"Lord Seventh will see you now," Mikapen stuck her head out. She appeared thoroughly ignorant to the ninja accompanying Mana, focusing on the young woman that she had worked with in the past and offering her a polite smile as the Hokage's assistant stepped aside, holding the door open until all the Stars had entered. At that point, Mikapen closed the door and stood by the Seventh's side, waiting until the man would need her services.
"Lord Seventh," the entirety of the Stars bowed before the Hokage, as if they worked directly for him, as was the impression that the Allied Ninja liked to portray anytime they operated within the walls of another village.
"Mana. I was under the impression that you would come here as Konoha's Sorceress to perform. These companions you've chosen… They're all Allied Ninja, aren't they? They're ones you've worked with when you visited Konoha last week, is that right?" the man scanned the room of ninja, declaring their loyalty and submission to his will for the duration of their stay in his village.
"That's right. We are here on the World Magic Tour business, that is it. I've started my career in Konoha as a stage magician, it only felt right that I would start my tour here as well." Mana answered with a polite, repeated bow.
Even though she couldn't quite see it, Mana felt Shige's eyes on her. The leader's sentiments weren't too hard to figure out–after being so adamant about the Stars' business here, Mana had made it difficult to request the village leader for any favors pertaining to their true mission here. It would have seemed odd, to put it lightly, if a party of Allied Ninja proclaimed they were here for entertainment purposes only and then requested something suspiciously non-entertainment-related in the following sentence.
"Well, if that is the case, I will gladly see the show myself. I haven't seen your show yet, as strange as that is, but I've heard many great things. I trust you will have no trouble preparing for it? You've said in your letter that you've already arranged the nitty and gritty with your contacts at Hiro Hall?" Lord Seventh wondered.
"That's right," Mana confirmed it. "You needn't worry about anything. We will just perform here once to kick the tour off, then see where the tide of entertainment takes us. It may just be that we'll return for an encore or two if all things go well, with your permission, of course."
"Understood. Encore performances after the tour gets heated will bring spotlight tourism to our village." Seventh leaned back in his chair, turning around to gaze through the window at the Hokage Monument behind him.
"Sir? Something like that will do wonders for our economy. It's a good thing, isn't it?" Mikapen wondered out loud.
"It is." Lord Seventh admitted after turning back around to face the gathered Stars. "However, it's also extra worry and pressure on our gate guard. It's already a tall task to watch the gate. I'm wondering if we will need to assign some additional heads to man the gate. It's nothing that you lot need to worry about right now. Just focus on your performance, entertaining the people and having fun yourselves. As much as ninja can have fun serving as stagehands…"
"It must look odd that Allied Ninja are accompanying Mana…" Shige-H wondered.
"Not at all. Even with the Nine Tales Gang eliminated from the picture, it is still dangerous for Mana to roam the Fire Country. The heat around this young woman still worries me to this day. She has gathered many titles that inflate her bounty on both the official Bingo Books and the black market. If anything, I'm a bit surprised this is all that Mana travels with." Lord Seventh explained his position.
"Well… A lot of time may have passed, but I don't have too many friends still." Mana pulled her tight collar with her hooked index finger.
"Really? A world-renowned starlet of the stage?" Mikapen made put out her lips in moderate surprise.
"That's right. Popularity and genuine friendship are two very different things. Sometimes the most renowned feel the loneliest." Mana explained.
"Wise beyond your years…" Seventh laughed out with a genuine guffaw. Something in this man's body language suggested that he had personal experience with what Mana had said. "In any case, I won't hold you up while you have a show to prepare for."
"Actually, there's one more thing." Mana brought up, demanding and gaining the full attention of the Konoha administration. "We were wondering if we could use the Inter-universal Bridge, or whatever you call the technology these days."
"That's an odd request…" Lord Seventh scratched his head. "Please explain this."
"Well, while we started planning this magic tour out as a World Magic Tour, I've been thinking a bit larger than that," Mana explained, she wasn't entirely sure on how well she played her cards here but nothing in the reactions of either the Seventh Hokage or his assistant suggested any suspicions from them.
"I see! That's a brave idea!" Mikapen smacked her open hand with her hammering fist from up top. "It's a genius one though, with the entire multiverse as a potential venue, there is no limit to the potential success of the tour."
"A few come to mind," Lord Seventh shrugged. "Try as hard as you might, you'd still answer to the laws of time and space. When trying to entertain an unlimited multiverse, you'd eventually have to end your tour. Even if you grow old while touring, you'll still have infinite more universes to entertain. It's pointless labor."
"With all due respect, as a kunoichi who has sworn to never take a life, I'm somewhat of an authority on attempting the impossible." Mana softened her expression.
"I see… Well, we can arrange for you a use of the Inter-universal bridge but ultimately it will be in the hands of the locals to decide if they will have you or not." Lord Seventh explained. "You said that you were in Konoha for a single night. Perhaps we can arrange for you a journey to another universe after your show. I wouldn't dream of holding you up from your crucial preparations just hours before your show."
"That'd be just grand, Lord Seventh." Mana bowed. Seeing how all the matters were discussed and the Stars' request went over as well as they could have expected it to go through, the Stars were excused to head straight for the Hiro Hall and prepare for the show.
An assault on senses from all directions. Perfect control over lighting, clones involving all layers and distances of the audience, adding to the atmosphere of grand entertainment. Dimmed down lights that made each member of the audience feel like they were alone with the entertainer on stage when a personal bond between Mana and each member of her audience was necessary and an epic, grand blare and symphonic grandeur when the show called for it.
Once Mana had utterly mastered her ability to craft low-effort and tier illusions on the fly, making the audience believe that boulder-sized dice were rolling about on stage and would just about crush them before evaporating into thin air or bouncing off invisible, solid barriers that only existed in the individual imagination of each beholder was easy as pie. It felt almost cheap and effortless involving titanic tricks like these, so Mana left some time for good old escape tricks from rolling platforms equipped with rows upon rows of windmill shuriken, each spinning in separate directions.
When Mana vaulted off of the chair, leaving all the bondage and chains beside, and the rolling platforms at last contacted the magical box which the ninja magician had restrained herself in, shredding it to the irrelevant filler of sawdust in mere moments, the cold chills and tingling on Mana's back could have been felt all throughout the audience as if each member relived their energy and passion to fight for their life through a young woman wrestling with a leather bodysuit, chains, locks, ropes and imprisonment boxes.
There was a sense of disconnect that Mana didn't want to admit to. Her mind functioned on a step so far away from her audience at this point in her career that she may have devoted far too little time for simpler illusions like making things disappear, enlarging, or micro-sizing something that actually remained the same size, fooling only the minds of the observers.
Fewer things were more satisfying than sensing masses of ninja of various ranks and stages of experience watching one's magic show that had attempted to fool them through the same illusions that they felt forced to stave off to survive on the battlefield and realizing that despite having the chakra necessary to combat them, every one of these soldiers lingered in their illusions without challenging their integrity and risking ruining them. They'd rather live fooled, under the illusion and bondage of contract with the entertainer that they'd be placed back on the same seat they placed their butts on while clasping their meek little ticket in hand.
There was temptation with every wave of the hand, every card made disappear and every vivid fruit of imagination snapped into existence for Mana to let go and drown in the flow of her instinct. Just release her mind and let the boiling kettle roll down the hillside, see what type of stew would leak out from the capricious and spicy broth inside. The ninja magician resisted that temptation this time, maintaining a firm hold on the content of her show, leading the dance of magic with a firm and calculated step.
It was that awareness that allowed immeasurable glee to pump through Mana's veins when she stamped her heel down after the last trick, bowed, and froze with her arms wide open. Thusly she awaited the judgment of the crowd, ready to accept whichever direction it had gone.
"Holy hell, Mana!" Damisan yelled out, waving his hands over his head. "That was exceptional! I've seen nothing like that! Was that what you've always been doing?"
"Well… Something like that. I may have been a tad rusty…" Mana's lips stretched out from one cheek to the other across her joyous face.
"Nonsense, you were just like you used to be, and the people out there… Did you hear that? Their presence, their cheers… Your magic isn't dead, they forgave you." Shige-H wrapped her arms around Mana and pulled her in for a hug. Mana's eyes widened for the first few stages, but then the young woman allowed herself to melt in her friend's embrace as she answered it by dabbing her own hands to Shige's back.
"I don't think that's what it means," Mana said after the two moved aside within a forearm's reach. "An artist has a certain connection to their audience. It's not that Konoha has forgotten what I've done or who I am. It's that it is now ready to move on. I am no longer doomed to be untouchable but I'm still the one that hurt Guru Ayushi."
"Snap out of it, will you?" Mr. Hiro's voice made Mana turn around and acknowledge the head of the hall. "The hall may be just two-thirds-full. Still, you're as good as a draw as any pretentious crap that those actors put together. Keep grinding, keep traveling and eventually, you'll be stuffing these halls with butts again. I've managed you ever since you matured enough to step off that cardboard box and bring your craft to the big leagues, kid. I've seen every try-hard imitator out there too. Let me say, that's some amazing magic and, as you see, I've seen a shitload of magic."
"I don't think that even the worst skeptic can accuse us of half-assing this after this show." Skaven nodded in subtle confirmation. "After the word spreads, it will be less and less of a problem bringing the shows to other countries since everyone will know Mana's in for the real deal."
"Here…" Mr. Hiro handed Mana a stack of paperwork. Each sheet was the same, or so an elementary visual inspection suggested.
"What exactly is this?" Mana wondered, staggering to the table and slamming the stack down on it. The total weight of the stack truly tested the integrity of the old thing.
"Paperwork. Give it to sign to each venue owner you perform in. It's a contract of sorts." Mr. Hiro said.
"Should Mana be reading this?" Skaven wondered, taking one sheet and waving it in front of his face. The Nara looked bored just waving the paper in front of him, let alone reading one letter of it.
"That'd be no use. I'm terrible with money and business decisions. Maybe I should bring it to mom to read?" Mana looked up, scratching her head.
"Am I the only one who remembers why we're here?" Endo grumbled, rolling his eyes. "The last thing to keep us on track is a pair of motherly sobby eyes…"
"There's nothing special in this contract," Mr. Hiro shrugged. "It's just an obligation to any hall owner to share some profits whenever they host you. Both with you and me."
"You don't own Mana. How come people have to pay you for her shows?" Endo stood up.
"Endo…" Mana raised her hands to pacify the situation. She knew how passionate people could get over something as trivial as money, even if she herself didn't quite get it. "That's okay. Hiro-san has been a major help all throughout my career. He helped do heaps of things I wouldn't have been able to like provide me with his hall, help me schedule my shows, and manage some profits. I have utmost faith in Mr. Hiro's goodwill. Even when everyone else turned away from me, he helped me out when things felt the dimmest."
"Sheesh, kid…" Mr. Hiro took off his hat and pressed it to his chubby chest. "Don't go around portraying me as a saint or anything. Your mother's doing most of the profit managing and investing…"
"Seeing these halls and this audience reaction, I wonder just how much of Hiro's goodwill is truly about being your friend and how much of it is just seeing a profitable long-term investment before him," Skaven said.
"That's true. I've always known Mana will bounce back. I've got an eye for those sorts of things." Mr. Hiro pointed his hat in Skaven's direction. "Either way, just hand it to the venue owners wherever you go. Your mother's gonna be too scary to handle otherwise."
"Roger, roger…" Mana saluted Mr. Hiro before bursting into laughter, as that was the only way for her adrenaline to escape her system at that moment. Just like after a battle that ended prematurely, the energy was still pumping through Mana's veins, but there didn't seem any way of venting it at the moment. After a hefty sigh, Mana jumped up and rushed toward the door.
"Where are you off to?" Endo raised an eyebrow.
"Gotta meet and greet my fans!" Mana winked at him and ran off.
"You guys take five. This might take a while. The hall's free for twenty-five more minutes." Mr. Hiro let the other Stars know before walking off to do Mr. Hiro things.
"Just great. Glorified bodyguards and stagehands…" Endo grumbled.
"Come on, you've got to admit that this stuff's going to get incredibly handy. Not to mention, when was the last time you've seen Mana this happy?" Shige turned to her ally with a friendly look. Even Endo's hardy heart softened up as he exhaled and deflated, sitting back down into the chair without objection.
"Mana?" Shige-H stopped and turned around in reaction to Mana doing the same.
"We should hurry. It's getting late, and the plan was to use the bridge today." Skaven observed.
"That chakra signature…" Mana mumbled before turning around and scanning the alleyway behind the Hiro Hall. "It shouldn't be here, unless…"
"What are you on about?" Endo crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his head, closing his eyes in an attempt for his frustrations with this evening's distractions to not spill over.
"You've got some nerve showing your face around these parts, Mana…" a masculine voice spread from the depths of the corridor complex of the service facilities of the building. The voice boomed all the way to where the Stars were waiting. An invisible, howling wave of air blew the closed door open, letting both the voice and its master to reveal himself from within the corridor. "After Hanshin was considerate enough to promise to teach you, you've gone and gotten yourself imprisoned. Then you escaped the village altogether…"
"Hanshin-san!" Mana gasped.
The fearsome ninja struck a flashy pose just out of the doorway to stun the unruly student of his and the party that she hung out with.
"Wait… Teach Mana? You're Mana's teacher?" Damisan pointed his finger to Hanshin, dropping his jaw in disbelief and stressing the plastic bucket with a poster for Mana's show he found in the warehouse of Hiro Hall stuck to it. A snappy pop made Damisan turn his eyes down with fearful ticks and notice that the finger he pointed to the Konoha ninja had been snapped and pointed right back at him.
The unorthodox method of Hanshin's attack that the Stars had failed to pick up on shocked even Endo, who remained mostly bemused by these antics initially. The Stars assumed fighting positions, looking confused about if they should attack this man at once all together or if he was a friendly figure from Mana's past. To be entirely honest, Mana herself wasn't completely sure of that.
"You dare point your finger at the handsome Hanshin?" Hanshin ran his hand through his excellent hair before turning his amethyst-like in focus and gleam eyes to Damisan who just stared at his busted mechanical finger. "You should feel grateful that Hanshin is also benevolent, or else I'd have taken your entire arm for the disrespect."
"Hanshin-san, please stop." Mana walked out in between the Stars and the esteemed Konoha ninja. "I was not avoiding learning Armor Ninjutsu from you, I promise. It's just that… A lot of things had happened and things just turned out this way."
"That is what you offer as an excuse for denying the teachings of a Konoha Sannin? Ridiculous." Hanshin crossed his arms.
"Konoha… Sannin?" Endo lost his composure.
"So, Konoha has finally raised a new generation of Sannin…" Mana scratched her chin. It made sense, though she had thought something this massive would have resonated loud enough to reach her ears. Then again, the Stars had been busy most of the time and didn't quite have the time to sit still and listen to the news from around the world. All the present ninja turned to Mana, who couldn't help but erupt into a cute chuckle.
"You mock the exuberance of Hanshin?" Konoha's Sannin raised his eyebrow, slowly undoing his crossed arms to adopt a wrestling position. His signature pose before employing the Black Vicious armor.
"Not at all, Hanshin-san," Mana shrugged. "I had just hoped to become a ninja worthy to join those ranks by the time the need for the next generation came up."
A burst of harsh laughter drowned out the atmosphere as Hanshin clutched his abdomen so that his fit of hilarity didn't bend him over. After all, if it did, he'd have lowered his head below the level of the Allied Ninja around him and that would have been utterly unacceptable.
"Who? Who are the new Konoha Sannin?" Skaven asked the man.
"Zairyo of the Wandering Grass, Kusagoro the Barbarian, and Hanshin the Handsome," Hanshin replied with satisfaction soaking his expression. Still, the Sannin didn't turn away his attention from Mana entirely since the magician's face had grown sourer and direr after Hanshin had laughed at her dream in front of her face.
"What a sausage fest…" Mana grimaced in disgust. Just as Hanshin was about to object and lash out at her, the young woman pressed an index finger to her lips and turned her eyes up, dispelling her disapproving scowl. "Then again, I don't think any kunoichi in Konoha is anywhere near the level of those three so it couldn't have been helped."
"What do we do?" Endo raised his hand up, clutching the handle of the Sword of the Thunder God in his hand. "We've got business with the administration. Do we walk over this guy?"
"Oh? You think of challenging Hanshin? Amusing…" a psychotic grin stretched Hanshin's handsome, chiseled face into an impish, demonic grin. One that begged to be bathed with the dye of human blood.
"Absolutely not," Shige-H shook her head. "Even if we had the combined strength to tangle with a Sannin, even if fortune chose us to walk away from such a battle, we'd be in no condition to proceed with our business."
"Oh? So you Allied Ninja dogs have some business you're on in Konoha? Sounds like a job for a Sannin to investigate and put an end to it, doesn't it?" Hanshin took a step forward, sending chills across the rest of the Allied Ninja's backs.
The entire world became covered in a dark shroud. Nothing but the smell of blood that Mana had long since forgotten since parting with the sense of scent lingered in the atmosphere. A distant memory of nightmarish experiences from her past. Try as hard as she might, Mana could neither more nor scream with her voice caged inside of her chest. It took the entirety of Mana's focus and willpower to gasp and exhale in the presence of Hanshin's Killing Intent.
"You didn't come here to kill us or to interfere with us, Hanshin-san. You came here to force me to study from you, didn't you?" Mana turned her eyes up to meet Hanshin's.
"Oh… How perceptive. Don't be mistaken, I couldn't care less if you studied from me or not. What I care about is the fact that I, the Hanshin the Handsome, offered you to learn from me and you've disrespected me by walking away from that offer. It's not that I care whether you live or die, it's that I will permit no one who has disrespected Hanshin to live." Hanshin insisted.
"Okay then, I'll learn from you." Mana bowed, surprising Hanshin and making the rest of the Stars resonate with disapproval.