Note: I had some bad reviews at the start, but the overall response has been positive for this new fic. I plan to take some time, if I find any, and brush up on the older fics. Perhaps, I muster up courage to write more. If you are looking for them, I found out the Fichub site archives the fics, even if you delete them. Did not find how to take it down from there, but there you go!
As for this fic, and for now, I wanted to try a little world building, and push for improving Kiri's situation with its barbaric laws and image.
After that I plan to make a time skip, to take us to Third Shinobi World War. Tell me if the world building part got out of hand, but I hope it was digestible.
And with that, I want to thank you for your support and criticism. Even the raving SB User who despite their colourful language simply appeared angry because I stopped writing the fics. Thanks for your support yet again, and I hope you continue to read and review.
I may not always reply to your reviews, but I must say I appreciate it just the same.
Enjoy folks and keep safe!
Ch. 4: Growth
It had been months since I appeared in this world on the beach of Uzushiogakure, and I have made the most of my time here. I got around with the instructors, found myself decent sparring partners and looked for Texts and scrolls in libraries and crypts to improve myself.
I knew Dojutsu was the shortcut to life in this world and nothing triumphs Sharingan and Rinnegan spiel. But to that end, there are a few things I need to take care of.
Firstly, I practiced with different weapons and got a feel for each of them. Even if a sword is a sword, the different type of swords and their different sizes, blade size, weight, flat side, double edge or single edge, curved or straight, hard spine or soft spine, each of these characteristics made a difference in the fighting style, and even if the crux of the matter was to shear and thrust, choosing the right sword was a truly time consuming task.
Thankfully, given this is Kiri, the land of Ninja swordsmen, since samurai Swordsmen hail from Land Of Iron, I had a lot of professionals to seek help from.
I found out, Tanto and Chokito was good for my build, while Wakizashi and two handed swords were not fit for my current build.
But I needed range, and the Chinese Guandao was an ideal weapon for me, with its increased range, flatter blades and harder core and spine.
I got one made, by melting and reforging the chakra metal swords I collected. It had enough material to make the Guandao, with one end having a single edged, curved flat blade with spikes welded on the other side of the blade. The other end however had a spear, while the entire pole stood about five and a half feet.
Chakra Metal was easier to reforge and re-cast, so when a lot of it remained, I asked him to make me a Chain made from the remaining material. It came to be about twelve metres in length, while it was about two inches in width for each link.
The chain remains on my waist wrapped around the Haori, while my inner clothes are Plated Armour and Gambesons made of forged steel.
To complete the look, I had a helmet, made of Conical Samurai type with my Head band fixed on it.
I had realised that my body was capable of lifting a lot of weight than even the original Arashi could. Attributing it to my Demigod strength, I began to do Strength Training and subjected my body to heavier loads.
As the months passed, and my Fourteen Birthday came and went, since I wanted no party or celebration for it, I was happy and content as my fight progressed with my opponents.
Five of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been changed, as the final five remaining from the Seventeen Candidates, actually defeated their respective Swordsmen target and obtained the Swords for themselves.
The Swords to change hands were Nuibari, Kiba, Kubikiribocho, Hiramekirei and Shibuki. The Swords Kabutowari and Samehada remained in the hands of the older Swordsmen who promptly beat their challengers.
The wielders of Nuibari and Shibuki were a pain to deal with, as they were cruel and unnecessarily sadistic. But since such a reputation was often cheered in Kiri, instead of frowned upon, they gladly took the name of the Bloody Duo.
But the others formed a very well oiled team as they had taken up innumerable challenges after officially receiving the right to wield their weapons. And all five new Swordsmen got along easily with the two older duo who were rotund and stuffed, but fought like a ballerina.
Against my expectations, despite appearing unimpressive, compared to other swords, Shibuki, Nuibari and Kabutowari were deceptively complex weapons. As someone who fought their wielders and all other swords almost everyday, sometimes twice in a day, I had begun to realise how special each sword actually was.
The strengths and abilities of Hiramekirei, Kiba, Samehada, and Kubikiribocho were plainly visible. But the other three were worthy of being counted in the legendary list of swords.
The Kabutowari, despite appearing as a mere Mallet and Axe combo was actually a complex weapon. The Axe blade had self-repairing edge, and despite its sheer size, it was very easy to wield and maneuver. The Mallet was actually the force multiplier as it actually had something inside it, probably seals that made it supply twice the force of the user. It also never damaged it's hammerhead, and the axe had a surface hardness that could shear through anything.
The Nuibari was such a cool sword thag I enjoyed watching Kuriarare fight with it, as it was an art fighting with the sword. There could simply be no spar with the sword, as it was made to kill and stab through anything. It went past whatever armour you could think of, probably save for Susanoo.
And same was true for the almost never ending Explosion seals spewing Blast sword, Shibuki. But I was in awe with all these swords because they were just so much fun to fight.
I had innumerable missions with them, after our stiff rivalry. And as it turned out spars make bitter rivals better. We had now a sense of camaraderie as we went on so many missions around the world.
None too difficult, as we faced either mere bandits or less dangerous missing nin. But it was a fun time, as we got to raid and loot and at my request, we infiltrated the Land Of Waves. There was no signs of tyranny in sight, as he saw nobody laying the law of fear in the place. There were no smugglers working openly or goons threatening and extorting in public.
But there were a lot of small groups of united bandits in place.
Jinpachi was our lookout man, while Kushimaru was our scout.
I saw Jinpachi ask around and talk to a local, exchanging some coins as thanks.
He looked around and saw the bandits drag a huge sack to the back of some hideout in the middle of the village, which has a tavern as a front.
Pointing to the tavern, he signalled to us, and we six made our way to the tavern looking like a group of traveller.
Change in POV
Looking at the new arrival, the Barman had to sigh as he signalled to his associate for trouble. The group looked like a group of travelling Ninja, and they could be here for the Bandit clearing mission.
But given the odd number and the eight of them looking like grown men, save for one obvious young boy, he wondered what the Ninja were here for. Unlike other times, when random Ninja pass through, they at least try to keep themselves disguised, despite one man or woman and three children could rarely disguise themselves properly.
But this group was screaming, "I am a Ninja, I kill people for money." When they entered however, they didn't look ready to fight, as all his men looked ready to kill the bastards. A few would die no doubt, Ninja had their weird magic after all. But there were twenty in the pub, ten behind the false doors, and when he turned the empty glasses downward, his man had left to inform all the ones in the hideout to come here.
Even if they looked strong, eight Ninja were no match for forty bloodied theives and men of the Black Wolf Group.
He saw the entrance was left opened by the boy, while two men sat down on the chair. One of the cunts, the other fat one rubbed the bandage of his weird sword. The other was sharpening his axe and knocking the table lightly with the hammer.
If his instincts were not so on point, he would have taken the eight people as circus clowns. But given their obvious sharp weapons, he looked for the most dangerous as each of them was looking more and more like a clown.
He saw the weather outside was getting weird, as he could see the Mist form in the room despite the warm sun outside.
He saw the four others smile as they removed their bandage at the nod of the boy who stood manning the door. "You know I was curious, if the boy's offer for good fun was him pulling my leg, but I must say I am happy with the entertainment."
He wondered what that meant, as he saw the Mist was getting worse, and suddenly he saw a blur. Before he could call out, the Mist covered the entire room, and he belatedly realised it was one of their magics.
"Look out it it those Ninja bastards' doing."
He was behind the counter, so he ducked and waited for the mist to go away. He had never heard of something like this, but he wanted to stay below the counter, hoping to kill the bastards.
But to his grave disappointment, he heard the screams, groans and wails of his own men, instead of any of the Ninja bastards'. When the sounds stopped, and the Mist dispersed, he peeked from the counter to see the most horrifying sight of his life!
There were cut bodies and mutilated body parts cut and spread all over the pub. He belatedly noticed that the reinforcement had also come in and were cut down too. Hoping the bastards who simply walked in and killed all his people had left him alone.
"Oh? What do we have here? We left a rat alive!"
"Ahhhhh!"
The man had soiled himself, as he squealed like a little girl.
After a get-to-know session with Jinpachi and Kushimaru, we were politely and courteously pointed to all the group's stash and looting place. When we relieved him of the misery of life, he was all too happy to die.
"Well that went well." The Kiba wielder said, as we began to store the loot quickly.
"You know, we could try our hand at this bandit thing? Perhaps we push for the nobles' territories and raid the corrupt bastards." The Hiramekirei wielder said as he stored the foodgrains and fruits in our storage scrolls.
I nodded. "We could try for the fat ones. The ones in Land of Grass and Land of Hot Springs must be stuffed with money, since the land is fertile and the place is filled with tourists all day long."
"Not bad, but we would need to face those Tree-huggers or bastards from Usa if we go too deep." The Kubikiribocho wielder said as he pointed at the man showing us the location. "But right here, Land of Tea is a good spot. Not too far and easy to make a mess in. And we can quickly go into the seas and escape by sea if things get sticky."
I hum in thought and spare my two cents. "Perhaps, but there are only tea houses there. And granted the people hire Konoha Shinobi which is the closest Great Village, we would face potentially dangerous threats at no potential profit. It would be waste to venture so deep for so little."
I saw a few agree and a few disagree. We reached no consensus and granted our official mission was over a few weeks ago, we just had little time to spare, before we return.
I kept glancing at the map, as the disagreements continued. Something about the Land of Tea however was bugging me!
"Hey what was the brief on Land of Tea and the surrounding regions?" I asked as I gave it some thought.
"Some tea houses, no Shinobi on retainer." Kushimaru said twirling the Nuibari. "And surrounding region was hmm, yeah land of fire to the north, and land of medicines to the west, sea on other two sides." He replied after looking at the maps, "Why?"
I rubbed my chin, "Well something about the Land of Medicines is bugging me. Yeah, that is it. Something about Land Of Medicines." I said, pulling out the history and the debrief on the land.
I browsed through the Bingo Books, then through the official stories and finally landed upon the gold.
"Oh yeah! Guys we are definitely making a trip to Land of Medicines." I grinned as my thumb struck the location on the open map.
I saw the others look in surprise at the sudden confidence and turned to me. "If nothing else, there is something called Blue Fire Powder, used by one of the clans in the Mountains. Securing the formula and the ingredients of the powder, we could even arm our weakest genin to fight the large number of enemies in war. And I remember reading the Fire Powder needs White Pot ash, some Brimstone and charcoal. We could strengthen the entire village with that powder, and not to mention the rare herbs and medicines we could secure from the area. Lots of loot, another tool to empower our Village, and good kills."
At the end, all eight of us had a splitting grin on our faces.
I showed the records of the few clansmen in the mountains defeated a barrage of Land Of Rain, using this Fire Powder, a secret which the outsiders couldn't copy.
The powder was put in barrels and needed moisture to ignite and propel projectiles. I knew it would be easy to show the powder working, and find a good and steady supply of brimstone from the mountains. Perhaps there was a dormant volcano below which gave volcanic ash, silt and sulphur for the medicinal herbs and some forager came across a potent random mixture of burnt tree, white pot ash from urine and brimstone catch fire with moisture.
But I knew it was the unstable form, as properly refined Gun powder or rather black powder was stable as long as there was no spark even due to friction.
And that meant the oxidiser, the volatile igniter and the fuel were in right ratio.
Making our way to the Land, we decided to scout the land, and spent a week collecting the herbs and different medicines. Not wanting to spoil the herbs, one of the Swordsmen, the Kabutowari wielder was a summoner.
Summoning for the Goose summon, he sent a scroll back home to Kiri, and we also sent a lot of filled scrolls and brought back a lot of empty scrolls.
Timeskip
The primitive gun slinging mountain men would be dangerous in a regular world. Here Ninja had not much fear for the guns, when they could change the landscape with their own chakra and minds. No tools and gimmicks can ever compare to the destruction and devastation these Shinobi are capable of.
But the thought counts! And giving our own merchants something to shoot the unsuspecting Ninja or bandits would go a long way.
And that was what I kept telling myself, when I saw the decimated remains of those in the Howling Wolf Village. I had their need to tell us the secrets of the mountains, the Blue Fire Powder and also the list of various drugs and medicines concocted from the herbs found around here.
We had used genjutsu on the villagers and convinced them to tell us all they can. Dealing with these people was child's play, as these grunts calling themselves Shinobi were all to the level of genin. And their strength came from the Kumanoi Clan's Blue Fire Powder, and the legends of this chakra absorbing Animal called Roen.
Finding this animal and its sealing place was easy, isolating it with a barrier was even easier. Slaughtering the village who got up to no good was easier, when we found out these villagers actually had their origins in the bandits who lived in these mountains and decided to settle down, and they occassionally raided nearby villages destroy their medicine cache and maintain their monopoly.
"So what does this Blue Fire Powder do?" Jinpachi peered in with a curious look, as explosions was his forte.
"You stuff it in long metal hollow barrels from one end, and stuff a projectile on the other end, while stuffing it tightly near the powder. When the powder ignites, the projectile, be it a stone or a metal ball shoots out with tremendous speed."
He rubbed his beard on his chin, while looking at the powder. "And how do you ignite it?"
"These idiots would blow into the tube to ignite it, or when used on a large size, they would use water to ignite it. We could set a small chakra conducting pin at its tip and use chakra to ignite it, or we could have a small wet stone and strike it for civilians. The possibilities are endless!"
He nodded. "I would like to experiment with it too. What if I added this gun powder and set it inside the explosion tags?"
I wondered. "Perhaps you could put it inside tight metal cylinders and throw the cylinders at the enemy. The explosion will cause shrapnel and shred through the enemies."
He grinned. "I like how you think. We could make some variants for our own Shinobi too."
With a nod, we sealed a large amount of Brimstone or as I knew it, Sulphur. The other ingredients could be obtained locally, or created in the backyard. After all, here there were commercial grade fertilizers even as early as now.
l had nothing to gain from this venture, apart from the weird Naruto version of LSD. It would induce hallucinations and genjutsu which did not need chakra, and worked on the herb itself.
I wanted this drug, because it would be useful to trigger my Mangekyo Sharingan when I get around to transplanting the eyes of Uchiha in me.
I had an idea of how and when to do it, but for now, I had to be patient and accumulate the other useful things and perhaps even knowledge necessary for the future.
Handing the plans and proposals to the Research Team in Kirigakure, we convinced Gengetsu Hozuki, the Nidaime Mizukage to send a contingent to hold the mountains for us, and extract the herbs for our use. There were a lot of different medicines here, and securing a command post here in the mountains was key to establishing our supremacy.
But it was all simply another feather earned in my cap, eventually when I would need to garner support from people.
As for the people in Kiri, there was a unsaid caste system here. Not one based on race, but on the time of settlement. The highest and elites of the village were those who were part of the clans and some civilian merchants who were united by the First Mizukage for the founding of this Village.
They are the Kekkai Genkai Clans, some wealthy merchant clans with ties to nobility in the Land of Water, and a few Shinobi Clans. They form the elite and the ones who have their finger in every pie in the Land of Water. All bureaucratic positions, administrative staff, decision makers and lawmakers come from this upper echelon.
The second caste below them are those who joined later after seeing the success of the village, or those who migrated from other lands and settled here, or those who took refuge with the village after some incident.
This was the largest group, and almost made up 45% of the total Kiri population.
And the last is the group of people or their descendants whose regions and territories were forcefully annexed and added to our territories. Their defiance was put down and any retaliation was strongly thwarted, and the region was added to our maps. This happened during the aggressive expansion phase, when the village was simply a small group of islands, and we needed to establish our control of the region.
The people who belong to this category are never trusted, never given higher position in the village, never mingle with the rest and easily blamed for all the things that go wrong.
It is in this category that people are made Shinobi only when they kill their comrades and teammates as the graduation of the Shinobi Academy. And we use these people as cannon fodder when the war comes knocking.
These people are second largest demographic, but also with a high death rate, and therefore only amount to 30% of the population, despite their large numbers.
Why am I telling you this? Because unless I do something about it, the Village was going to break apart, into Have's and Have Not's. And the Have Not's don't have much power of any kind, save their unity, their relentless grit and their numbers. And the Have's often lose to the public voice and consensus, despite their money and their power.
So, I being member of these founding clans, and also part of the 'Have's' decided to empower the people but with the caveat that the second and third class of the population remember it was me who gave them the tools of their salvation.
As such, when I turned Fifteen, I asked to be nominated as Advisor for Civil Affairs in the Village. There was no such post earlier, and it meant I had my pick on who I wanted to fill the department. Given my ideas had helped rake in profits and funds for the village, I was given a lot of leeway and of course support.
Support, which I used to bring second class citizens as administrative staff. A decision unacceptable and unprecedented which led to my current "Debrief" to the council, which was actually to reprimand me for my decisions. All the old codgers and fat lards of the village were present, with their stuffed nose and sneering faces.
Mizukage was also there, so were other supporters for my idea. We had a separate meeting to inform them of my intention and they were quite convinced with my idea.
"So, Jounin Arashi, we have gathered here, because we have some concerns regarding your choices and appointment to your new department." The Head of Kaguya clan said as he looked at a few documents.
"Namely appointing members not of appropriate stature and reputation. You could do well with members the council approves of, and we can assure with our experience, only the most competent of the staff members will be appointed." Another toad-like woman completed with a satisfied sneer.
"Ahem." I coughed in my hand. "I thank you for taking your time to look so carefully and closely at my Staff Selection List." I said with a smile that had made many of them turn their face in distaste.
"As for my choices, first I would like to point out that Shinobi Council has absolutely no overseeing authority on my selection, looking as it is regarding Civilian Matters. I report only to Office of Mizukage, and since there was no problem from his side, I chose to finalise my selection."
I had decided for a verbal beatdown. "As for my choices and their competence, how is the council, if I am allowed to say so, any expert in the matters, if you only know of the competence of your own people? There has been no records of someone from outside these close circle of clans and families ever being given an opportunity to hold office."
I looked at their angry faces. "And if we talk pure competence, I see no merit to be given to those currently in power. No road repairs, improvement of trade relations, improvement of facilities, changes and amendments in Shinobi Academy, changes in troop structure, changes in Infrastructure, all of the current situation can be attributed to lazy administration or corruption."
Many voices were raised as people began to decry my accusations.
I pushed a pulse of chakra through my feet and made a Trident from the moisture and banged it on ground.
The loud thud silenced the noise, as they looked at me amazed.
"For too long, our village allowed the fat to line their pockets and the poor to starve in hunger. There has been no amendments after so many decades have passed, and all because you have gotten weak in blood and resolve. Our village is Bloody Mist, not because what it does to its own people. It is called the Bloody Mist, because of what we do to our enemies."
I dispersed the trident into Mist.
"But our decrepit selves have forgotten who our enemies and our allies are. We are in power today, but war and this Shinobi life has brought down our numbers. We cannot face the combined might of the second and third class citizens of this Village."
I saw people ready to retort. "Yes, you might foolishly assume that we have the power because of our abilities, because of our talents and all the clan education that we give our members. But ask yourself this."
I walked forward and came to their table. "Can we face the combined might of the second and third class, when they are supported by another Great Hidden Village? We have made ourselves enemies of Konoha with the slaughter of the Uzumaki, we have killed Kumo Shinobi to establish our maritime supremacy, and we have killed Iwa members for their treachery."
I looked into their eyes and asked. "Now think about this. Every second and third class citizen of this Village knows all the security checks and schedule of routine border patrols. Every single one of them knows where we live, where our children study, where our elders take a stroll. They know where we eat, where we drink, and who we buy our food from."
I looked into their angry faces and continued. "They know every movement we make, and because we are superior, our eyes see only those of our "stature" and not those who lay beneath. But Shinobi are deceptive, they are taught to kill their targets in their sleep, they are taught to walk in shadows and hide in plain sight. Our servants, our staff, our merchants, our grocers everyone of them is someone we anger and rudely putr down because we assume we are superior."
I lean back. "But every single one of them is a target for our true enemies to turn and take advantage of. Every single one of these disgruntled people can be the spy for the enemy, and gladly open the gates to our village, if it gives them the satisfaction of watching us burn."
I saw the gears turning in their little heads.
"If I was your enemy, I would give money and promise your housekeeper a comfortable life if they told me what you eat and what you drink. I woul slip into your house, when your housekeeper opens the door for me at night, and slit your throat and slaughter your loved ones while you sleep unaware. And I warn you not to lash out at your servants, but because I want you to remember every one you think is inferior to you is being turned into your. potential enemy who knows your routine with precise details, and you wouldn't even know how things got wrong until you see their smiling faces."
The fear was palpable as I smiled. "But it all comes to pass only when YOU allow it. You make enemies by not giving people the right to choose for themselves. We have the largest number of civilian Shinobi but never have the numbers to contend during wars. Why?"
I saw I had their attention. "Because we kill those who are loyal to us, kill them and reduce their numbers, and in turn support those Shinobi who gladly kill their own to survive. We motivate them to betray us, and each passing graduation class, we are repeating the terrible mistake of sharpening the very knives which would one day stab our backs."
"T-Then what would you have us do?"
I smiled at the man who asked. "We give them opportunity to succeed and make a good life for themselves. But we never give up control. We allow them to bring development to this Village, we allow them to hold administrative posts. We can never have enough Paper-pushers."
I saw the nervous laughs, and continued. "We can still remain in power, but our clan members are more useful fighting the enemy and earning for the village. We would increase our numbers with the civilians, and make separate teams to handle long term missions and if necessary train them to be better cannon fodders. After all if every strong Civilian Kiri Shinobi can kill three enemies more, then think what we can do with simply three Graduation classes trained properly by our clansmen? We had 45 civilians ready to graduate last year. Make it thrice and then see for yourself. What you get today is three ruthless civilian Shinobi who have a chance to go missing and make us spend money and effort to hunt them down. Or they could stay in the village and betray us when we need them the most. Instead tomorrow, you could have strong trained 135 civilian Shinobi who are grateful to you, loyal to you and work hard to bring us money and prestige. And if we train them right. These 135 strong shinobi would be trained to fight viciously and kill 400 enemies during war. Now tell me which sounds better?"
Needless to say, an impassioned speech is quickly forgotten, but I wanted my words etched in their minds. I made the temporary support I acquired to change the Graduating Class Rules. And I paid a few young boys and men to spread word that it was me, who convinced the corrupt council to change their ways.
I also began to trade and purchase goods from the Third Class section of the village, going to their districts and setting up suggestion boxes to constructively advise anonymously.
If there was any corruption they faced, they could issue complaints anonymously.
I made the ANBU members loyal to Mizukage take care of the corrupt officials, and issue a strike warning to the Clan in question. Too many and too severe charges, and all officials of that clan would be audited and tried for treason.
And this made a lot of clans angry as they issued complaints to the Mizukage. There were some attempts via back channel to threaten me, while there were some attempts on my life too.
But within eight months, most of the clans were put in place, the system changed to reduce corruption and biased nepotism, and the second and third tier citizens praising me as the Child of the Village.
Pushing for reforms was easy, doing it while training was tough, doing it all with the Knowledge that Madara may soon set his eyes on the village, and Kaguya clan may try for a Coup was a worrying thought. And the foreknowledge of the upcoming Shinobi World War was another riveting thought.
"Arashi-sama, there has been some development with the Roen beast in the Land of Medicine." My Advisor whom I selected from the Third Tier Citizens informed me.
Appointing in the Civilian Department someone untrustworthy to other citizens was a bold move. But when I showed them that a little faith goes a long way, the Third Tier people were aggressively hard working and competent to prove themselves to others and to show my faith in them was not misguided. And that gave me overworking, diligent, loyal, unbribable and honest assistant and employees.
"Give me a sit rep." I had a lot of short hand to get a lot of work done in minimum expended effort. "Roen is sealed in a suitable boy as you asked. The seal is stable, and the boy can harness the beast's power. It is a mindless beast, but our seals can keep it in check. Need periodic inspection."
I nodded. "Send the boy to train from the Six Tails Jinchuriki. Don't allow the boy to absorb chakra yet. Try forcing the boy to his extreme emotions. Anger, grief, pain, etc. See how the boy triggers. Monitor the transformation and have a sealing team ready to neutralise him. I want daily reports on the boy's progress. If the boy appears fatigued or giving up, find another host. We don't want casualties here. And find more records of how this chakra mutated beast was formed. I sense someone trying experiments to create such a beast."
"Will do Arashi-sama." The man nodded. He noted down my orders and passed the next set. "This needs your immediate attention. Mizukage-sama sent the Surveillance report on Kaguya clan like you requested. They are increasing their Weapons Purchase, but oddly doing it from Land of Earth."
I nodded. "Send the Report to Mizukage yourself. Tell him I suspect Kaguya clan plans to initiate a Coup. Set up Barrier Seals around the clans surrounding them, and initiate the Level 3 Threat Matrix."
He looked shocked and looked at me with wide eyes. "Should I tell Mizukage that? What if he asked for proof?"
"Tell him, prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. As for evidence, try probing the clan elders and evaluate their response."
He nodded shakily, and left quickly.
As it turns out, he was apparently wrong! The Kaguya clan had no plans to arrange a Coup, instead they wanted to sabotage my standing and the various improvements I was bringing to the village!
Who would've guessed?
I found out the clan members were plotting to destroy a few Shipments outside the village that I facilitated, destroy the suggestion boxes and the branches of my new departments. They planned to kill a few of my loyal subordinates, and even terrorise my clan and me in person.
But as soon as steps were taken to deal with them, the grunts were rounded up, the minders of these grunts were 'coerced' and interrogated to have them name the masterminds of the plan, which turned out to be a few elders of the clan who lost their political power and wanted to show me my place.
In a rare act of setting an example, I had everyone involved flayed alive, and killed by dismemberment. I impaled their gruesome corpses and displayed them in the open in the Village's District Centre, with the words "Traitors of Kiri!" carved on their bodies and into the ground with their blood.
It was a shocking sight, gruesome and barbaric. But forcing the children of these criminals watch the outcome was my move to enforce the cause and effect situation on the Kaguya Clan. I didn't want to wait for the clan to get antsy and try something like this again.
I was surprised how easily it came to me, and the cruelty with which I let things happen.
What was even more surprising, was the grudging respect I earned from the bloodthirsty Kaguya clan members who saw it as a display of my superior half of Kaguya blood.
Unsurprisingly, it caused fear in the other clans who very well knew my political strength and my agenda. By now, my fierce loyalty to the village first was not even an open secret, it was public knowledge.
I had claimed officially I was Kiri no Arashi, and that was reflected in my Bingo Book Entry, my Official Ninja Documents and even my ID.
And I was praised for it. The fear when I walked past, was slowly going away, when people saw I wasn't on a war path. Things got quiet for a while, until I saw the Sealing Experts return to me with dismay, saying they failed to copy or learn skills from the Uzumaki scrolls l appropriated.
I found out quickly, that I was abysmal in Fuinjutsu. I could do the basic explosion seals, storage seals, imprint the summoning seal formula or objects and people, but I lacked the creativity or ingenuity to develop more skills or work with newer ones.
So I decided to lend my scrolls to known experts in the village and they failed just as spectacularly, making me believe the Uzumaki either had some secrets with the scrolls. Or the bastards treated the sealing as art instead of an exact science!
Which was simply Preposterous!
"I want more funds old man!"
I walked in and interrupted the Mizukage as I saw him sit with some Clan Council member who I knew was friends with him. They both were sipping tea and having a smoke by the side.
Seeing me come, the council member began to get up to leave, only for me to wave him back down.
"It's alright, I just need to explain and submit a proposal." I said to him politely, while I saw the Kage scrunch up his face.
I have found out over time that the Kage is a long distant relative of Scrooge McDuck! The bastard is a miser, and only lives to see his coffer overflow. Every new opportunity, every new facility I wanted to build and develop, I had to fight tooth and nail with the miser for funds, and I always got less than what I ask for.
"What do you want the funds for, this time brat? You ask for more money than everyone and anyone I have ever had the pleasure and displeasure of knowing. And you just keep coming back for more." The Kage sneered with no real heat.
"But it is for the village that the funds are used, my Kage. And given that it is YOUR People who earned that money, I would say spending it for the goodwill and prosperity of Your people was justified." I retorted with a bite.
"Jeez, the brat's got a mouth on him. What do you need the funds for anyway? And how much?" The Kage asked while sipping his tea. He had turned his chair to the left, where the window was open and a fresh breeze was flowing in.
I readied water in my palm as I answered. "Take a look." and slipped the proposal ahead.
The page had the necessary budget proposal earmarked.
I pushed the water in my palm as a shield to protect the documents open on the table, as I saw the Kage spit his tea after his eyes got wide.
"What the fuck are making? A new village? I will go bankrupt if I approve this!"
The Kage squealed like a pig, as he set his cup down and began to look through the document.
"First of all, this is an important project, one that has long term consequences and benefits. It is a trade school, where all auxiliary and supporting seals needed in our world from the various trades and occupations, to even Shinobi skills like Fuinjutsu, Barrier Ninjutsu, Iryojutsu, Medical Assistance, and even Logistics for Combat Support will be taught."
I saw the wide eyes at the possible long term consequences of having such a school.
"Second of all, before you retort, the Shinobi Academy is unable to develop the required skills and the number and quality of professionals we need. I have added the current statistics in the proposal."
I saw the Kage leaf through as I spoke.
"Third, I know for sure, our budget can very well support this project. I get a copy of the Village Budget after all, remember?"
I saw him grumble, but continue to read.
"And Lastly, if we have a war tomorrow, how many said professionals are ready for deployment? And how many of our main force will be forced to do this grunt work instead of bolstering our numbers?"
I saw the gears turning in the Mizukage's head, "And how soon can we expect to see the results?"
"We could first find the ones selected by the existing professionals and select those who have the skills. Then train them for six months and deploy them immediately, while keeping them on probation. It could take longer for difficult ones like Iryojutsu and Fuinjutsu, but we have no pressing need for them, and they could act as additional personnel in training, until they earn the approval of the staff."
I saw the two men grin in thought, "And how many people do you expect to admit in this Trade Academy?"
I smiled, "As many as the building can stuff without getting too crowded. All the undesirables and people doing grunt work, unsatisfied with their current profession, and want to change their paths. Every one on the lower tier of our society who wants a better life, and everyone who has the talent and ability for the work."
I saw Mizukage frown. "Arashi, the current professionals are clan members, not everyone will be willing to teach all classes of society."
"Even if their little brains are calcified with bigotry, I have a few ways to thaw out their narrow minds. And I intend to keep a close watch on these admits and training, at least for first few iterations. Then we'll see."
"And you think in a year or less, we would have them trained?" I saw the Council member, a middle aged man with Deep Red Birthmarks that looked like tattoo on his face ask curiously.
"I think we can have a set structure for the people, and once it is in place, we can police it with minute surveillance and observation to keep things running smoothly. But I admit, we need at least one experienced Professional for each division to be on our side."
I sighed as I sat down with a grumpy face. "I think we can bring real change here. And when those who oppose it see the good that comes out of it, we can push for more. We have such a large number of talented, ambitious and bloodthirsty people in our village."
I saw the men look at me curiously. The statement was derogatory and insulting, but me uttering it would have some meaning to it.
"But the problem is, no one has thought about uniting our bloodthirsty ambitions under one principle, and aiming our dogs of war at the world!"
I ignored the alarmed looks on their faces, as I made a Trident of thick dense mist and threw it in the sky at the clouds.
This was something I practiced for quite sometime.
The Trident soared in the sky, as it went unimpeded.
Swoosh*
I saw it go, as the Kage and the men saw the technique. In a moment of epiphany, I had used salt and dust in the air along with the mist and water vapours and covered the trident in lightning chakra, something I struggle with.
And I saw as did the two men with me, as the crackling trident went at breakneck speeds and struck the fluffy white cloud. The lightning chakra acted as a static charge and the white fluffy cloud grew darker because of the water content in the trident.
The trident came downwards, as it exited now the dark clouds that covered the skies.
This one technique had drained me mentally, and brought me to the verge of chakra exhaustion.
But it was worth it, as the lightning crackled in the sky, and a thick dense streak of lightning illuminated the sky as it followed the motion of the trident.
The Trident struck the empty lands, I knew were unoccupied and always barren. The thud of the trident hitting the ground sounded like a large chunk of metal was hit on the walls.
But it was muffled next second as the ringing thud was covered by the large explosion and deafening blast which followed. The bright glow of the lightning strike was unnatural, as I leaned on the window and watched my new technique work perfectly: Raijin!
