--
Rei and Konan were high in the sky on Konan's paper platform, watching a noble mansion that was supposed to be their target. Somewhere in there should be the daughter of the noble who requested them to 'save her'. At first glance, the mansion wasn't all that much protected. Some sub-par samurais here and there but that was all. For a ninja, this was a dream come true. An easy mission with high pay. At least, that was how it appeared.
"There are twenty jonin and thirty chunin." Konan grimaced as her scouts in the form of small bugs made from paper gave her the intel they gathered. Both her and Rei could fight multiple ninjas each but forty? The problem was, this was supposed to be a rescue mission so they can't just nuke it from the sky and be done with it. They would have to go there and actually search... which means getting attacked.
"The 'target'," Rei almost drowned in sarcasm. "is enjoying herself being massaged by very burly 'servants' who have quite a lot of chakra for 'civilians'... She sure doesn't look like someone kidnapped. Both of her eyes are covered with cucumber slices and her expression is more like someone who is having the time of their life." Rei informed Konan. Over time, his nature sensing became quite strong and he could now 'see' the surroundings through it. While he was somewhat limited and had to focus a lot to be able to do that, it was a nice skill to have for scouting. While Konan's papers could sense ninjas and their chakra, Rei got more visual output that told him much more than just general reserves, and if someone is or is not ninja, supposing the person was not restraining their chakra.
Their difference in the nature attunement showed. This kind of nature sensing was far above what Konan was capable of and that's why they both scouted the mansion with their respective techniques and decided to then compare the notes.
Hearing about the state of the supposedly kidnapped girl, Konan rolled her eyes. "So... what's the plan? This is obviously a trap." She asked.
"Hmm." Rei started pondering about it when his eyes trailed towards the right-wing of the mansion. "That," He pointed at it. "is empty, right?" He asked Konan who nodded in affirmation which made Rei widely smile. "I see, then we will..."
...
Barbo Reurenta was massaging the 'bait' while resisting the urge to groan at this kind of mission. The woman was a chore to be around. 'Barbo, I am hungry!' 'Barbo, I want a massage!' 'Barbo, I am horn-!' ... Barbo had enough. He was supposed to be a respected jonin of Iwa! And yet, here he was, satisfying every desire of a woman that was spoiled rotten. All because she would bait their target to this place.
The Downpour.
The mysterious Kiri duo of S-rank demolition specialists who surpassed even the Demolition Corps of Iwa in the seer destructibility. Quite frankly, the Tsuchikage was not amused by their existence. In the past, when someone needed a demolition expert, they knew to go to Iwa but that was no longer the truth. Now, Iwa had a competition and the old man Onoki didn't like the competition. Not at all. Not when they obviously were so much better than Iwa's top demolition experts. Hence, the current situation. He, the idiot, accepted the mission of 'hunting' The Downpour down without even asking about the specifics and now he was saddled with Kimiko Hugaru, the spoiled nuisance.
It wasn't that the woman wasn't pretty. She was gorgeous. Not a kunoichi kind of gorgeous but more of a sheltered kind. The problem was how demanding it was to be with her! He was a ninja and even he was starting to feel tired! Barbo hoped their target would pop up sometimes soon or he just might drop from the sheer exhaustion due to being ordered around by the woman!
'Oh, why! Why was I so stupid to take this undercover mission? I can't even complain now, can I? If I did, I would be an even bigger laughing stock for my subordinates!' He mentally wept. 'Not that I am not a laughing stock now! I was dragged against my will to Kimiko's chambers, after all! Me! One of the top assassins of Iwa! Sob...'
Needless to say, Barbo's subordinates had the laugh of their lives on his expense at that.
Suddenly, Kimiko arched her hand backward and raised her hand towards her head, taking one cucumber slice off of her face. Her eyes connected with Barbo's. 'Oh, shit. Here we go again.' He mentally groaned but gave her a sweet smile to which the woman beamed.
"Barboooo," Kimiko's whiny voice resounded through the room, "I am bored!" She pouted, pretending to be pitiful. It took every bit of Barbo's past experience and determination to not fuck this mission up to NOT scowl at the woman. The four subordinates of his who were massaging various parts of Kimiko's body were not-so-discreetly glancing at him with hidden snickers too! This was routine. She was 'bored' and they instantly knew it meant Barbo being made into entertainment! Last time, he had to do a geisha show for her! While his team members watched! The woman was ruining his reputation without even knowing it!
Barbo gulped. "Er... this... Kimi-" He didn't finish that sentence as a sudden booming sound resounded through the entire mansion, startling the occupants. Barbo's eyes sparkled in excitement, hoping that their enemies were finally here and he quickly jumped towards the window. His excitement turned into bewilderment as he saw the entire right wing of the mansion was almost leveled to the ground by massive tree trunks falling from the sky. "What the actual fuck? Since when does it rain trees?" Barbo quietly asked when he saw even MORE tree trunks falling onto the right-wing. It didn't take long for his eyes to widen. "Fuck!" He snapped around towards his subordinates and shouted. "Out of the mansion, quick!"
...
Rei and Konan watched as the tree trunks they created were taken out of the dimension storage right above the empty part of the mansion through the MultiWLink on Konan's paper slice that was floating in the sky. Rei added his own twist into it and wove 'genjutsu' into the entire thing. His perfect chakra control allowed him to be quite creative but he decided on a simple approach this time. He didn't affect the people, rather the environment. Through light refraction he made it seem as if the trunks falling from the sky were slowly expanding their landing radius, therefore, it looked like the entire mansion was under the threat to be destroyed by them. For those in the central part, it looked like the left-wing was the next target and for those in the left-wing, it looked as if the next target was the central part of the mansion. It wasn't even that hard for Rei to do this and he really doubted this jutsu could be classified as genjutsu but it created an illusion so there! It was more of a wind and water manipulation in the sky. This actually made it impossible to 'kai' it since it wasn't created by influencing the chakra in their body. It was akin to a big henge on the entire sky.
"They are coming out." Konan said, making Rei smile. Their plan to get their targets outside of the mansion worked. The illusion made it seem the trunks started raining all around so they had no choice but to gather in one place and some of the previously seemingly harmless if a bit muscled servants instantly gained a dangerous atmosphere around them, spooking the civilians in the group.
Rei chuckled at that. "The chunins are going to blow their own cover. Just look at how they are projecting their battle readiness around. Civilians or not, the others started to notice." Rei commented, observing various jonin in the group curse. What made Rei surprised though, was that the samurai guards apparently were not informed about ninjas being present and started warily glaring at the chunins, their hands on the handles of their swords. This made Rei's lips widen into a nasty shit-eating grin. "Oh, well, let's start this party with a bang!" He shrugged and threw a kunai with an exploding tag into the sky.
The second the explosion loudly went off, three things happened.
First, both ninja and samurai drew their respective weapons. For samurai it was katanas and for the ninjas, it was mostly kunai with some taking out something different. Secondly, the civilians started to panic and run around like headless chickens, obstructing the visibility of the combatants and creating mayhem. There were around fifty ninjas and give or take a hundred samurai... but there were a hundred civilians too! And all of them were confined in a small clearing in front of the mansion due to the light refraction illusion! It was an unorganized mess. Thirdly, and this was very beneficial but incredibly surprising... due to the chaos created by the panicking civilians, the commanders of both, the group of ninjas and the group of samurais couldn't relay orders. As the samurais saw the ninja draw their weapons, they did what a good guard should do. They attacked unknown armed assailants. And ninjas reacted. The entire clearing started to become bloody and even more chaotic. The ninja might have been a lot stronger than the samurai but they had to avoid harming civilians so no strong jutsu were allowed, evening the odds slightly. Also, samurai were more experienced in moving in chaotic battlefields and in a direct clash. The ninjas certainly did start to take some casualties.
Both Konan and Rei used this situation to get inside the mayhem, henging into civilians while also lowering their chakra reserves to civilian-level. They ran straight towards Kimiko and saw Barbo deflecting the blows of three samurai while trying to talk them out of attacking. Nevertheless, he didn't have time to give orders to his subordinates. Rei resisted a chuckle and turned to their target, Kimiko who sat on the ground, utterly confused and frightened. The girl was a quivering mess by now as blood, gore, and guts flew through the sky whenever a samurai or a ninja scored a hit on the other. Rei gestured with his head towards Kimiko and Konan went off, with a nod. He approached one of Barbo's enemies and... stabbed him from behind. Killing one, the other two instinctively turned towards him but it was too late as two kunai impacted their abdomens, making them fall to the ground with groans. Rei looked at startled Iwa jonin clad in servant's clothes and quickly said, trying to sound distressed. "Come! Lady Kimiko is in danger!"
Barbo's eyes widened, his eyes snapping in the direction of the girl... and then his world went black.
Rei stood above the slumped form of the jonin, rolling his eyes. "Damn, man, a guy takes out three samurai in front of you and you get distracted? You must really like that Kimiko-girl." He snickered and put a tag with a restraining seal on Barbo's forehead, storing his unconscious body into a stasis storage seal. With that, he left the battlefield.
--
Author Note:
Okay, I've seen a lot of people ask why Rei had to use a jutsu that could wipe out Salamanders. The answer is simple, he was forced to. The salamander elders broke quite a few bones and tore a whole lot of muscles by his Senjutsu/Taijutsu Attacks, plus their ninjutsu powered by senjutsu chakra, and voila... you get utterly outclassed MC. As much as I've written, the self-transport seal is instantaneous, and there is still a quite short window to hit him hence it is not as good as Hiraishin, nor is it meant to be. The seal is not a combat-oriented seal, after all. That's why it's not as used in a fight as it could be otherwise. The next thing is, Rei needed that small window of time to activate it and didn't like his chances of not being attacked during it since the Taijutsu Salamander was fast enough to completely surprise him.
The big, fiery attack was in the end, only a way to get him that bit of time and since he used it, he wanted to see the result. Simple as that.
If someone doesn't like that... er, nothing I can do about that :D.
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NovelIn Naruto: Reborn with TalentChapter 67 - Ch67. The Objective Of The Mission 2
IN NARUTO: REBORN WITH TALENTC67 - Ch67. The Objective Of The Mission 2
Both Rei and Konan rendezvoused five minutes after they entered the 'chaos' in the treetops near the mansion. Rei had a stasis scroll in his hand while Konan had a kicking and thrashing girl over her shoulders that made her show a very, very annoyed expression on her face. Her eyes were dangerously narrowed and set forward, Rei could actually see she was trying very hard not to slap some sense into the girl. The only reason the girl was not screaming was the ball of paper that found its new home in the girl's mouth and was apparently quite hard to get rid of, no matter how much the girl tried to spit it out.
The girl, Kimiko, suddenly slapped Konan's butt quite hard and Konan snapped. She 'gently' put the girl on the ground, making her stop thrashing around and for once, the only sound Kimiko let out was a muffled groan of pain. "That's it, I've had it with you." Konan said in a cold tone, making Kimiko send a glare her way. The glare didn't last long though. The second Kimiko's eyes met Konan's, she froze. Konan had a stoic expression on her face but something in her gaze was just incredibly chilly and threatening. Kimiko quickly balled into a ball and tried to make herself as small as possible when she saw the dangerous way Konan was looking at her. It was the first time the girl experienced such fear. Rei decided to intervene before Konan actually managed to make the girl die due to a heart attack from her frosty glare.
"Ma~, ma~, don't give her that look." He quipped towards Konna, making Kimiko look at him hopefully while Konan crossed her arms and huffed. He crouched down in front of Kimiko and smiled at her. "Don't worry. You won't be harmed. We were sent by your father to 'rescue' you." He snickered at the word 'rescue'.
"Papa?" Kimiko tilted her head. "But... why would papa..." That was as far as she got when Rei suddenly slapped her forehead, making her faint. Konan opened her mouth in speechlessness at the spectacle but when she saw the paper with a knock-out seal... she facepalmed.
"And that's how you deal with annoying people." Rei told Konan, highly amused, as he was sealing Kimiko's body into a stasis scroll.
In the end, Konan chuckled and kissed Rei while hugging him tightly. "Shouldn't we do something like that to Mizukage then?" She asked offhandedly to which Rei rolled his eyes but tightened his embrace. He loved how warm Konan usually was and refused to not enjoy it when he got the chance. He caressed her back as his head swirled with ideas.
"Maybe later, dear." He whispered to Konan. "For now, we gotta interrogate my captive."
"A captive?" Konan asked and stepped back as she felt Rei released her from the hug. Rei only raised his hand with a stasis scroll and she instantly understood. "Which one?" She asked.
"The captain." Rei said, grinning. "Now we can find out just 'why' was this trap set up for us." He said excitedly, happily noting the sadistic gleam in Konan's eyes. Unfortunately, he had to crash her fun. "Sorry, dear, I won't allow you to torture him. I've got a better plan. Much, much better." He said as his grin was widening into a menacing one.
...
Barbo groggily woke up, shaking his head to get out of the daze, and quickly found out he was in an unknown room and bound which made him completely awake pretty quickly. His eyes warily scanned the surroundings, trying to discern what was going on as he was mentally going through what happened before his blackout. His eyes suddenly widened as he remembered what happened to him, only for a colorful curse to leave his lips. He was careless and now he was going to pay for it. Nevertheless, he tried to squirm out of the bindings or use the rope-escaping Jutsu but as expected, it didn't work. As he was about to get out of options, the door suddenly opened and two people walked inside. A young man and a young woman. He quickly understood his mission failed and he somehow got kidnapped by The Downpour.
Konan and Rei saw the man lower his head in resignation as they entered the room. They came in front of him when he suddenly raised his head and spoke. "If you are trying to get information from me, you will be disappointed. I will not divulge anything no matter what kind of torture you put me through."
Rei smiled at that as he gazed into the man's eyes and saw he really believed that. "Let's start with something simple, then. Your name." He stated and peered into the man's eyes until the corner of the man's lips twitched. The man sighed and half-shrugged.
"Barbo."
It wasn't as if he was extremely famous and he doubted these two would get much from his name. Rei chuckled and nodded towards Konan. "She is Konan and I am Rei. But you probably already know that. Well, we don't really plan to torture you." Rei said while his hand found its way around Konan's waist to calm her down since she was pouting slightly. They had quite a debate about this. Konan wasn't happy about having someone trying to hunt them and wanted to send a proper 'message' to the world. As if they didn't do that already... Barbo's eyes warily observed Rei as he heard they don't intend to torture him while Rei continued. "As for your team, half of them are dead, due to samurai that guarded the mansion." He watched as Barbo flinched, his lips twisting into an amused smirk. "The good news is that they killed every samurai." He stopped for a second to let that sink. It wasn't something to be happy about. Barbo's team practically slaughtered samurai belonging to his country which would have at least reputational consequences and depending on the stance of the Daimyo, could be quite damaging to the village in itself. Barbo showed a difficult expression as he completely understood what it meant when Iwa shinobi killed Iwa samurai. Especially in that kind of situation. Rei nevertheless continued with a bemused and light tone. "The bad news is... the 'surviving' half is also dead because of Konan."
Konan watched Barbo's eyes widen at that and decided that maybe it was quite good that Rei didn't allow her to vent her frustration on him. She almost pitied him but the man would talk and it will be out of his own volition. She outstretched her hand and Barbo's body was quickly covered in paper, only his head was peeking out of them. "Let's go." She said and Rei shrugged. They had a plan on how to make the man talk and it seemed that Konan was quite impatient. Unfortunately for Barbo, he had a paper over his mouth so any and all protests were silenced.
The trio went outside, stopping only near Tsunade and her big slimy amphibian of a plaything. It was obvious the blonde didn't even register them as she busied herself with 'experimenting'. Konan sat Barbo in a spot where he will have a front seat to the show and leaned on Rei's back while putting her chin on his shoulder as her hands snaked around his waist in a tight embrace.
Barbo couldn't get his eyes away from the spectacle in front of him, only barely registering Rei's voice. "You see... I am sure that as a ninja, you are used to gore but this is something different." Yes, Barbo could see 'that'. This was... he wanted to puke but he was too horrified to do so. Rei continued speaking. "I am sure you would rather tell us about your little mission than go through that, right?" Barbo flinched but his eyes still couldn't leave the amphibian as the blond busty woman was rummaging in its body. It wouldn't be such a disturbing sight if the summoning animal that must obviously be quite intelligent wasn't cut open in such a way that Barbo could see the contents of its guts and organs still inside of its body... its heart was still pumping, signifying that the beast was still alive as the muscles visibly constricted and loosened in a show of breathing.
Even if Barbo wanted, he wouldn't be able to avert his gaze. He could only grit his teeth to prevent the bile from rising from his mouth after he croaked out. "It's still alive."
Konan rolled her eyes but it was very hard to spot since she was nuzzling her nose into the crook of Rei's neck. "Of course it is," She playfully started. "and you will be too." At that, Barbo's eyes widened as he understood why they were showing him this scene.
Rei smiled to himself. Yes, just a bit more, and the man will talk by himself, no need for boorish torture. He just hoped the man wouldn't be too stubborn about it. "Yup, and I am not really inclined to put a seal that would keep you unconscious during the process. Instead, since you wanted to kill us, I will apply a seal that will keep you conscious as our little," He heard Konan snicker as he commented on Tsunade's height, "friend will look at what's inside of you. But don't you worry your little head over it, she is too experienced to make you die during it." Rei said flippantly and noticed that Barbo didn't really react to his threat which made him frown. He redirected his eyes towards Tsunade and instantly lowered them towards the ground with a groan. That was a mistake. He did not need to see Tsunade pulling the innards out of the beast as a goddamn rope. Rei audibly gulped and took a deep breath. "Okay, we will leave you here to consider your position." He said with a broken smile towards Barbo. "We will be back in a few hours."
And with that, Rei was dragged away by excited Konan who wouldn't let these hours go to waste while Barbo was about to experience three hours of what Orochimaru would dub a 'pleasant' afternoon, only two clones of Rei and Konan silently watching over him.
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NovelIn Naruto: Reborn with TalentChapter 68 - Ch68. Interrogation?
IN NARUTO: REBORN WITH TALENTC68 - Ch68. Interrogation?
When Konan and Rei returned to Barbo, they saw the man having closed eyes with a twisted expression while Tsunade giggled mischievously. Rei approached her and asked. "What did you do to the guy?" His eyebrow raised.
"Oh, nothing." She waved her hand covered with a bloodied glove. "I just showed him a bit of what it means to be a medic-nin." Tsunade again giggled. "Really, these big bad assassins and combat-experts... they never have enough 'guts' to stomach the realities of medic-nin." She rolled her eyes amusedly, patting her stomach to emphasize 'guts' while all around the amphibian were meters upon meters of guts strewn across the floor. Rei decided to not ask further... He rather left her to her devices and went to Barbo. Surprisingly or not, he didn't even need to open his mouth.
When he came closer, Rei was greeted with eyes similar to a dead fish. "I will talk." Barbo said in a defeated and exhausted tone and hung his head low. The sight of Tsunade's 'autopsy' of a still-breathing being must have been quite disturbing for the man.
"Okay then, we are listening." Rai said as he sat on the ground next to the still paper-bound man.
Barbo was quiet for a moment before he sighed and started. "The Tsuchikage doesn't like you being so good at large-scale destruction. But that's not all." Barbo mulled over his next words before starting to speak again. "Kiri was always a village shrouded in the shadows. It was the village of assassins. Quiet and unnoticeable. It had to be. Kiri might be one of the Great Five but it never had numbers or front-line fighters capable of matching other villages of the Great Four. In mist and on the sea, Kiri's forces are almost unbeatable but on land? Kiri is no threat when it comes to invasion. It has always been that way. Even Suna is a bigger threat than Kiri." Barbo said slowly, and Rei nodded. This much, he knew. Kiri might have got fewer casualties in the war against Kumo but it was felt. The village was smaller and more specialized towards kenjutsu and assassinations. Not many ninjas knew large-scale ninjutsu and definitely not on the level of future Hoshigaki Kisame or Mei Terumi. The Kiri-nin preferred silent killing rather than flashy Jutsu. Oddly enough, most often than not, it was those big flashy jutsu that could be seen for miles which showed the real strength of 'ninja' rather than a silent and unseen approach. From this bit Rei started to see the 'bigger' picture and why his and Konan's existence might have been so threatening in Tsuchikage's eyes. After all, the old small man was always the first to jump the gun. Rei didn't voice out his reasonings and rather let Barbo speak.
"And then, Kiri gained you. Two ninjas famous for their 'flashiness'." Barbo chuckled dryly. "Kiri was becoming a bigger and bigger threat due to the acquisition of Kekkei Genkai in the past but they never seemed to be able to use it all that well. The clans there still have a lot of freedom and the Mizukage has quite limited authority over them which stems from the joining agreements they had with the village upon becoming its members."
"And you know that just how exactly?" Konan butted in with a quite important question. Barbo just looked at her with a deadpan gaze.
"They took in whoever. Sure, their anti-spy policy is very good but they can't catch every single spy. Plus the offer of these 'deals' that would safeguard the joining clans was the first thing Kiri offered so many of our spies brought the information about them." He said, making Konan impassively nod but it only strengthened the belief that she and Rei would eventually have to leave Kiri. If the enemy knew about these things, there was bound to be some fuck-up later down the line that will threaten the village. Maybe even use some political pull or a spy inside to start a civil war... the laws of Kiri were very edgy so Konan could imagine something like that to happen. She would have to try to persuade Rei to get out of the village sooner than expected...
While Konan pondered about the revelations of just how easy it was to plant a spy into Kiri, Barbo continued. "Your presence in Kiri is a threat. If you raise pupils capable of performing your Jutsu, the Kiri could raise its strength to rival other villages of Great Five on land and become a real threat. It was also obvious the Mizukage wanted to do just that since not one of our spies managed to get any noteworthy intel about your identity or skills..."
"And the spies being...?" Rei butted in, stopping Barbo in his tracks.
Barbo opened his mouth but then closed it before saying. "I don't know."
"Are you sure?" Rei tilted his head and glanced towards Tsunade but knew it was pointless. He wouldn't really take Barbo's words at face value. Obviously, he drew a seal of 'truth' on the guy when he was unconscious. While the seal can't make the man spit out every secret he had, it was enough to make him completely truthful while not making him even realize it. It also had the effect of making the person actually subconsciously willing to speak. That's why Barbo divulged his name so easily and that's why it didn't take too long for him to spill.
"Yes." Barbo simply said, making Rei sigh. The man really had no idea who the spies were. While it didn't really matter to Rei as Kiri was just a momentary stop, he wouldn't mind giving the Mizukage a parting present. Worse yet, Rei didn't know when he would leave Kiri but it would be years yet. Living in the village while knowing it has spies in it? He hoped he wouldn't get paranoid...
"So tell me," Rei started. "was this only Tsuchikage's idea or someone else was involved?" Rei was really curious about this. If it was only Tsuchikage then good. It was expected but if someone else was involved? Rei wouldn't like to have an unknown third party after his life.
Barbo was quiet for a moment but then started talking. "It was an anonymous request. They paid three times the max amount for S-rank so it gave a good excuse for the Tsuchikage. Half up-front and the second half after the job is done." Rei nodded. So there was some bastard who wanted them dead, after all! Tsuchikage had to think about the good of the village and wouldn't pull a stunt like this without an enormous excuse.
"So... someone is trying to instigate a third ninja war, huh?" Rei distractedly stated with a frown, making Barbo exclaim.
"What!?" He gaped at Rei but from his expression it was clear the gears were turning in his head, thinking about how Rei came to such a conclusion. It didn't take long for Barbo to understand. Konan and Rei were quite important for Kiri's progress. At least, that was the conclusion from all the information embargo the Mizukage employed. Their death would surely sour the relations between Kiri and Iwa... add a few similar kinds of missions for other villages and voila, the conclusion is clear. It would lead to another war not ten years from the end of the previous one. The main point was the payment. Nobody pays three times the amount for S-rank. Not even nobles or the Daimyo. It's just not done so when someone offers it, the village should be helluva alerted that something was fishy! Not even the assassination of a Daimyo would be so costly, after all! But clearly, the villages would jump at the vision of money if the client seemed trustworthy. Considering the problems Iwa had with Rei and Konan's continuous existence and Onoki's stubborn hotheadedness... Yes, the anonymous person knew well who to approach for the job.
Rei was about to continue asking questions when Tsunade finally finished with the Salamander for the day and approached them after healing him up to health, her previously white coat now covered in innumerable bloodstains. Her face sported a wide Cheshire smile as she turned towards Rei. "So how does your little interrogation go?" She asked while looking at Barbo who instantly tried to scurry away but his body was tightly bound so he managed to only avert his gaze towards the ground while quivering.
'Huh? Guess Tsunade really inflicted trauma on the poor bastard.' Rei resisted the urge to snicker when Tsunade suddenly hugged him, making him go rigid. "Uh..." He bit out, his arms not reaching towards her back. "Tsu? You know you are from head to toe covered in blood?" Rei asked with indignation in his tone and Tsunade instantly stepped back with a sheepish look as she saw the entirety of Rei's shirt covered with one big red stain.
The awkward atmosphere was quickly interrupted by Barbo. "You people are insane." He said with wide eyes, staring at the blood-covered shirt of Rei. "How can you not react at all? She has more blood on herself than any torturer of Iwa could hope to see after a month of work! You people are insane." Barbo repeated, quivering at the sight of blood and Tsunade only tilted her head.
"Did my little show perhaps give him hemophobia!?" Both of her eyebrows rose in surprise at that and even Rei facepalmed.
'Oh, the irony...'
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NovelIn Naruto: Reborn with TalentChapter 69 - Ch69. Shocking Iwa 1
IN NARUTO: REBORN WITH TALENTC69 - Ch69. Shocking Iwa 1
The interrogation continued and they got more information from Barbo... mostly about Iwa and its defenses but nothing too substantial as the man was fiercely loyal and would rather go through torture than give them the important details. The seal of truth was quite handy and the man probably blabbed way more than he wanted while not even noticing it but nevertheless, he wouldn't budge when Rei asked about sensitive things like the times of patrol changes and seal defenses...
It's not like they needed those anyway. And Barbo didn't need to be so secretive about it either! Who would they show the information to? The Mizukage? As if! The old coot didn't deserve to know their findings! No, Rei had something better in mind. Something immediate. The Tsuchikage wanted to hunt them down so he would need to be punished for it! Konan wouldn't have it any other way and Rei wasn't about to let bygones be bygones. After all, he wasn't the only target. Konna was one too and that made him mad. That's why they now stood not a half kilometer away from Iwagakure, observing it through their senses.
"Do you really think it is a smart idea?" Konan asked a bit worried about what they were gonna do. She wanted to do it even more than Rei as she wasn't the forgiving sort but for now, this appeared to be quite a risk. She didn't want Rei to be in danger so she had to at least try to be the voice of reason.
"Smart? Of course not!" Rei snorted. "It is batshit insane and that's why it will work." His lips spread into a Cheshire grin. "Especially since we are going to do it by our own rules." He said and took out two scrolls, making Konan widen her eyes at what that meant.
"You want to use 'that'!?" She asked in bewilderment. These scrolls were their last resort and only to be used when they needed to run! To use them here... Konan suddenly stopped in her tracks as her mind understood what this meant when she added into equation Rei's personality. "You... these are not your 'mayhem scrolls', these are different." She stated, smirking as she saw Rei shrug.
"I had a bit of time and decided to prepare a show for our rocky comrades. After all, someone has to show them what it means to have the will of rock!" Rei snickered. Indeed, these scrolls were not his 'mayhem scrolls' as Konan dubbed them. No, they were his 'mayhem scrolls' v2, specially made for this occasion!
"Should I use mine too though?" Konan asked with furrowed eyebrows. "You know, to make bigger numbers."
"Nah. It's good. I made sure to seal away enough. We will have a different job. We can't really kill the old goblin so the punishment would have to be something impactful yet delicate. I know exactly the thing!" Rei excitedly exclaimed, making Konan purse her lips in expectation.
...
Onoki sat in his office doing the paperwork as was his damned routine. The day he became the Tsuchikage will be forever etched into his memory as the most glorious day of his existence... but it will also be the most sorrowful day for him. The day he forsook his soul to the devil of the bureaucracy. The day when the strong, handsome, capable, and most importantly handsome guy he was... changed into a grumbling man who had to sit on a special chair for his head to be above the table when giving orders. But that wasn't his main problem. He thought being a Kage would be a bit more... interesting. But it is not! It's an almost painful existence where he has to balance the entire village, its clans, ninja, and civilians to coexist peacefully! This was a dictatorship and he was on the top but even then he had so much work! At least he has a free hand in how he does things.
As he was about to fill his last paper from an entire stash... the entire office shook, making the stash he had deposited on the edge of the table fall down and fly all around his office in the flurry of papers. Onoki watched with an expression like a deer in headlights as this happened, his mind refusing to process that the pile he spent the last two days perfecting to his utmost ability was now destroyed. Just like that. In but a second. As he watched his paper-covered office, Onoki genuinely thought that even his Dust style could cause so much damage to him as this sight. His spirit was literary in pieces!
Just then, his secretary barged inside of his office with a startled expression, desperately gasping for breath. Onoki turned to her with his gaze that resembled a dead fish and lifelessly asked. "What?"
The secretary tried to quickly calm down as she heaved up, her arms on her knees. Hearing Tsuchikage's question, she hurriedly exclaimed. "Tsuchikage-sama! We are being invaded!"
Onoki heard her and his mind stopped. His temper instantly flared but he forcefully calmed himself down and his expression turned to stoical seriousness. "Who is invading us?" He asked the secretary. Hurrying off to the battlefield would be idiocy. He first needed to know what exactly was going on and then organize his troops. No matter the situation, he was the Kage. Not a common ninja. His duties lied with leadership rather than fighting on the front-lines. He was the trump card of the village, after all! When he asked the question, he could see the secretary momentarily squirm and his temper flared again, this time on the woman. She said they were being invaded and he knew she would never dare to joke about such a matter so why was she now hesitating? "Speak woman! We are burning time!"
The secretary took a deep breath to calm herself and her professionalism took over. Only that made her able to say the next part with a straight face without cringing. "We are under attack by monkeys in Hokage robes." She said stoically, and even she was surprised she didn't actually blush.
As Onoki heard her, his mind stopped for a second, giving her a blank gaze. "Come again?" He asked unsurely, briefly glancing towards the calendar, wondering if it is 1st April already.
(Author: Yup, they have those there!)
"We are under attack by monkeys in Hokage robes." The secretary repeated in a deadpan tone.
"Are you sure it isn't a prank?" Onoki stated dryly. He was too old to deal with some snot-nosed brat vying for attention! That job was for his son! Why would they bother him with monkeys dressed like the Hokage? That could be the national joke!
The secretary nodded and started describing what was happening. "They trashed the marketplace, heavily graffitied the surrounding mountains and buildings, strewn the underwear of the villagers all across the village, many mothers complain they stole lollipops from their kids, the ninja are getting caught in some sticky traps that are making them glued to each other, the worst part is that when the ninja try to attack them, they are ganged upon by ten others. They cause all sorts of mischief but worse yet, we had reports of them in secret divisions where they mess up archives and libraries... The violent shaking of the Kage Tower was also caused by them." They both understood the danger they were facing if these monkeys got into restricted archives of various divisions and Onoki scowled as he now had the culprit for his wasted paperwork. The secretary wasn't finished though. With a grim face, she continued. "It all started an hour ago and by now, there must be at least a thousand of these monkeys. We call it an attack because..." The secretary gulped. "Because they change to rock upon defeat, not unlike Rock Clone Jutsu. It is definitely the work of some ninja. But surprisingly they don't aim to seriously cripple Iwagakure. If they did, they had many opportunities so far. Especially since they appeared in hundreds and our ninja's first reaction was to roll on the ground in laughter." Her lips slightly twitched upwards. "These monkeys are basically trolling us..."
Onoki opened his mouth but instantly closed it as he sprang up on his feet when he understood what he was just told, his vein pulsing. "Call for the leaders of each division asap! We gotta start counter-attacking these trolling monkeys! Nobody is going to troll my village!"
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NovelIn Naruto: Reborn with TalentChapter 70 - Ch70. Shocking Iwa 2
IN NARUTO: REBORN WITH TALENTC70 - Ch70. Shocking Iwa 2
Rei's adaptation of rock clone jutsu ravaged the Iwagakure, doing nasty pranks all around while using their numerical advantage to the fullest. Rei had actually prepared around fifteen hundred of these rock 'monkey' clones so some parts of the village were completely overrun. Rei was very careful when planning this little 'surprise' and spent the entire night going through every bit of knowledge he gained from Barbo's interrogation about the defenses and set-up of Iwagakure. These were pivotal in his quest for justice! That was the reason why the rock clones could rampage for an hour and still, no organized resistance was... well, organized. The places that were hit first had either insufficient personnel and were too preoccupied to send a message about their problems with a request of reinforcements or it was a place that was out of hand, and it would take time for such requests to reach the Kage Tower. And when they did... the tower would be buried in large quantities of them so it would be a pain in the ass to react.
These 'monkeys' were 'failed' attempts at rock clone jutsu. But even then, just because in the eyes of others this was a failure at creating a rock clone, it didn't mean that it didn't have its uses! After all, failures were a perfectly usable Jutsu too. They just didn't have the desired effect, hence were called failures. Just a bit of deformity through tweaking while creating a rock clone and voila, Rei had a fully functioning clone that did NOT look like him, therefore his identity was safeguarded. The best part? Henge could be seen through. The rock clones could not as there was literally nothing to be seen through. The rock monkeys were just that. Pile of rocks in the form of a monkey wearing Hokage attire that was held together and moved by chakra and initial intent of the user. Even the coloring on them was done through chakra. It was obvious they were clones but it would be next to impossible to discern who made them. But they functioned exactly as normal rock clones except Rei was quite good at earth release. He obviously added a bit of a bonus and made them all enhanced with earth chakra! They would be a terror to take down after that. That's why Rei spent an entire week prior to their mission making these clones and filling two whole scrolls with them to the brim. It was his small personal portable army, Sasori-style.
While various parts of Iwagakure started to have problems with Hokage monkeys, Rei and Konan used these exact parts to slip through the village. The monkeys always started rampaging and then, both Rei and Konan would henge to civilians while adjusting their chakra reserves to slip through. They were obviously seen by ninja and even other civilians but the people had more pressing matters than to look closer. Even if henge could be seen through, it would need a deeper look even if the person is experienced. It was all in the details. Details that nobody had time to look at.
Part by part, street by street, they advanced in the middle of the chaos until they reached their first objective. The headquarters of the Explosion Corps, quite nearby the Kage Tower. It actually took them thirty minutes to follow the monkey clones up here and it was just in time. The Iwa shinobi started to realize this was not just some common prank, nor anything that was meant well. Too much damage was caused by it to be anything but hostility and they started to react in kind. The ninja of Iwagakure started carefully fighting back, trying to prevent more damage from being caused to their village.
Rei and Konan entered the wide-open door to the building that was half-broken, clearly due to too much force applied as 'someone' banged on them. They casually walked through the hall, holding hands while noting the empty reception with the side of their eyes. They walked in without a care in the world as if they owned the place. All around them was a mess caused by the wild rock monkey clones. The shelves were overturned, the papers all over the floor, the furniture was broken, and the place had clear signs of struggle.
"They are quite effective." Konan stated. "The surroundings look like a warzone and yet, we both know the monkey clones would at most cause a few bruises. Tell me... why again did you order them to not kill people?" She frowned as she didn't understand Rei's reasons for that. Iwagakure sent fifty ninjas to kill them. If anything, they SHOULD be out for their blood!
"That's easy." Rei quipped. "I plan to use this in the future. Maybe not the exact same variant but close and people will eventually come to know the user is me. I don't need to be known as the man who massacred Iwa shinobi in their own village. That would paint an incredible target on me and it wouldn't be just Iwa shinobi vying for my blood." Rei said, trying to portray the situation to Konan. She might have been incredibly strong and very resourceful and innovative but she didn't really have the brain for thinking what her actions would cause in the future.
"But... won't they actually resent you anyway?" Konan asked with a frown. Rei was basically trashing the village so she didn't think not killing would actually save him from being hunted.
At her question, Rei smirked knowingly. "Oh, they will... but this would inspire respect at my ability to do it and a healthy amount of fear. I have no delusions that I won't be in the upper tiers of bingo book due to the reward Iwa would offer for my head for it but they would also not be out for blood. Merely butthurt like a sullen child. They may pout, rave and rake but they won't go too much out of their way to get me. That would be a waste of resources for such a 'small' matter, after all." Rei said but seeing Konan's furrowed brows he sighed, stopped for a moment, and as she turned to him, he patted her head. "Don't worry your little pretty head over it." Konan slowly nodded.
As they walked through the Explosion Corps headquarters, they suddenly were stopped by a battered man with a tired look. "Who are you!" He asked. Rei blinked at him in confusion for a second before promptly facepalming.
"Of course!" He turned to Konan who tilted her head. "We are still wearing civilian attire!" He told her, making her go 'oh'. "I knew I forgot something!" He then turned towards the man and gave him a thumbs-up. "Thanks, man!" Obviously, the man didn't know what to think but the display managed to make him put his guard up very quickly. Weird was not good. Weird was dangerous! But he didn't have the time to ponder further as from behind, one rock monkey suddenly ran into him, flinging his body forward. Both Konan and Rei flinched as they saw him roll on the floor, clearly breaking something. The man didn't wake up after that. Rei gulped as he turned to Konan. "That was an accident!" He told her. "That can't be taken as a kill!"
Konan showed him an unimpressed look. After such a lengthy lecture about no killing and then he goes and makes a man into a living ragdoll. "Sure... whatever suits you best." She dryly said, making Rei scowl. How should he know the man was so... fragile!?
"A-anyway," Rei averted his gaze. "Let's continue." He shamelessly exclaimed and started dragging chuckling Konan forward. It was time, to get what they came for. They finally reached the storage room with explosives and Rei grinned. "Now... let's see the stash of the best demolitionists!" He giddily hopped towards the first crate he saw and stored it in his dimensional storage. "Shooo many treasures!" He stated with a shit-eating grin. The explosives and gear in the storage room were something extremely important and expensive. Iwa guarded the knowledge about them almost as fiercely as Konoha guarded their bloodlines. And here they were, in a room full of them and Rei was pretty sure somewhere amongst the pile of books Konan just stored is a manual on how to create them. They didn't really have the time to look into what they were storing into the dimension as they were pressed for time.
Ten minutes later, it was finally done and Rei wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead. "Well..." He turned to Konan with a nasty smirk as he gestured towards one unstored crate. "Shall we give Iwa a greeting?" For the last ten minutes, the monkey clones were trying to chase people away from the building and now, it was empty bar Konan and Rei. Getting his meaning, Konan showed a slight but very telling smile.
Five minutes passed and the duo was safely waiting on the roof of a building two streets away from the headquarters of the Explosion Corps when the fireworks started. The entire building the Corps used since their establishment, disappeared with a booming sound, leaving behind only a wide crater and deafened, bewildered Iwa-nin around it. This marked an hour since the beginning of mayhem in Iwa and in the Kage Tower, a certain old midget was currently staring at the paperwork strewn all over the floor with a longing wistful look of utter horror.
So far... Rei was satisfied with his self-imposed mission.
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NovelIn Naruto: Reborn with TalentChapter 71 - Ch71. Gathering Important Research Material
IN NARUTO: REBORN WITH TALENTC71 - Ch71. Gathering Important Research Material
Onoki rammed into a rock monkey, crushing it with the impact. His face instantly turned into a frown as he realized that it would be him on the floor if he didn't harden his body with earth chakra. The hardness of these nuisances was really on a different level. He could now understand why his ninja had so many problems with dispatching them. They were hard, small, and nimble enough to weave through attacks. Hitting them was a chore and then one had to be sufficiently strong to break through the hardening. The most annoying part for Iwa forces was the inability of using destructive Jutsu since they were inside of their own village.
"Really, their only redeeming part is the likeness to the Hokage... They are all so hilarious." Onoki mumbled under his nose. The monkeys were actually really molded to look like a smaller, more furry version of old Hiruzen Sarutobi wearing the Hokage robes. Onoki kicked away another monkey, making it crumble into a pile of rock. His eyes narrowed as he noted twenty other monkeys turn to him, preparing to engage. This part, he was confused about it. Every time he defeated one, another would jump at him. Never two or three. Always only one. Always in one versus one in taijutsu. The other monkeys either prevented his ninja from intervening or plainly waited. He ordered most of his subordinates to go clean important spots so he didn't have many of them but it was still mind-boggling that the ones that were being suppressed enough to be unable to help.
By now, Onoki had quite a clear picture of what was happening. "They are stalling for time." He gruffly stated. "I don't like this... not one bit." Onoki gritted his teeth as he continued fighting. As he was about to finish his 15th monkey, he suddenly heard 'it'. The village shook with the deafening roar that reverberated through it. His eyes went wide. "Gobi!"
Steam suddenly burst out and covered the eastern part of the village.
...
A few moments earlier, Konan and Rei stood in front of a shabby house with a few holes in it. It was made out of wood and located in the eastern part of the village. The part that could be called slums and mostly used to house 'slaves' or those of low societal status. It was also a part that was completely undisturbed by the current commotion as there was just nothing of note there. This also conveniently meant that no ninja was as of now there as every stationed patrol went to help with the disturbance in the village.
"Are you sure this is it?" Konan asked skeptically. The house, if it could be called that, was something she would never imagine belonged to such a precious thing as a jinchuuriki. They were supposed to be quite valuable to their respective villages, no?
"Yes, I am positive." Rei nodded and opened the door. Walking inside, he saw the only room of the entire house. It was quite a clean and tidy place. Despite the shabby and battered furniture, it had kind of a cozy atmosphere signifying that someone clearly cared for it. In the corner of the room was an old bed and on it, a twelve-year-old boy was currently happily sleeping. "Well, wouldn't you look at that? Looks like we are quite lucky. Since he is sleeping, the next part will be quite peaceful." Rei quietly said and approached the snoring boy.
He was a big one for his age. Not due to fat since the boy was obviously under-fed. No, he was tall and wide... it was obvious he would grow up to be quite physically strong. Rei was quite baffled. This under-fed large boy who was most likely lacking any form of affection would grow up to be a terror on the battlefield. The strongest steam user. All due to the beast inside of him. The boy was Han. The jinchuuriki of the Gobi.
Rei approached his body and put his hand on the boy's belly all the while Konan vigilantly watched for any unnatural movement. Even now, she was making sure many of her paper slices were left behind for various purposes. Rei might be able to see more into what future reactions would people have if he did this or that. She didn't understand that but it was fine. What she understood was that being prepared was important and since she had an opportunity, she took it. After all, since she was in Iwa now, why not fill it to the brim with explosive tags?
Rei's hand reached towards the seal on the boy. Not unlike when he did this with Kushina, Rei put a paper with his chakra storage seal onto the boy's belly and pushed his chakra into it, making it reach the boy's seal. His eyes snapped open even though he didn't remember closing them and Rei found himself inside of the seal. He saw a cage... not. Rei blinked and groaned. "Don't you tell me this is some bull-shit willpower seal." He facepalmed only to freeze when he got an answer.
"Yes... human. This is exactly one of these." A calm voice resounded through the seal. Rei's shoulders sagged at that and he turned around with a peeved feeling inside of him. As his turn was finished, his eyes landed on the owner of the voice.
"Gobi..." His lips twitched. "Never thought a tailed beast would be willingly spending its time in its host." Rei amusedly stated, raising his eyebrow at the beast who was lazily lying in front of him with its eyes closed. The Gobi just raised his right eyelid up, boredly looking at Rei.
"You know what you just caused, don't you?" He asked, ignoring Rei's previous statement.
Rei sighed in exasperation. Of course, he did know... "Due to this being a freaking will-power seal, the second I leave, the boy will go on a rampage." He gruffed out. "I mean, how should I know the boy would have such a seal on himself?" Rei started ranting. "Which IDIOT actually puts this sort of seal on a KID?" Much to Kokuo's amusement, he wildly gestured with his hands in agitation. "How could anyone able making such a seal not understand the simple truth that a kid can't suppress a tailed beast with willpower?" Rei shook his head. "What kind of willpower could a kid have anyway!" He huffed.
Kokuo snorted. "Yes... I totally agree. If I wanted, I could be out this instant."
"But you don't. You know Han won't be always a kid, don't you? One of these days, his willpower actually will be enough to keep you sealed away." Rei told Kokuo who just shrugged uncaringly. The beast was clearly unhappy with the fact it was sealed but didn't mind being secluded and the sealing actually did help him with that.
"Well, this was a nice talk but I think your goal in coming here is fulfilled. It's time for you to go." Kokuo politely said, making Rei smile.
"Thank you for giving me your chakra." He slightly bowed towards the beast. He could feel that Kokuo clearly knew what was going on around its host and didn't mind sharing his chakra. Rei felt his chakra storage seal filling up too quickly for it to be forceful. After relaying his gratitude, he left the seal.
The second he was out, he grabbed the chakra storing paper, twisted on his heel, and jumped towards Konan, grabbing her around her waist and heaving her up on his shoulder. He then used Kawarimi to gain distance from the boy who was now almost bathing in red chakra.
He knew Han would go on a rampage but it was not his problem. Most importantly, it was not him who applied such a half-assed and stupid seal on the boy. Rei could have stopped Han. Sure. But why should he? He didn't owe Iwa nor its people anything. There just wasn't a benefit in it. But there definitely was a benefit in having the boy rampage!
Rei entered a side-alley and ran through the back streets until he was at least a few hundred meters away from the boy's position. It took him only a moment and after he deemed his distance sufficient, he jumped up onto the roof, still holding Konan like a sack of potatoes. Konan's face was impassive throughout the entire experience but it was obvious to Rei she didn't appreciate the way he carried her. He put her down on her own feet when he landed on the roof, just in time to see a huge cloud of superheated smoke go off in the distance.
"The boy will massacre the people." Konan stoically stated. It wasn't that she cared about Iwa people but she didn't like seeing kids killed. That, however, didn't mean she would not activate the numerous exploding tags and wipe the entire village off if it was needed. That only meant it would at best leave a sour taste in her mouth. She didn't even finish her sentence and Rei could already see her using her papers to evacuate many kids from the streets. Konan made sure to use small amounts despite it being slower. She prioritized being unseen but she nevertheless helped the people.
"Yes... I already mentally ordered the closest rock monkeys to come and help to drag the people away." Rei said while he intently stared towards the place with the rampaging boy. It wouldn't be bad to make Iwagakure remember his help during this 'sudden' rampage. It would probably win him some brownie points in the future when his identity comes to the light.
That's the reason why he dropped a paper with a seal that would create a small barrier when he was running away. This barrier wouldn't hold the boy. Not when he already sported three new tails and a red chakra cloak. But it would give the necessary time for someone strong to come. And that was what Rei was waiting for. He knew exactly who would be the best candidate to stop the rampage.
'Now wouldn't it be awesome if Yonbi jinchuuriki showed up and leaked some chakra for me to study?'
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NovelIn Naruto: Reborn with TalentChapter 72 - Ch72. Onoki Versus Rampaging Han
IN NARUTO: REBORN WITH TALENTC72 - Ch72. Onoki Versus Rampaging Han
Rei and Konan watched the boy clad in red chakra cloak ramming his three tails into the barrier Rei created. "This is insane..." Konan said. This was the first time she saw the strength of a rampaging jinchuuriki and she was not impressed at all. No, she was outright frowning as she realized she might be able to fight it but it would be a tough fight. She instantly resolved herself to get even stronger. The chance of herself or worse, Rei being attacked by a jinchuuriki wasn't that high but it was still there. No, she would have to get strong enough to face something like this with ease. It was all for protecting Rei, after all. "The chakra is so dense it can physically maul things." Konan continued. "The ground under him is charred... it must be quite hot too."
Konan was saying this out loud just because she was bored. She and Rei were doing this quite often. They talked about things and pointed out the things the other missed and in the end, they would reach a better conclusion.
Rei obviously knew some of its properties but even he found a few new things during the observation. "The chakra is uncontrolled. The Gobi doesn't have actual control over it." He pointed out, making Konan nod.
"So the chakra acts on 'instinct'. Is that what you want to say?" She asked and crossed her arms with a frown. "But that's an insane notion. Chakra is energy... it's not sentient."
"The tailed beasts are beings made of chakra." Rei hummed distractedly. As someone who knew his fair share in soul-based sealing, he had a clear idea of how that worked. It was the pivotal point in his 'tailed beast project' which was the reason why he
was gathering the chakra of other tailed beasts. But even then, he was still stumped on how Hagoromo actually created nine different and unique beings from ONE. It can't be that the ten-tails had a multiple personality disorder, can it?
Konan was about to reply when suddenly, the barrier was shattered and the boy roared. Two arms made of chakra stretched out of his back and started smashing the buildings around. For better or worse, the people in these buildings were long dead due to the steam the boy released at the start of his rampage which cooked them almost instantly. The barrier bought at best five minutes which both Rei and Konan used to evacuate most of the slums through either paper or rock monkeys so the rampaging boy could safely smash as much as he liked without mauling anyone who wasn't already dead.
"There goes this part of the city..." Rei muttered completely unbothered as he sat up, his feet dangling down the edge of the roof. Konan sat next to him, quietly sneaking her hand into his as they together watched the boy dismantle the street with his chakra hands while analyzing the situation and the chakra usage.
It was then that the new arrival appeared. From the sky, a small shadow descended right onto the back of the boy shrouded in dark red chakra, driving him into the ground before it quickly kicked off the back of the boy in order to jump away from him. This to be the right decision as not a second after he did so, hot chakra arms pierced the spot his chest was located. Rei narrowed his eyes in displeasure as he saw who was the man who arrived. Contrary to his expectations, it wasn't Yonbi's jinchuuriki but it was the Tsuchikage himself. "It appears the Yonbi won't be appearing," He frowned bitterly. The Yonbi Jinchuuriki would already appear if he was in the village...
The fight between Onoki and Han started anew when Han sprang his body at the middle-aged midget, leaping at him like a wild animal. Onoki didn't try to block and instead jumped to the side, letting Han sail past him. Han impacted the building behind Onoki and created a new opening in its wall while the dust rose all around. Onoki carefully observed the dust-filled hole, waiting for Han to make a move when his eyes widened as a searing pain sprang up to his spine from his ankles. He suddenly found his world spinning as the chakra arm that burst from the ground and took hold of it flung his body through the street at breakneck speed, right into an opposite building. Onoki's body also created a hole.
A moment later, both combatants could be seen exiting their respective holes. Han's rampaging form crouched on all four while growling and Onoki was floating a few centimeters above the ground while his ankles were badly burned. He gritted his teeth and glared at Han's form. It was useless trying to talk to 'it'. He knew he would have to punch the boy out of this stupor and right now, he nevertheless found it to be an incredible pain in the ass.
Onoki used his Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly up while Han started filling the space around him in dense steam, wrapping himself in it. Rei and Konan wondered what he was doing but their question was answered shortly when the steam, in but a second, compressed even more and formed a small ball in front of the rampaging boy's mouth. Before Onoki could even widen his eyes, the ball was flung at insane speed in his direction. He barely managed to use Earth Release: Rock skin to shield himself. Both Rei and Konan could see a big explosion of superheated steam engulfing the sky.
Onoki's body rushed out of the steam in a straight line towards the ground, making a small part of it disperse due to his sheer speed. He landed on one knee, his hand instantly landing on the ground as he shouted. "Earth Release: Heaven-reaching Pillar!" From under Han's body, an earth pillar swiftly rose, pushing him into the sky before retreating back towards the ground. Han was now in the sky and that was exactly what Onoki wanted. He pushed his battered, slightly burned body, and flew at his airborne opponent at breakneck speed, his hand reaching towards him. Onoki was hopeful when he saw his hand 'almost' reach the boy, only for his hopes to be dashed when a 'fourth' tail sprung up from behind the boy and slapped him downwards. As he was barreled towards the ground, he twisted his body and landed on his feet into a crouch. The force transmitted through his body nevertheless put a sizable dent onto the ground. A moment later, a large fist made out of smoke impacted the area, sending a shockwave all around. The battlefield stilled.
The smoke started clearing and Rei smiled helplessly as he saw the rumble that was previously the slums of Iwagakure. "That was clever." He heard Konan calmly say and couldn't help but agree. Both were using their nature sensing to have a firm grasp on what was going on even inside the steam. The steam was now almost gone, only to be completely dispersed by a savage roar, revealing Onoki gasping for air as he stood above the boy who was still clad in chakra cloak, thrashing around but unable to lift himself from the ground.
"Yeah... he created a rock clone right during the first steam bomb attack, hid it, and now used it to land the Rock-Weight Technique onto the boy... This fight is over. With the amount of gravity on the boy, he would need to go into a five-tail state and Kokuo doesn't want to be released so he would prevent it. Onoki won." Rei stated.
"A pity Onoki decided not to use his Dust style though..." Konan stoically said as she peered towards the form of the old man. She wanted to see the fabled other Kekkei Tota in existence.
"Well, you can't really blame him for that. Deserted part it may be, but this is still a part of his village. His dust techniques would completely finish it off. This damage, "Rei pointed towards the destroyed buildings and cracked ground. "will be easily repaired with earth jutsu. But if he leveled the area with Dust Release? The reconstruction would take a lot of money." Rei finished in a Kakuzu-like voice. He momentarily let go of Konan's hand and snaked his arm around her waist. "Well, dear. It's time for us to leave. Looks like the second jinchuuriki of Iwa won't be joining the party so there is nothing more to be stolen here." He quipped, and Konan, with an amused smile, leaned towards him, pecking him on the cheek.
"You shouldn't be greedy." She weakly admonished him. They already gained a library-worth of jutsu, all copies so it wouldn't seem like the jutsu are missing. Then they stole quite a lot of valuables and money which will surely be noticed... and then the stash of the explosion corps and a few documents about missions that could prove to be useful blackmail material. If she took into consideration the sample of Gobi's chakra, wanting more was just plain being greedy.
Rei chuckled at that and shrugged. "I am only a human!" He said helplessly but then turned to Konan, looking into her eyes. "You are right." He stated and kissed her on the lips. They both pulled apart after a few moments and with the last look towards the still struggling boy and tired Tsuchikage, they disappeared into Rei's dimension. Rei no longer cared about the following events and Konan... she gave one last discreet but telling glance in Onoki's direction as her lips were twisted in an amused and playful smirk. Smirk, Rei rather not comment on as he knew when she was about to pull a prank...
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NovelIn Naruto: Reborn with TalentChapter 73 - Ch73. Spy Network
IN NARUTO: REBORN WITH TALENTC73 - Ch73. Spy Network
After Rei and Konan left Iwa, Tsuchikage was grumbling about the timing of the boy's rampage. He looked at the still struggling form of the boy who was supposed to be his nephew and with a sigh, he chopped the boy's neck, making him fall unconscious. As Onoki was waving his hand around, to soothe the burn the contact with Gobi's chakra caused, he could with the corner of his eye see some Iwa shinobi approach him. He sighed again as he saw them look around with downcast gazes when they saw the destruction the boy caused. "And it started as such a nice and calm day..." He muttered to himself. Standing up, he decided it was time to give some orders to his subordinates to clean up this mess. While he was pondering about what should be done, and who would be the most suitable person for it, around two hundred ninjas gathered around him. These were the ones that already dealt with the monkeys in their assigned regions, the so-called elites of Iwa.
Onoki straightened himself to look presentable and was about to open his mouth when...
The ground under him burst into a flurry of paper, swirling around him. Before he could even widen his eyes, the papers started gluing themselves to his body. Onoki could see the Iwa elites slightly panic before they started reacting. It took him only a second but his mind went through his entire jutsu repertoire, looking for any jutsu that could save him! In the end, he went for a simple but quick solution and toughened his skin with Earth Release, awaiting an explosion. Inwardly, he was freaking out and praying the explosive tags are of low quality so he would not incur too much damage through his rock skin jutsu. Then, a loud boom resounded and the surroundings were covered in smoke... in pink smoke.
When the smoke cleared, all elites of Iwa could see old man Onoki, the most stubborn ninja out of all rock-headed Iwa ninjas, the feared dust release user, the fence-sitter... clad in a pink tutu covered in pink glitters while he sported a heavy amount of make-up on his face. To add salt into the injury, in front of him, on the ground, was a message.
'This is punishment for not showing me Kekkei Tota, midget!'
Onoki stared with dead eyes forward, as he realized the situation he was currently in. His lips slowly started twisting into a frown as the vein on his forehead started pulsing. The old man burst into loud shouts "Shut up!" He rubbed his arm on his face to get rid of the make-up, only to make a red smudge on his face from the lipstick. The surrounding ninja started laughing at his predicament which prompted Onoki to scream even louder in his fit of rage until his back suddenly experienced a sharp surge of pain, making his eyes go wide while he dropped on his knees.
"Am I perhaps too old for this shit?" He mumbled in bewilderment, leaning forward as he held his back. This was the start of Onoki's back problems.
...
Two days later, after Rei, Konan, and Tsunade went through their rightful loot, the trio was sitting in the Capital of the Land of Water, in Biri-Biri company's headquarters, served tea by Karubo who was requested by Rei for a meeting. Rei wasn't amused by his last mission. No, he was going in kind of blind and had no information he could use. That's why he was here now instead of reporting the 'success' to the Mizukage. Yesterday he threw a scroll containing the daughter of the noble who hired them to him, with words the mission is done. In hindsight, he probably should have unsealed her but... meh. The bastard plotted against Rei and Konan and if he succeeded, both would be dead so a bit of inconvenience is the least he could expect in return.
"You want me to do what again?" Karubo asked pointedly in disbelief after he heard what Rei just told him. He couldn't believe his ears.
"You heard right." Rei nodded. "I want you to pick trustworthy employees and make them gather intelligence for me. The company is almost in every country now. It is widespread with a good reach in high places. Our merchants usually know the right people to pull this off and I know you did what I asked and mostly recruited in slums. These people will be grateful enough to do this for us."
As Karubo heard Rei, he suddenly stilled, realization sneaking into his mind. "You planned this from the start." He declared, not an ounce of doubt in his voice. "That's why you made me employ the poor. We gave them 'home' when they needed it the most. There are a lot of people willing to go quite far for the company and those that became traders are the cream of the crop out of them. The most capable..." Karubo gulped with wide eyes. "I see. They were put for that two-month-long intelligence training regime not to safeguard the company's secrets but for this."
Rei nodded. He thought quite a lot about how to make a spy network. But he didn't want to inconvenience himself. Taking care of such a network can go only in two ways. Sasori-style or Jiraiya-style. Sasori used manipulations and held something important against his spies so they won't betray him and will continue doing the job for him. He went even as far as using mind-alteration in quite a clever way. Rei could do this. He was much better with seals than Sasori. The problem was, he would need a long time to find 'informants' and put seals on them or find good blackmail to keep them in their places. Jiraya on the other hand, spent or rather, is spending quite a lot of his time managing his network. He has to be constantly aware and visit his informants quite frequently. In short, he is extremely busy. That was a no-go for Rei as he would rather spend the time with Konan and Tsunade, rather than follow Jiraya's example.
It was only after reading a yearly report on Biri-Biri company that he found out he had a perfect candidate for the spy network right under his nose! No matter how much he now tries to say recruiting the poor was for this goal, he just ordered Karubo to do this because he believed this way, the employees will be more loyal! Never did he think it would end up with them becoming spies for him! But would he actually admit he was not planning it from the start to Karubo? Of course, he would not...
"Yes, I naturally planned it all ahead! Ahahaha!" Rei confidently stated with totally honest laughter that made Konan roll her eyes at him and Tsunade almost did spit-take as she drank tea when she heard how shameless he was currently being before starting to choke. Rei just ignored the two women sitting around him and focused on Karubo who was awkwardly trying not to avert his gaze from Rei. "Here," Rei pulled a few tags from his pocket. "the new clones of mine that I gave you to produce the energy source seals can also produce these. It's a special communication tag that can cover large distances..." Rei started only to be interrupted by Karubo who had a shrewd look on his face, instantly forming a plan on how to use this for trading.
Rei just gave him a helpless look but answered. "You can talk with somebody in Suna even from here. The Land of Water is actually in a very nice location. We are in the so-called center of the known world. How the country still didn't manage to become a trading superpower with this kind of advantage will be forever a mystery for me but at least we, the Biri-Biri company can use that. You will make the company branch out to become the leader in trading in the world. I expect this to be done in three years," Rei told Karubo who nodded seriously. Three years was a tight schedule for such a goal but it was doable. Especially with all the influence the company had right now. "and while doing so, you will slowly build up the spy network from the loyal people. Choose the most loyal and capable employee to manage it. Don't do it yourself. That would be too obvious. This tag," Rei gave him one special tag that was colored differently. "can reach only its pair tag that I have on me so it is something akin to a safe channel. This will be in the hands of the manager of the network."
Karubo nodded in understanding. While he wasn't overjoyed at the prospect of having to spy on people with his traders, he was indeed interested in the idea of making Biri-Biri the number one trading company in the world. Compromises had to be done, he guessed. After all, Rei was the owner so no matter that it was he who built the company up. There was only one reaction to that. "It will be done." Karubo said confidently.
The following hours were spent in discussion about how to exactly implement the network and how to make the Biri-Biri company the best in the world. Rei was really hoping he would one day become someone who could manipulate various villages from the shadows through the economy. After all, in this world, these supernatural fighters were still under the thumb of fat bald men called Daimyo who spent most of their time screwing this or that maid. Why? Because these men had money! Even though ninjas could easily take the money from them... it was plainly said, a different mentality. A mentality, that was quite easy to use if one knew what strings to pull.
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