Rei woke up and saw Konan's sleeping face in front of him. She had a small smile and cutely furrowed brows, most likely from a pleasant dream. He couldn't help himself and his hand quickly landed on her cheek, softly and gently caressing it.
Konan slowly opened her sleepy eyes while her head unconsciously leaned towards Rei's hand. Her smile widened as her vision cleared and the first sight that greeted her was Rei's eyes, intently staring at her face, enamored with it. Konan moved before she could even realize it and suddenly rolled Rei on his back. She sat on his belly, straddling him, letting him see her very naked and very sensitive body while smiling at him gently. She lowered her upper body, laying her chest on his as her mouth claimed his in a very slow and deliberate kiss.
Rei's hands snaked around her torso, softly embracing her naked back. He started to slowly stroke it while making sure to apply raiton chakra to make her feel pleasant tingling in her entire back. He could instantly feel her legs clamping hard on his hips as her crotch instinctively pressed harder into his stomach. He could feel Konan's nipples hardening, poking his chest.
Konan ended the slow soft kiss and pulled her head slightly away before her head lowered again, towards his ear.
"That was not nice... Now I am all horny." She seductively purred into his ear and started to kiss his neck.
"That makes two of us." Rei returned the favor by releasing a hot breath into her ear that was conveniently close. His left hand raised from her back, taking hold of the nape of her neck as his right hand reached across her back, gripping her hip.
Konan only managed to yelp as she suddenly found herself lying on her back when Rei twisted their bodies. She blinked in momentary confusion at the ceiling. Tilting her head she was about to talk when Rei's lips smashed into hers, his body leaning into her. Konan felt her body loosen, happy from the close proximity. She melted into the kiss and her eyes glazed over in want as her legs that were still around Rei's hips, tightly locked behind his back, refusing to let go.
They passionately made out, laying on top of each other and the time lost the meaning for them. Minute, five, ten... they had no idea.
Out of sudden, Rei withdrew from the kiss.
"Sorry, Konan." He kissed her cheek as she stared at him, biting her lower lip. "We have a mission today."
Konan slowly nodded, her greater than massive reluctance apparent. Rei could only smile wryly.
"Eh... Konan, your legs..."
Konan looked at him innocently, but her legs stayed firmly locked around his back, the same as her hands still held his shoulders.
Rei chuckled and stood up, making Konan yelp and tightly clung to him like a koala.
"You difficult girl..." He kissed her forehead, enjoying her pout and her accusing stare. "Well, then, shower first!" He said but Konan could feel his hands squeezing her bum. That instant she knew it would take a long, long time for them to leave the shower.
Her eyes quickly morphed into joy, claiming his lips as he carried her to the bathroom.
...
Annoyed Ringo was leaning on the gate as she sat cross-legged on the ground, the swords that she received from Rei were on her lap. She took great care of them. After all, not even half of the jonin were capable of having a weapon from chakra metal! Even if only as big as kunai, it would cost a fortune! Only the most skilled and successful ninjas could afford one! Or the wealthiest clans...
Yet, Rei-sensei gave her not one but two! It was half a year since she started her apprenticeship and she could never really put her head around where her sensei got the money for two short swords. Even the Mizukage dropped his jaw when she reported it! It really showed how big it was!
She was tasked with reporting anything suspicious about her sensei to the Mizukage. She... wasn't very comfortable with it but she was a kunoichi of Kiri and Mizukage was her boss. She was very aware that her Rei-sensei knew but didn't care. Ringo didn't understand why it was important to have HER of all people spy on Rei-sensei. He could have killed her off in the middle of the village and make it seem like an accident. That much she knew from their training. It made her that much more glad she was given to Rei-sensei. She learned a lot about kenjutsu and raiton!
She started to like her sensei... even his cold teammate was kinda bearable, she guessed.
"Now... if only Rei-sensei and Konan-san showed up." Ringo grumbled under her nose, not noticing the ANBU and gate guards snickering at her, knowing full well...
This was the first official out of the village mission for Ringo and she was excited. Well, before she was forced to wait half an hour for her sensei!
Poor Ringo had no idea that Rei and Konan were pulling their inner Kakashi on her. It would be hours before they showed up.
...
The third Mizukage stood in his office, looking out of the window.
"Sigh, if my clan knew..." A womanly voice resounded from within the office as the shuffling of dressing up could be heard.
"Himeno," Mizukage chuckled as with the corner of his eye he observed his childhood friend sluggishly pulling her clothes back on her body. "your grandfather knows about us..."
"Humph. I know!" She averted her eyes, making him snicker.
They have been sleeping together since they were teenagers. Himeno never married. Always beaten her suitor to an inch of his life to dissolve any arranged marriage. She was to be the next clan head and yet by now there was nobody in the Yuki clan who dared to propose. No matter the benefits.
The Mizukage came closer to Himeno and kissed her on the lips.
"How is our daughter?" He softly asked her, making her wryly smile.
"Still forbidden from any shinobi training. The elders are forcing her to be a civilian. The only civilian in the entire clan..." Himeno shook her head sadly. "Ah, it's not that bad! She clearly has Yuki Kekkei Genkai and is treated like Princess." She elaborated when she saw Mizukage getting angry.
"She is only forbidden to train. They don't want someone with 'impure' blood to be the next leader of the clan." The Mizukage held back a sneer.
"Sigh. It was hard enough when I came back home pregnant, unwilling to tell who the father was." Himeno shook her head. "Only my grandpa supported me."
The Mizukage nodded and continued for her.
"That was the only reason why no repercussions were enforced." He sighed but then bitterly grimaced. "I know. He asked for a hefty price for that too."
"I am planning to retire soon. Unless a war comes, in five to seven years I will be all yours." The Mizukage hugged her and whispered to her ear. "Then, I can stop this politicking and we can make many more daughters together." He kissed her near the ear, making her giggle.
Himeno pushed him away.
"We just had sex." She pouted at him, making him chuckle.
As she looked down, blushing hard, she found a file pushed to the side of the table they just used for their lovemaking. She took it to her hand and started reading. The more she read the higher her eyebrows rose.
"You..." Himeno looked at her lover with wide eyes.
The Mizukage saw the file she was holding and let out an insufferable sigh.
"Yes."
"You want that orphan, Ringo, do what!?" Himeno shrieked.
"Hime..."
"Are you sure?" Himeno quieted down and seriously stared at him. "I doubt Konan will let Ringo sleep with Rei..."
The Mizukage nodded.
"You never know but she is only a trial, anyway. I doubt she would manage it. I am sure Rei knows well what my game is and Konan will never accept Ringo because of that. Because both know..." The Mizukage smiled deviously. "But that will be their undoing, you see. I did account for my retirement into the plan! And I am counting on their cleverness too!"
"Ah... Ringo is a cover." Himeno stated dryly. She knew that smile, it instantly became apparent.
"Read ahead." The Mizukage told her simply and Himeno did.
"You... you... you..." Himeno could only gape as her mind stopped. "You betrothed him!?"
"Hehehe. Your man is a master at manipulation, after all!" He proudly stated with his hands on his hips. "As Mizukage, I am legally able to do it! Kukuku!"
"This... the girl is barely four!"
The Mizukage nodded again. "That's why it will work. The girl is four. Too young to predict it. At first glance, I won't have any influence over her situation too. Rei and Konan will never see her as a threat, not when the exact same thing already failed with Ringo. They would think me too smart to go at it in the exact same way only without my own influence. The girl won't even know it was all planned! And then, when they got close to the girl, hehe, I will spring the spiel at them! Either accept the betrothal or let the girl go into CRA where she would be used... well you know."
Himeno could only stare at him. It was a cruel plan. But she knew him. He always acted only after he got his facts straight. The CRA clause for a female was not activated... ever. Yet if this fails the girl will suffer.
"This... you are sure they will take her in, right?"
"I know Rei and Konan are loyal only to each other." The Mizukage waved dismissively. "I am giving them an incentive to be loyal to Kiri. Sure, it will take years but I observed them enough. With my plan? They will take the girl. A girl raised by Kiri. A girl whose inheritance is in Kiri. A girl who will receive her clan properties when she is of age. That will tie them to Kiri indefinitely."
"It can backfire." Himeno hummed.
"I know." The Mizukage sighed. "But Rei is reasonable. Konan would probably make the Kiri go kaboom but Rei... That's why I am doing my best to accommodate them. I would probably want Rei as my successor if he was born in Kiri. You know, I am a very good judge of character. I judged you to be a pervert, after all..." He giggled perversely.
"You!" Himeno swatted his shoulders in good humor with a scowl. The previous topic already forgotten.
Ringo glared at the approaching forms of her sensei and his teammate.
They still looked like white and black smudge in the distance to her but she recognized they were happily holding hands as they leisurely walked towards the gate. She wanted to strangle them!
Six hours. That's how long it took them to finally decide to show up!
By the end, she was sure she knew every location of every hidden ANBU as she heard them laughing at her! She could only bitterly grimace. Rei was her superior first and sensei second. It was time to stand up and greet him while holding back her bitter tears! Sniff.
Rei held Konan's hand and could feel the soothing sensation of her gentle water chakra coursing through his entire body through his hand, making him feel as if it was devotedly massaged. He returned the favor by sending his water chakra into her body, making her pleasantly shiver and chew on her lower lip. As if she could win in a fight of suiton chakra with him, he snorted. It was so tempting to just spin her and kiss those seductive quivering crimson lips as her amber orbs were narrowed in delight, showing her light-purple eyeshadow. Unfortunately, Ringo was already served double Kakashi for today. It was time to get going.
"Hello, baka-deshi Ringo." Rei joked. At first, he did it to satisfy his pettiness. Wanted to feel like those whimsical wuxia masters who were sending their disciples on brainless adventures to satisfy their pride. But after a while, he stopped, and now it was just a recurring joke.
"Master!" Ringo bowed mockingly, making Rei chuckle and Konan roll her eyes at the girl.
"Well, the mission is simple enough. We are to assassinate a noble in the Land of Marsh."
Ringo looked bewildered at her first mission being something only a jonin would do.
"Don't worry. The mission is more for us than you." Konan joined. "You are here to observe and learn and..." She stopped.
"And to kill my first human in the field." Ringo nodded.
"Geez, they really teach them well in the academy, don't they?" Rei muttered.
Both Konan and him knew the academy curriculum and this was a tradition of sorts. They kill each other during the genin exam... reducing the class to half. But that's only for civilian-born. The clans would never stand it. The clan children usually only show that they are ready to be shinobi and be forced to kill a bound prisoner to blood themselves.
Hence, the first mission served to 'properly' have a first-kill in the field. Against someone who fights back. It was Rei's responsibility to provide such a person. Either on the way to, during, or the way from the mission. Ringo WILL kill someone and they won't return until she does. If she won't be able to kill a man in a month, she will be deemed useless and... Hence, the high mortality rate of the Kiri genin. But then again, Kiri has the best assassins and in a war, they clearly keep up even with their lesser, more trigger happy, military force and stay deeply rooted in the big five.
It is said the losses were almost the same on both Kumo and Kiri during the second war. But that is only statistically. Both lost around fifteen percent of their force while another twenty were out of commission due to injuries. But Kiri had a lot less shinobi than Kumo therefore Kumo lost more. Pre-canon Kiri was strong power, indeed.
Nevertheless, Rei still didn't see a reason to cull Kiri's young genin due to a weak stomach. They were barely ten... Ah, blast it.
"Sigh. Idiotic traditions." Rei shook his head. He could always just report she indeed did kill someone and be done with it. He really didn't understand the hype.
"Let's go."
They left the village. It took them a few hours but when they were sufficiently distanced and checked that nobody followed them, Konan made her paper platform.
"Come on, Ringo." Rei gestured to her to get on it.
Ringo was staring in confusion at it. What could it do? She indeed stepped on it and... she shrieked and shrieked some more when she was yanked at high speed towards their destination.
Twenty minutes passed and Ringo was finally calm, observing the landscape from above as they flew around the clouds. She suddenly saw a glimmering blue mass of water and sandy beaches. They reached the sea. It was mesmerizing for her to watch as the waves crashed into other waves. This tranquil sight... she will never forget.
...
Ringo, Rei, and Konan stood on a paper platform, marshes all around them. Before them, a majestic Japanese castle stood proudly on the only hill, a solid mass of earth, around. It was the depiction of the unconquerable. The marshes would stop any sizable army and the castle was positioned well. It would take a lot of effort for an army to breach it. But...
"Ringo, I want you to tell me, what would you do first in this kind of situation." Rei squatted near the girl, quizzing her.
"Uh... I... infiltrate?" Ringo tilted her head. She knew she was not the smartest tool in the shed but... wasn't that obvious?
"How?" Rei smiled while Konan giggled and Ringo felt her answer was not what he wanted to hear.
"Ah... I need to kill the Lord, yeah?" Seeing Rei nod, Ringo continued sure of herself. "I would pretend to be a courtesan, then! A henge into a beauty, perhaps?"
Rei chuckled. A textbook answer, alright.
Ringo heard his soft amused chuckle and beamed, thinking she was right! Until... her face impacted the softened paper of the platform as Rei swatted the back of her head.
"Wrong baka-deshi! What if the guards won't leave the room and you will have to have sex with him to keep your cover? Your henge would dissolve and the Lord would find himself sticking into a ten years old girl, or in the case of another kunoichi, a different person than he paid for. He will either be amused and continue... Then you just might survive it as he might not call his shinobi guards to deal with you as he will fuck you, humiliate you, and then when you are sufficiently broken, throw you to his guards." Rei sighed in exasperation and continued.
"Leave honey trap missions to kunoichi who chose that kind of life and are trained for it. You wanna be a combatant, not honey trap, baka-deshi. Back to the situation, OR... he will NOT be amused since he is not a pedophile. Most nobles that we are tasked to assassinate are tyrants. Not all, but most. You do not want to be caught by these people. That's why every honey trap kunoichi can request an implant of a cyanide capsule into her mouth. It is much better death than what she would have to go through otherwise. Anyway, these requests are ONLY made by the Daimyos themselves as if a civilian or other noble could request a Hidden Village to assassinate a noble, the entire system would eventually collapse by Daimyos being assassinated left and right. Any idiot who tries is promptly executed. Anyway, IF the target was not amused, you would be thrown to guards where you would be their toy for a day before your throat is slit. Game over. Try again." He gestured with his hand in 'come on' motion.
Ringo heard the impassive voice of her sensei as he lectured her while pouting as she sat up.
"Then what!" She petulantly crossed her arms, looking to the side. "I dunno. Charge and kill?" She muttered, making Rei laugh.
"Pin-pon. Ringo-chan~. Correct."
Ringo looked at him with wide eyes. Did her sensei just tell her they were going to massacre the entire castle!?
"Remember this Ringo. Every client is asked... specifications when he submits the mission. There is ALWAYS a clause about the preferred approach. Force? They send an assault team, depending on the location, enemy, and the type of the mission. Assassination? They send an assassin or someone from the Seduction Corps depending on time, the personality of the target, and so on. It is NOT an easy process to pick who to send. The mission passes various evaluations before it is delivered to the shinobi. That's why the village takes twenty percent off your paycheck. They check if it is all legit. At least, for missions above B-rank such as this." Rei explained.
Konan continued before Ringo could do more than a nod.
"And even with all the checking, the missions are dangerous. If you suspect that something will go wrong then it most likely WILL go wrong. That's why you always ask about the desired approach by the client. When you can kill everything with a Jutsu, you DO NOT go dancing inside in a weak henge, possibly getting fucked. We are an assault team so assault is what we do."
Rei took the reins and added his input.
"Some teams only take missions they can steamroll through, like us. If the approach is not to your tastes, you are free to refuse. Only S-rank missions are not rejectable."
"But... nobody asked me if I accept this mission?" Ringo muttered in confusion.
"Ah, they only ask the leader of the team. Even jonin-only teams have one leader who speaks for the entire team in these matters. In this case, it is me, baka-deshi." He cooly eye-smiled at Ringo.
Konan nodded and continued.
"And even then, refusing is not a hard matter. The village has at least five potential teams who could be sent prepared. If they ask you to go, that means somebody refused or you were first in the line. You are in no way special, you see. And if somebody requests specifically YOU for a mission, you are ALWAYS told beforehand. It prevents a lot of backstabbing since more often than not when somebody requests you and you do not know that person personally, it is a trap."
Ringo nodded and silently waited for instructions. She understood Rei-sensei didn't want a battle plan for her but only wanted to make her say something wrong so he could explain. He always did it. Ask questions. Swat her for the wrong answer. And then explain. The lesson stuck. That Ringo could not refute. Even if it hurt her pride!
"Well, Ringo. I choose this mission exactly because it is an entire castle. I wanted to show you what a proper ninjutsu technique could do."
Ringo started to get excited when Rei-sensei said that! His raiton techniques were amazing! And he was going to show her a large-scale technique!? She bounced up and down with sparkling eyes!
"Let's go." Rei chuckle
"Konan, if you will?" Rei asked Konan.
Ringo's cheerful mood dropped. She wanted to see some of Rei's raiton! Not some paper techniques!
Rei saw Ringo's dimming excitement and smirked. A half-year might have passed but they never showed her their Suiton or Doton. It was time to show the girl.
Konan nodded at Rei and put her hand in front of her chest, her index and middle fingers outstretched, showing her dark-blue nail polish and her perfect nails.
Ringo knew Konan did it to mock her! She always gritted her teeth because her nails were always chipped or cracked from sword practice. It was only when Rei showed her a way to reinforce and protect them with chakra, her nails finally stopped being damaged! Konan laughed for two months straight at her for being dumb and not asking instructors in the academy about it! Ringo was jealous alright! Even the beauties in the Seduction Corps didn't look half as good as Konan! They even invited her there! Well… granted, that didn't go well for them. Konan almost skinned them alive... if not for the Mizukage...
'SWAT'
Rei again swatted Ringo for not paying attention. Ringo's face planted again into the softened paper that Konan prepared under her exactly for this occasion. She pouted and focused on Konan as her sensei wanted.
Konan only watched the young girl with an amused smirk. She noted the girl was looking intently at her hands and shook her head. The hand sign she was 'using' was exactly that. Just a useless gesture without any meaning. She was using it to fool anyone who was looking. Konan knew how to mold her chakra internally without the signs. Two years was enough to learn it and be in complete control. Hence...
"Suiton: Thunder Hail Waterfall."
She pushed her created Suiton chakra and released the hold on her molding to start the Jutsu she held semi-finished until Ringo started paying attention. She was happy for that distraction as it provided her the five minutes she needed to mold her chakra into the massive technique she was about to unleash.
It was easy to create your own Jutsu once you could consciously mold chakra however you wanted. Yes, it still took time to fine-tune it but at least it was possible and manageable. Most ninjas... took years to create a completely new Jutsu when Rei would need a month and even then it would be for fine-tuning. Konan… could do it in two months, much to her dismay. Rei was just better at these academic things. All thanks to the inner knowledge of chakra molding and how exactly the Jutsu were made from that point all the way to the flashy effects. That's why sealless Jutsu were so revered.
Ringo tilted her head as she heard Konan exclaim the name of the technique. Nothing happened. She was about to open her mouth when a droplet of water landed on her nose. She looked up and her eyes instantly widened as she crouched down and curled into a ball, her face snapped towards the ground and her hands covered it protectively while quivering from fear.
It was only then a thick rain fell on the castle and its surroundings. It was so dense, it was more of a waterfall from the sky rather than rain. The water level rose, the marshes became small lakes, sweeping everything in the hailstorm of water. The greenery disappeared under the water in a moment as more and more water unceasingly fell from the sky.
Ringo peeked at her sensei when she didn't feel herself being crushed by the torrent of water and found that a dome of translucent futon chakra was around the still dry paper platform. She saw Konan looking at her mirthfully and her sensei raised an eyebrow at her reaction. Ringo grimaced but relaxed and straightened up.
She marveled at the gorgeous sight as she spun and looked around. She couldn't see the castle anymore. She couldn't see even the surroundings! It was like a thick mist surrounded them! Only, it was made of densely falling water from the sky instead of fog! Ripples were continuously appearing on the futon dome as the water impacted it and flowed down while more water and more fell into the never-ending stream. It was as if Ringo was looking at multiple rivers flowing into each other, battling for superiority all around her! The only thing she could hear was the loud fizzing and cracking sound the water produced as it impacted the dome. Any other sound was quickly absorbed by the waterfall's own symphony.
To be honest, the technique was terrific to Ringo. She was sure that just the initial torent of water was enough to crush a human to death. Such an amount of water falling on somebody at once? Ringo shuddered from the thought.
But here she was. It was a minute and the heavy waterfall of water still fell from the clouds. Ringo heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Konan stop doing the hand sign and the absolute downpour started weakening. It took three more minutes until it stopped completely.
Ringo looked around... at the newly made lake. Trees were crushed as their broken forms barely peeked from the surface. Everything was only clear water all around them. Only the hill and the castle stood proudly but even then water flowed out of the castle's drainage as a violent river, down the hill into the newly-made lake. Ringo's thought about how many people were crushed to death by the technique as she saw the slight reddish color of the water flowing out of the castle.
"Don't worry. Every person in that castle was a mercenary who helped the Lord suppress the locals. The Lord didn't allow them to bring prostitutes into the castle. Nobody 'innocent' died." Rei chuckled at Ringo's pondering expression.
"Well." Konan interrupted before Ringo could speak. "That took three-quarters of my chakra." She rolled her shoulders as if mockingly showing how tiring was leveling the surroundings. "Rei, your turn."
Ringo's jaw dropped. "Sensei! you are going to use a technique!?"
"Well, the castle is still standing, after all!" He smiled and ruffled Ringo's hair. Then he pointed up with his index finger. "And this is a combination technique, anyway. I couldn't in good conscience waste all that effort Konan put into it." He grinned as he already started molding his chakra ever since the water started pouring down. He couldn't let that effort and chakra be put to waste, indeed.
Ringo looked up again and froze. The clouds... were completely black. Massive bluish sparks could be seen raging in them, just waiting to be released onto the ground in a flurry of destruction. Ringo suddenly got a very bad premonition about what's to come.
Rei did the exact same hand sign as Konan.
"Raiton: Thunder Hail Waterfall."
It was another downpour as Ringo stared in awe. The downpour of lightning.
The roars of lightning impacting the ground reverberated through the land as the ground trembled from continuous lighting strikes, the thunderous roars completely deafening everything around. In a way, it was worse than its predecessor, the water. Ringo could clearly see the castle being continuously destroyed by the thick lightning beams as they thundered down onto it, destroying towers, walls, the hill itself. The water all around them got agitated as the lightning impacted it, loud crashing waves started to form and swirl around, reaching meters into the sky as they completely bypassed the hill and washed around the castle's wall, getting inside through the damage done by the lightning. Ringo thanked that they were on the paper platform, twenty meters above the land as she was sure these ten meters waves would crush even the Mizu fleet without much resistance. She was sure that the people who won't die of lightning, will drown in the castle as the water was slowly flooding it.
It was ten minutes later that the lightning still danced all around in a furious symphony of destruction, tearing down the landscape and making the newly-formed lake rage under the unceasing thunderstorm. For ten minutes straight, Ringo's world was filled only with deafening thunders as with gritted teeth and her hands on her ears, she dearly wished the painful sound to stop. Finally, it ceased as Rei put his hand down. And the hill and the castle... were no more.
Only a clear glittering lake was left behind. The world regained its
"Konan, if you will?" Rei asked Konan.
Ringo's cheerful mood dropped. She wanted to see some of Rei's raiton! Not some paper techniques!
Rei saw Ringo's dimming excitement and smirked. A half-year might have passed but they never showed her their Suiton or Doton. It was time to show the girl.
Konan nodded at Rei and put her hand in front of her chest, her index and middle fingers outstretched, showing her dark-blue nail polish and her perfect nails.
Ringo knew Konan did it to mock her! She always gritted her teeth because her nails were always chipped or cracked from sword practice. It was only when Rei showed her a way to reinforce and protect them with chakra, her nails finally stopped being damaged! Konan laughed for two months straight at her for being dumb and not asking instructors in the academy about it! Ringo was jealous alright! Even the beauties in the Seduction Corps didn't look half as good as Konan! They even invited her there! Well… granted, that didn't go well for them. Konan almost skinned them alive... if not for the Mizukage...
'SWAT'
Rei again swatted Ringo for not paying attention. Ringo's face planted again into the softened paper that Konan prepared under her exactly for this occasion. She pouted and focused on Konan as her sensei wanted.
Konan only watched the young girl with an amused smirk. She noted the girl was looking intently at her hands and shook her head. The hand sign she was 'using' was exactly that. Just a useless gesture without any meaning. She was using it to fool anyone who was looking. Konan knew how to mold her chakra internally without the signs. Two years was enough to learn it and be in complete control. Hence...
"Suiton: Thunder Hail Waterfall."
She pushed her created Suiton chakra and released the hold on her molding to start the Jutsu she held semi-finished until Ringo started paying attention. She was happy for that distraction as it provided her the five minutes she needed to mold her chakra into the massive technique she was about to unleash.
It was easy to create your own Jutsu once you could consciously mold chakra however you wanted. Yes, it still took time to fine-tune it but at least it was possible and manageable. Most ninjas... took years to create a completely new Jutsu when Rei would need a month and even then it would be for fine-tuning. Konan… could do it in two months, much to her dismay. Rei was just better at these academic things. All thanks to the inner knowledge of chakra molding and how exactly the Jutsu were made from that point all the way to the flashy effects. That's why sealless Jutsu were so revered.
Ringo tilted her head as she heard Konan exclaim the name of the technique. Nothing happened. She was about to open her mouth when a droplet of water landed on her nose. She looked up and her eyes instantly widened as she crouched down and curled into a ball, her face snapped towards the ground and her hands covered it protectively while quivering from fear.
It was only then a thick rain fell on the castle and its surroundings. It was so dense, it was more of a waterfall from the sky rather than rain. The water level rose, the marshes became small lakes, sweeping everything in the hailstorm of water. The greenery disappeared under the water in a moment as more and more water unceasingly fell from the sky.
Ringo peeked at her sensei when she didn't feel herself being crushed by the torrent of water and found that a dome of translucent futon chakra was around the still dry paper platform. She saw Konan looking at her mirthfully and her sensei raised an eyebrow at her reaction. Ringo grimaced but relaxed and straightened up.
She marveled at the gorgeous sight as she spun and looked around. She couldn't see the castle anymore. She couldn't see even the surroundings! It was like a thick mist surrounded them! Only, it was made of densely falling water from the sky instead of fog! Ripples were continuously appearing on the futon dome as the water impacted it and flowed down while more water and more fell into the never-ending stream. It was as if Ringo was looking at multiple rivers flowing into each other, battling for superiority all around her! The only thing she could hear was the loud fizzing and cracking sound the water produced as it impacted the dome. Any other sound was quickly absorbed by the waterfall's own symphony.
To be honest, the technique was terrific to Ringo. She was sure that just the initial torent of water was enough to crush a human to death. Such an amount of water falling on somebody at once? Ringo shuddered from the thought.
But here she was. It was a minute and the heavy waterfall of water still fell from the clouds. Ringo heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Konan stop doing the hand sign and the absolute downpour started weakening. It took three more minutes until it stopped completely.
Ringo looked around... at the newly made lake. Trees were crushed as their broken forms barely peeked from the surface. Everything was only clear water all around them. Only the hill and the castle stood proudly but even then water flowed out of the castle's drainage as a violent river, down the hill into the newly-made lake. Ringo's thought about how many people were crushed to death by the technique as she saw the slight reddish color of the water flowing out of the castle.
"Don't worry. Every person in that castle was a mercenary who helped the Lord suppress the locals. The Lord didn't allow them to bring prostitutes into the castle. Nobody 'innocent' died." Rei chuckled at Ringo's pondering expression.
"Well." Konan interrupted before Ringo could speak. "That took three-quarters of my chakra." She rolled her shoulders as if mockingly showing how tiring was leveling the surroundings. "Rei, your turn."
Ringo's jaw dropped. "Sensei! you are going to use a technique!?"
"Well, the castle is still standing, after all!" He smiled and ruffled Ringo's hair. Then he pointed up with his index finger. "And this is a combination technique, anyway. I couldn't in good conscience waste all that effort Konan put into it." He grinned as he already started molding his chakra ever since the water started pouring down. He couldn't let that effort and chakra be put to waste, indeed.
Ringo looked up again and froze. The clouds... were completely black. Massive bluish sparks could be seen raging in them, just waiting to be released onto the ground in a flurry of destruction. Ringo suddenly got a very bad premonition about what's to come.
Rei did the exact same hand sign as Konan.
"Raiton: Thunder Hail Waterfall."
It was another downpour as Ringo stared in awe. The downpour of lightning.
The roars of lightning impacting the ground reverberated through the land as the ground trembled from continuous lighting strikes, the thunderous roars completely deafening everything around. In a way, it was worse than its predecessor, the water. Ringo could clearly see the castle being continuously destroyed by the thick lightning beams as they thundered down onto it, destroying towers, walls, the hill itself. The water all around them got agitated as the lightning impacted it, loud crashing waves started to form and swirl around, reaching meters into the sky as they completely bypassed the hill and washed around the castle's wall, getting inside through the damage done by the lightning. Ringo thanked that they were on the paper platform, twenty meters above the land as she was sure these ten meters waves would crush even the Mizu fleet without much resistance. She was sure that the people who won't die of lightning, will drown in the castle as the water was slowly flooding it.
It was ten minutes later that the lightning still danced all around in a furious symphony of destruction, tearing down the landscape and making the newly-formed lake rage under the unceasing thunderstorm. For ten minutes straight, Ringo's world was filled only with deafening thunders as with gritted teeth and her hands on her ears, she dearly wished the painful sound to stop. Finally, it ceased as Rei put his hand down. And the hill and the castle... were no more.
Only a clear glittering lake was left behind. The world regarded
'This is pathetic.' Ringo thought as she cut down yet another bandit who was leering at her ten years old form.
She could see the lust in their eyes. It disgusted her to have these eyes aimed at her. So... she cut and cut and cut trying to make it so there was nothing more in need of cutting down.
This was the 'real' trial. Her first mission.
They were on the way from the mission of her sensei and she was told this C-rank mission was for her alone. She was to massacre a camp full of bandits and save town women held there as pleasure slaves.
She was to be brutal. Show the men fear and the wrongness of their path. They had to despair before finally dying. That's why the screams all around. Ringo was chopping their limbs off instead of outright killing them. It was her mission and killing didn't bother her. Not since she killed the homeless man trying to molest her when she was six. And the kids in the orphanage always wondered why she was 'different'. She was not. She only understood the world much sooner than them.
She evaded an agonizingly slow slash and relieved a thug of his hands at the wrists. She wondered if this is how Rei-sensei feels when sparring with her. This... dull feeling. It sent chills through her spine thinking she could be in the place of the thugs. That there indeed were monsters who would see her effort only as agonizingly slow or... dull. Not worth a mention.
Ringo gained another eye-opener in this mission. She really thought that she had enough of them for this month.
The killing was... easy. Coping with it was surprisingly... easy. Witnessing an entire landscape being reformed with a single Jutsu was not. Coping with that was NOT easy! Seeing what real power means was not easy for Ringo.
But she would cope. She would always cope. She had to.
With another angry battle shout, Ringo charged at yet another bandit, making it as bloody and gruesome as possible. She had a job. Distractions were unneeded. Not now.
...
Rei, Konan, and Ringo stood in front of the Mizukage after their report. He nodded at them.
"You may go. Thank you for the job well done." The Mizukage told them. "Ringo, stay please."
Rei shrugged at Konan and they left.
The Mizukage turned to Ringo with a serious expression.
"Genin Ameyuri." His expression somewhat softened. "So... you saw."
"I-..." Ringo didn't know what to say to the man.
"You saw the might an S-rank shinobi can hold."
Ringo nodded mutely, mulling over the words. Indeed. She saw that might makes right. That was exactly what she saw. That was...
"The power that could level entire villages." The Mizukage gravely stated.
"Yes." Ringo croaked with difficulty. She wanted to be the best raiton user of Kiri. But now... Now she saw what exactly that meant. She couldn't see herself in the place of her sensei. Not yet...
"How do you feel about it?" The Mizukage asked, making Ringo take a shuddering breath.
"I...I am weak." Ringo looked towards the ground sullenly.
"Yes. That you are." Mizukage finally smiled. "You are a bright young woman. Tell me, why do you think I assigned you to Rei?"
Ringo stiffened. Why indeed. Rei was still a chunin. He should not have had an apprentice. No matter if his prowess were S-rank. Certainly not an orphan like her! He was fit for clan children. Those with status!
As she mulled over it, Mizukage threw her a book. She caught it.
"Bingo Book?" Ringo tilted her head. She of course knew what the book was.
"Page 34, and 35." Mizukage told her.
Ringo opened it on page 34. Her eyes widened as she stared at the page without any photo.
Rei of Kiri
Affiliation: Kiri.
Prowess - S-rank.
Bounty - none.
Identity - unknown other than the name.
Power - Kirigakure no Jutsu capable of blinding even Hyuuga. Always fights in dense mist or uses powerful landscape-changing suiton cooperation ninjutsu with Konan of Kiri.
Known Chakra Nature: Raiton, Suiton.
Nickname - Downpour: Rei of Kiri, Konan of Kiri.
Ringo's eyes looked towards Mizukage.
"Yes. Rei's identity is still secret. Not even most jonin of Kiri know that Rei-kun is Rei of Kiri. At least those that don't know him and Konan as more than passing acquaintances don't. I am keeping a tight lid on it, you see. But his reputation is solid among clients. What... you really thought I would assign an important search and destroy mission from a Daimyo to an unproved chunin? Please..." The Mizukage snorted. "Read the next page."
Ringo turned to page 35. Another page without a photo.
Konan of Kiri
Affiliation: Kiri.
Prowess - S-rank.
Bounty - none.
Identity - unknown other than the name.
Power - Kirigakure no Jutsu capable of blinding even Hyuuga. Always fights in dense mist or use powerful landscape-changing suiton cooperation ninjutsu with Rei of Kiri.
Known Chakra Nature: Futon, Suiton.
Nickname - Downpour: Rei of Kiri, Konan of Kiri.
"Nobody knows about Rei's kenjutsu as nobody ever survived him using it in his mist. Nobody knows of Konan's real deadliness, her paper Jutsus as nobody ever saw her using it in the mist. Most actually suspect she is proficient in shurikenjutsu or something. Two and half-years of missions and their real prowess and identity are still mostly hidden. But they are the boogeyman of this generation." The Mizukage shook his head and sighed. "The other countries are starting to notice. The unnatural utterly impossible feats of suiton ninjutsu they still couldn't help but desperately hope is cooperation ninjutsu..."
"It's not a-..." Ringo mumbled out of it, wide-eyed.
"I know." The Mizukage sighed. "I know too well, child."
"And when they used heavy crushing rain that would not fall even in Ame to devastate a rebel outpost in the Land of Wind with a rain of all things... Some people there never saw rain in their entire lives, Ringo." The Mizukage rubbed his forehead. "I sent them on that mission to see if the dry environment somehow hampers their bullshit suiton. But... blast it they actually flooded an entire area in the Land of Wind and created a lake! And diplomatically, it was not a pleasant thing."
"Cautious approach for them means dumping a disgusting amount of mist all around and just cutting through anyone to get to their target without being 'seen'. Seen by anyone left alive, that is. Quite frankly, the only missions I am assigning them are heavy assault ones since they pulled a stunt like that and managed to actually justify it!" The Mizukage chuckled.
"Why are you showing me this, Mizukage-sama?" Ringo respectfully asked as she came closer and put the book on the table.
The Mizukage gently smiled and made a hand gesture.
Ringo could only widen her eyes as four ANBU appeared and rushed out of the room. The Mizukage took a scroll from his table, handing it to Ringo. She read it and went rigid.
"You want me to get pregnant with Rei..." She stated breathlessly but then her talk about missions flashed through her mind. "I refuse, Mizukage-sama."
Ringo bowed and stayed in bow even though her body quivered at the consequences. She only heard a cheerful laugh.
"You are ten, Ringo. This was a plan for later, of course! A plan I discarded. It is not a viable opinion. It would not be right to force you." He told her with a soft expression. Even he was cringing inwardly. He knew to piss off Rei by forcing this mission on Ringo wasn't something he wanted to see during his lifetime. But he could still word it right to make Ringo more loyal! "That's why the scroll is yours. You can burn it or keep it... your choice. I would rather have you learn as much under Rei and when the time comes, claim Kiba to become one of the Seven, child. And most importantly, make Kiri proud."
Ringo's eyes watered. The Mizukage was telling her he would like her to reach her dream. Her. An orphan! She deeply bowed again, this time out of sheer respect.
"Thank you!" She exclaimed as she sniffed.
"Now go, Ringo Ameyuri. Get stronger for Kiri." The Mizukage smiled at her.
The second Ringo left the office, his cheery attitude evaporated. He sighed.
"Nurturing loyal and powerful people is such a hassle!" He whined out loud and got back to his blasted paperwork.