time to time Inuzuka-san.”

“Well, doesn’t that just tear it?” Inuzuka-san grumbles. “But hey, least my brat’s not gonna outrank me just yet.”

In the mean time, Sakura ends up storming off away from her own parents… a boisterous duo who only really impress you with how loud they can be. Naruto for his part managed to slink away unnoticed as the others were greeted by their respective parents, as did Kakashi-han.

“Well that’s a rude awakening for them,” Kurotsuchi-han sighs, hands behind her head. “But we’ve all got our problems I guess.”

“Do we now?” you muse. “I take it you’re speaking from experience?”

Kurotsuchi grins. “Hey, you want more on that you’re gonna have to cough up another meal, stuff’s getting pretty personal you know?”

“Fine,” you sigh. “And people say I’m a mercenary...”

…

“So it’s your first time leading a group bigger than three?” you muse, having relocated to an izakaya in the hot springs district… a part of town you’re happy to see is in the process of being reconstructed, and which you’re happy to patronize. “I can see how that’d be awkward.”

“I have no training for it, you know?” she sighs dramatically. “It’s weird.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” you insist. “It’s just a question of...”
>2/3

>>4488826
“Are you okay?” you ask as you realize that you must have missed the last few seconds… almost like a blackout. “Hey, Kurotsuchi-han, snap out of it!”

Kurotsuchi’s head snaps up from the table. “Hey! I’m awake, I’m awake!”

Then she blinks. “Why is everyone in the room staring at us?”

You glance around, noticing a near-panic in the room before a trio of Konoha shinobi burst in through the door.

“There they are!” one shouts. “Arrest them!”

“Hey, what do you think you’re...” Kurotsuchi begins to protest before you grab her by the shoulder and… don’t teleport to your hideout.

“Wait, what?” you realize, even as you unseal a marked kunai and hurl it past the Konoha chūnin, before teleporting yourself and Kurotsuchi to it. With a quick series of blows you knock them all out, all three still believing that you’re standing in front of them like the genjutsu you created suggests.

“Knock everyone out!” you tell Kurotsuchi. “Quickly!”

The two of you both use genjutsu to knock the other patrons unconscious before fleeing the scene through a window, ending up in a back alley.

“What the hell was that!?” Kurotsuchi hisses.

“I have no idea!” you insist. “I can’t teleport to the Hokage office either… it seems like all my hiraishin markings are gone!”

>We’ll hide in one of the hot springs, use that to change our clothes before making our next move.
>We need to go straight to the Hokage’s office… without being seen… SOMEHOW.
>Use the transformation technique. We’ll try to gather some information.
>Other?

>>4488838
>>We’ll hide in one of the hot springs, use that to change our clothes before making our next move.

>>4488838
>We’ll hide in one of the hot springs, use that to change our clothes before making our next move.

>>4488838
>Something about this is all wrong, and i bet it's related to... wait, could this be danzo's perfect genjutsu? Is he still alive?

Fuck what if danzo used his genjutsu to make us think he killed himself

>>4488838
>>We’ll hide in one of the hot springs, use that to change our clothes before making our next move.

>>4488838
>>Use the transformation technique. We’ll try to gather some information.

File: a82cbaa0d780d13a45752c6df(...).jpg (55 KB, 588x640)

55 KB JPG

>>4488838
“We’ll hide in one of the hot springs,” you suggest. “Lay low for a while, steal some clothes for a disguise.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Kurotsuchi replies quietly. “I’ll just follow you on this one.”

…

It’s pretty clear that things are different from how you remember them, even just earlier today. This town doesn’t look like it’s ever been blasted into dust like the Konohagakure you remember. The hot springs town looks more like you remember from before Pain attacked the village, which is a bizarre incongruity.

You and Kurotsuchi sneak your way into one of the baths, and you store your clothes, armor, tools, and swords into a new seal on your right palm. Then you slip into the water, staying close with Kurotsuchi.

“Just try to look natural,” you insist quietly. “I have no idea what’s happening here, but this is not how I remember the village.”

“Guess we’re gonna have to figure out some things,” Kurotsuchi frowns. “Why did those chūnin come after us like that? Not recognizing me is one thing, but you?”

“It’s also odd that I can’t sense my hiraishin markings,” you frown. “Now one going missing… maybe. But all of them… yeah no, I can’t see how that’s even possible.”

Kurotsuchi is about to say something when you hear voices. You both keep quiet for a few moments until several… well, almost familiar faces appear. Ino seems different somehow, something about her hair and her meek personality you think… and you know that there’s something different with Hinata. Normally she has a gentle look to her, but right now her eyes have an almost predatory appearance, and you’d never pin her as the type to boot Ino into the water for taking too long to get in.

“Friends of yours?” Kurotsuchi whispers quietly.

“Not quite,” you admit with a frown.

Next there’s Tenten, covered in nicks and bandages and griping about her weapons training going awry, and finally Sakura, who seems distinctly uncomfortable as she settles into the water away from the others.

“Well, I see that you’re still flat as a board,” Hinata snipes across the water at Sakura, who settles in a little lower with a word of muttered protest. “Don’t forget that Menma is my man, so I’d better not catch you two together again, flattie.”

That’s definitely not the Hinata you know.

Sakura glances at you with a frown.

>You look uncomfortable, Sakura-kun. Something out of place about this?
>Just ignore her until you can determine whether she’s… well, HER.
>We’ll talk later, Sakura. Right now let’s not make a scene.
>Other?

>>4489051
>>You look uncomfortable, Sakura-kun. Something out of place about this?

>>4489051
>>You look uncomfortable, Sakura-kun. Something out of place about this?

>>4489051
>You look uncomfortable, Sakura-kun. Something out of place about this?

ah yes Bitchnata

>>4489051
>>You look uncomfortable, Sakura-kun. Something out of place about this?

>>4489051
>>You look uncomfortable, Sakura-kun. Something out of place about this?

>>4489051
>You look uncomfortable, Sakura-kun. Something out of place about this?

>>4489051
>>You look uncomfortable, Sakura-kun. Something out of place about this?

>>4489051
“You look uncomfortable,” you observe, directing your comment straight at her. “Is something wrong here, Sakura-kun?”

“… yeah,” she eventually admits. “Several things actually, but none of them have to do with you.”

“Are these friends of yours, Sakura?” Ino eventually works up the courage to ask.

“Something like that,” Sakura replies, getting up to slide closer to you and Kurotsuchi. “The two of you as well?”

Hinata seems to size you up for a few seconds, paying special attention to your respective chests… you can almost see her doing the math in her head to figure out whose are better. So, she acts aggressive now, but she gets insecure at the first sign of a legitimate challenge? She may not be an exact ‘opposite’ then: more like she’s been put through a series of bizarre filters.

“You may have noticed,” Sakura whispers cautiously, “but everyone but you seems to be acting weird?”

“The thought occurred to me,” you admit.

“So tell me… does the name Obito ring any bells?”

“Alarm bells, yeah,” you admit. “Why, was he here?”

Sakura nods slowly and subtly. “No one else we’ve talked to recognized the name.”

“We?” Kurotsuchi presses.

“Me and Naruto,” Sakura whispers.

“Hey!” Hinata declares, standing up and walking over. “What are you whispering about over here?”

“Nothing which concerns you,” you insist flatly

“How dare...” Hinata growls dangerously, before suddenly becoming distracted by something else she can sense.

“Neji, you bastard!”

She storms off in a series of undignified splashes.

“What’s going on?” Tenten asks as she gets out of the bath to follow.

“Neji’s been trying to peep on us with his byakugan!” Hinata declares. “This time I’m gonna kill him!”

“Should we stop this?” Sakura whispers to you.

>You go, if you’re so concerned. But meet us back here when you’re done.
>No. I’m going to use this chance to spread some sensory butterflies. You go get us some clothes.
>I might as well tag along. I can do all the other stuff at the same time, no problem.
>Other?

>>4489910
>>No. I’m going to use this chance to spread some sensory butterflies. You go get us some clothes.

>>4489910
>I might as well tag along. I can do all the other stuff at the same time, no problem.

>>4489910
>No. I’m going to use this chance to spread some sensory butterflies. You go get us some clothes.

>>4489910
>>I might as well tag along. I can do all the other stuff at the same time, no problem
Things clearly don’t make enough sense right now to start going with the flow here

>>4489910
>Other?
>see if you can perform one of your shrike summons. If it works, they can help us. If it doesn't . . . good to know.

Else consider this another vote for

>I might as well tag along. I can do all the other stuff at the same time, no problem

>>4489910
>>I might as well tag along. I can do all the other stuff at the same time, no problem.

>>4489910
>No. I’m going to use this chance to spread some sensory butterflies. You go get us some clothes.

>>4489910
>>I might as well tag along. I can do all the other stuff at the same time, no problem.

>>4489910
>>No. I’m going to use this chance to spread some sensory butterflies. You go get us some clothes.

>>4489910
>>No. I’m going to use this chance to spread some sensory butterflies. You go get us some clothes.

>>4489910
“We can tag along,” you frown, “but we’ll need a change of clothes. Can you get us that?”

“I didn’t bring any but my own!” Sakura insists, even as the others are interrupted by Rock Lee crashing through the ceiling and starting an entirely new thread of hijinks and misunderstandings.

“Can you use the shadow clone?”

She shakes her head. Well, that makes it harder.

You unseal a cloud of paper butterflies when it seems like you’re in the spot where Hinata’s blind spot should be, each serving as a focal point and marked with a hiraishin formula. This should allow you to ‘shop’ for new outfits for yourself and for Kurotsuchi.

Even as Lee makes a run for it, you have a butterfly land on Sakura-kun’s clothes as she hastily throws them on.

“I’ll catch up,” you insist. “Go.”

…

You don’t just use your paper butterflies to find clothing that will be easy to steal… you also leave them at a few key locations throughout the village, spread well apart. One on the ledge outside Tsunade-han’s office windows, one at Ichiraku ramen, two out at the walls of the village at near opposite sides from one another, one here in the hot springs town, one in a park, and one on the Hokage monument, right on top of grandpa Tobirama’s head.

“So?” Kurotsuchi asks you curtly, having done as you have and donned a fluffy white bathrobe. “You got something for us?”

“Actually, yes,” you muse, grabbing her by the shoulder and teleporting her into a currently-closed store.

“Hang on,” she hisses, “you mean we’re shoplifting now!?”

“Yeah,” you shrug. “I’m not entirely sure any of this is real anyway, so why not?”

Kurotsuchi pauses in the dark. “Okay, fair point.”

You go for something pretty different from what you’d normally wear, especially these days now that you tend to wear armor much of the time, and opt for a flowery skirt-length yukata and close-fitting black leggings. You find that Kurotsuchi quickly picks a red dress with a high collar and long, wide sleeves, before ripping the right sleeve off at the shoulder.

“What?” she asks as she notices you staring at her. “This is how I wear my uniform, remember?”

…

After that light bit of larceny, you move yourself and Kurotsuchi to Sakura, where the group of Konoha shinobi have all cornered Rock Lee. In yet another of a long string of bizarre incidents, just as Sakura is trying to defend Lee, she accidentally rips open a tear in his jumpsuit, to reveal…
>1/3

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109 KB JPG

>>4491078
“Oh hell no!” Tenten protests. “Those are mine!”

…

Well, Lee gets his butt kicked pretty mercilessly. And honestly, he pretty much deserved it.

Once you get the chance to slip away you do, and Sakura and Naruto both find their way to you at your hiraishin marking at the Kage monument and shortly afterwards.

“So?”

You spare Naruto a glance. “So what?”

“So are you real?” he presses.

“I get that question a lot,” you grumble. “But if you mean am I the one you remember, then yeah.”

“And your friend here?” Sakura asks.

“I’ve been with her the whole time,” Kurotsuchi shrugs. “So yeah. Nice to meetcha, I guess.”

“What the hell is going on here!?” Naruto demands.

You shrug. “How the hell should I know? Is Sasuke also here?”

“No,” Naruto sighs, obviously disappointed. “The ones that aren’t how we know them all call me Menma for some dumb reason, and Sasuke’s one of ‘em.”

“Too bad,” you grumble. “Could’ve used his help… I wonder why he wasn’t caught like we were?”

“It could be that Obito didn’t care to trap him,” Sakura suggests, “or didn’t think he could.”

“Or maybe it’s just dumb luck,” Kurotsuchi offers. “That’s always a possibility.”

“Also true,” you admit. “In any event we’re stuck here together until we can escape, wherever here is.”

“About that,” Naruto frowns. “Any ideas what this is exactly?”

“No yeah,” you sigh, “Obito said something about trapping the whole world in a single genjutsu… this may be related to that.”

“An experiment?” Kurotsuchi realizes. “That is what you’re saying, right?”

“Something like that,” you frown. “And he may also be taking a stab at capturing Naruto-kun here too.”

“So what do we do now?” Sakura-kun wonders aloud.
>2/3