Land of Tea… Ouza Island... Nakayama Estates... Early Morning...
Ki was irritated.
She had every right to be irritated.
She had been kidnapped. Beaten to a pulp. Shoved into a burlap sack. Forced to soil herself while inside said sack. And she was still in the sack. Being carried somewhere. It was endless. She probably had been here for a day or two she reckoned.
And she was hungry. Practically starving. And she was really hot. Swimming in sweat. And the ninja stunk. She could smell the chakra wafting from their bodies. Or was that her? It was hard to tell. It was irritating. And she itched!
...
Why hadn't they killed her yet, Ki didn't know. That's what drove her to ponder her situation. When her father died years and years ago, it was because they discovered that they didn't have 'chakra', whatever that means. Whatever was missing from them was some sort of affront for the religion on this continent. Killed him. Ripped his fucking throat out with a knife. And tried to do some same with her with their magic powers. But she got away. She always got away. Until now.
Ki had a feeling she fucked up. Obviously stealing from ninja wasn't the best plan she had. Probably ranks next to stealing that sailing junk or living in a sewer for really terrible ideas she's had. She wanted to get back at them for killing her father so many years ago. Give them a little taste of the pain she had experienced.
Who knew stealing from ninjas was so easy? Just wait for passing ninja that had a little too much to drink, so much so they are wobbling on their feet. Grab their money and weapon purses, and then run like hell! Nice thing was that ninjas had lots of money on them too! Weapons were nice too, for some reason it made Ki feel not hungry and strangely powerful if she held onto them for long periods of time.
Of course, it didn't work out for that ninja that kicked her in the stomach though. Yeah, how was she able to see her? It was a new moon out! There was practically no light. It must be their magical powers! That ninja made plants grow out of her wrists! That never happened in Ostosia. It always comes back to this chakra. That must be it. Stupid magical powers. Stupid chakra religion thing.
At least the gods were still aiding her. She prayed to The Unwashed, The Pale Mother and The Banished One. And each had given her aid. The Pale Mother had given her succor in the winters so she wouldn't starve or freeze. The Banished One kept her hopes alive that she may return to her homelands. And The Unwashed had given her easy marks to rob. It was... what was that?
Ki felt the sack move waking her from her wandering ponderings. She tumbled forward as the whole of the sack was rear ended. The splash of water and bubbly residue hit as she found herself face first at the bottom of a tub. Nice, they are making sure I'm clean for the execution.
"Best clean yourself, demon." Drawled a particularly apathetic voice.
Raising her head above the water, she was greeted to the sight of the ninja that kicked her. In the dark she was a shadowy figure, in the light she was kind of pretty, Ki had to admit to herself. She had long straight black hair with several skunk tails of viridian green that highlighted her hair. Her eyes were green emeralds; bored and apathetic. The ninja was muscular but had very pale skin. She was also wearing teal colored chestplate, greaves and gauntlets unlike the black flak vests and forehead protectors that a lot other ninja wore.
Ki decided it was best to glare at her. She had been called a lot of things over the years, many not worth repeating. Somehow the term demon felt even more degrading than every other term she had collected for herself in her entire life.
Ki snarled, her voice husky from non-use. "I have a name you know!"
The ninja widened her eyes for a second, before narrowing them again. Her hand floating toward her sword hilt. "Intriguing. You speak."
Ki rolled her eyes. She didn't know what 'demon' meant but sounded pretty close to animal. Something that was clueless, controllable and disposable. "Of course I can speak. I just… choose not to."
The ninja's fingers tapped on the hilt, agitated or nervous. "You choose? I see." The ninja withdrew her blade in a blink of the eye, white sparks glittering from the effort. "I get to choose whether to end you here and now, demon. By the grace of the council, you live for the moment. Any rebellion or disobeying my orders will result in punishment greater than those bruises I inflicted on you."
The ninja gestures to the walled compound that Ki is now understanding she is within. "Escape? Escape will mean your death. You live at my pleasure, and you will die by blade. Am I clear?"
Ki had to admit she was kind of frightened of this display, but a rump parliament that was occurring in her brain still thought defiance for the moment was better than groveling servitude. "My name is Ki."
This was obviously not the answer the ninja was expecting, as she cocked her head in askance, as if the threat was not translated. "Ok… demon Ki. Clean yourself and get dressed. Garments, food and drink are provided in the main house." The ninja pointed to the giant mansion behind her, "When you're ready we will… talk."
Then with a blink of an eye, the ninja was gone leaving Ki to ponder the very strange and stilted conversation she just had. She smacked herself with a bubbly hand, thinking...Never should of robbed ninja, that was stupid. Kidiot indeed.
Land of Tea… Ochagakure… Kijimunaa Tunnel… Toki Clan Section…
"Oh come on Rin-san, aren't you the least bit curious about this creature the village caught?" Yuderu Daiki asked his long time friend, rival, playmate and general mutual punching bag.
"No." Rin-san answered with a certain degree of finality, as he eased his clan's pottery release technique through his hands to less than ideal results. Meaning? It looked like his hands just shat out something closer to a cow dung than a pottery bowl.
"You're no fun." Daiki whined, his form leaning against the concrete wall of his friend's room.
"Shut up. I'm trying to concentrate." Rin-san growled. His pottery piece was quickly degenerating in his hands from the interruption. Looking closer to a mushroom growing out of a turd than a bowl.
Daiki sighed, knowing his friend and rival needed distractions after hours of practice and nothing to show for it except failure. They were the two fuck ups of the village. Two talentless gennins that were so bad that the council had decided after 4 failed exams to just consign them to village, for indeterminate future. Just raking in those D missions, every day and every night.
"You need a distraction. I need distraction. It's time to get out of this room." Daiki said, nudging his friend. For a moment his friend remained perfectly still, looking at his misshapen creation with his hands. Before he stood up and left the room.
Daiki quickly followed after him, wordlessly following him out of his family's house into the Toki's clan section. The Toki's preferred order and symmetry, which showed in how everything was laid out. A central road paved in tiles ran the length of their section, with houses and compounds arranged in perfect order to their rank in accordance with clan tradition. It was maddening at first to Daiki, used to his own clan's disorderly mess of concrete bunkers, houses and smithies that crowded the end of the village. However, years of doing various D mission chores had given him time to appreciate the organizational advantages to that symmetry even if he thought the confusing mess of his own area gave him and his clan advantage if they were ever attacked.
They walked quietly on, Daiki knowing his friend well enough that interrupting him in his decompression was likely to result in his friend hurling large misshapen pottery at his head. Eventually they exited the Toki's clan area, and reached the center of the village.
Ochagakure was just one long lava tube that twisted and turned from the old extinct Mt. Kikkimacha, with various loops, turns and knotts before it plunged into the ocean. The village center was in one of these knotts as it were. The village center was the hub of the village, with various shops, restaurants and workshops not to mention the clan council's bunker-palace congregating around this loop. It was the most likely place to find visiting merchants selling exotic goods or clients asking about Ochagakure's chakra tea ceremonies. Also, a great place to find food Daiki thought, feeling his stomach growl.
But instead of heading to a Tsunaki's ramen cart as Daiki hoped, his friend walked past the hustle and bustle of the center. Heading for one of the little-known village center's exits to the surface, his feet marching a steady beat as Daiki walked up to him.
"I was joking about it, Rin-san. We don't actually have to look." Daiki clapping his hand on his friend's shoulder.
Rin-san turned his head and eyed Daiki's hand, before shrugging him off. "No, you weren't. I know you. Besides, considering our both talents are…"
Daiki finished Rin-san's thought, "So fucking bad that we may both be stationed at the mission desk for the our lives. If we fuck up and die, I doubt anyone will miss us."
Rin-san nodded. "I don't know what your parents are like, Daiki-kun. Mine? They've been talking about kicking me out of the house if I don't 'shape up'."
Daiki grimaced, he knew the feeling. The only reason he had a roof over his head was that his sister put her foot down when the clan started talking about ejecting him over his 'poor performances'. Unfortunately, Rin-san didn't have that sort of protection.
"Probably better that way. We can probably get a nice shabby hovel together in the civilian section. At a good price too, plenty of civilian girls want to grab themselves a Shinobi marriage and are willing to support pretty much anything." Daiki said, trying to lift his friend's mood.
Rin-san smiled thinly at that before returning his face blank and cold. His walking resumed toward the exit. "Doubtful. Even civilians have more sense to marry, a couple talentless gennin. More sense to get married to a merchant, or tradesman."
Daiki followed on, his hands crossed behind his head. "Yeah, but they don't have Yuduru or Toki chakra genes. You've maybe not noticed but your chiseled dark skin figure has attracted the eyes of more than a few civilian girls." Daiki chided his friend.
Rin-san turned a corner and started walking up a spiral staircase toward the surface. "Oh I'm very aware. I also see how they turn their heads away from you to me. I'm not worried about myself, but you... may need help."
"Oh fuck you. Plenty of girls like me, hell they try to talk to me all the time." Daiki-san said, light panter between the two of them covering up the fact that he honestly didn't care for girls at all. Didn't mean he was gay or anything, just none had caught his eye. He hoped.
A sinister chuckle escaped from Rin-san as they reached the bamboo forest that sat on top of Ochagakure. "The operative word being 'try' my friend. Likely put up to it by their friends! 'Go talk to that talentless, ugly and smelly Yuduru boy!' Oh, they try but even they can't do that!"
"Oh that's it, this means war!" Daiki growled. His legs carrying him after his rapidly disappearing and fleeing nemesis.
A game of chase began through the virident and expansive bamboo forests that hid Ochakagure from her enemies. Rin-san took advantage of his muscular and nimble body to agilely dart between bamboo, while Daiki was a buffalo in a glass shop as he barreled through stalks of bamboo headless.
It was a familiar game. Something they practiced. Something they were decent at. Something they could be proud of. Rin-san's speed and agility. His own endurance and toughness. This game lasted for a while, as Rin-san's agility gave him a head start. Daiki's own endurance allowed him to creep up to his friend.
A few times Daiki was almost able to catch his rival. While Rin-san's agility was to be admired, it took a lot of chakra and stamina to maintain. Meaning that even after 10 minutes he would need to rest. But Daiki had no such problem, as he was able to maintain a steady pace, able to slowly run down Rin-san to exhaustion. So, it was the traditional problem. How long would each of their chakra reservoirs last? It was even guess whether Rin's agility would exhaust him or the other way around.
Eventually with their chakra reservoirs exhausted they ended their chase. Rin-san's agility this time gets the better of Daiki. They eventually discovered themselves close to their original destination. The abandoned Nakayama Estates where the village had stashed the creature.
The news of the capture of the 'creature' had reached its way through the various rumour mills of the village faster than the smell of nasty fart spreads in a closed closet. Even moreso when it was mentioned that Jonin Chamei Midori; The Contagion of the Tea; former Tea Guardian of his highness Daimyo Kojiki Katsuo of Cha no Kuni had captured this beast. Details about the actual beast were limited to a few key identifiers.
That it had the ability to rob shinobi in the dead of the night, that it drank the blood of the orphans girls and was an emissary of the old gods. The first two sounded like something out of a hack of a scriptwriter. Likely a birii production. The last one though, that was truly interesting. After the Sage of Six Paths had freed humanity from the grip of the olds gods and the Witches of Colour millenia ago, anything relating to the old gods had long since faded away. That interested Daiki more than anything else.
When Daiki was a young boy, stories of how the Sage of Six Paths had battled the old gods were fascinating. From the formation of the bijuus by cracking the moon that encased the ten-tails. Or the Sage stealing chakra from the gods to give to humanity, had enthralled him to no end. More than once, he liked to think he was the sage reborn out to defeat the old gods and marry the Witch of White. The reality of shinobi life quickly threw a proverbial bucket of water on such boyish thoughts.
Still even glimpsing the creature would satisfy his repressed religious leanings. The compound itself was your typical abandoned noble estates that littered the Land of Tea. With rectangular outer walls overgrown with plantlife with the main mansion in severe disrepair they were more home to the spirits than anything living. This compound was no different.
Though, Daiki admitted that it was a little too easy to sneak up to. He and Rin-san stealthy crouched up to walls of the compound, with nary a contact in sight or feeling. Rin-san's fingers flashed.
No barriers, seals, sensors or traps detected. False lead?
Daiki considered this for a moment, before shaking his head. His sister was talking about it to his parents, if she was sure this was the place then it was. His fingers flashed back.
Likely double bluff. Be alert. ANBU. Creature. Other.
His friend nodded as bound up toward the tented roof of the outer wall, their footsteps silent and their heart beating silenced to practiced rhythms. They eventually position them on top of the entrance gate, gazing into the debilitated interior. A noble mansion that looked like it was in a state of partial collapse stood in the middle, while several side buildings like stables and guest houses that stood lining the road were in far better shape. As Daiki was about to give himself a thorough look, Rin-san held up a hand, Daiki instantly hid himself on the other side of the roof's envelope.
Rin-san fingers flashed out behind him, with annoying franticness of anxious evidence.
Contact. 2 Figures. 300 degrees. Undetected.
Daiki flashed his hands, anxiety starting to speed up his heart.
The creature?
Negative. Jonin and a young girl.
Activities?
Eating.
Land of Tea… Ouza Island... Nakayama Estates... Early Afternoon…
Ki disliked this soft Kimono she was given. It restricted her movement far too much than she preferred. Still she wasn't about to go out exposed. As much as thought made her internally smile at the prospect of that ninja dealing with her being exposed. Even she had enough sense to suspect that it wouldn't work out well for her.
Across from Ki seated was the ninja that pummeled her, staring at Ki with apathetic eyes that told Ki, you're tool, nothing more and nothing less. She was as cold and unforgiving as the winter winds. Maybe some charm will open her up, Ki considered. It was worth a shot, I'm not breaking the whole don't escape rule.
Ki straightened, her eyes locking on the greens one of her captor, "I've told you my name, may I ask what your name is?"
The kunoichi merely narrowed her eyes on her, before replying with a prompt and a simple. "No."
Ki sighed. What had she expected? Most ninja were soulless and heartless as her father told her. Everything was a battle to them. From a simple conversation to the arrangement of seats at dinner to well them murdering everything under the sun. If she wanted to survive and get out of here, it was best to do the unexpected. Throw them off their game. Make them make mistakes.
Ki put on her best little girl voice, "But why? Do you not have a name? I can give you a name if you want! "
The kunoichi looked nonplussed at this. Ki leapt for the kill. "I know I'll call you nin-chan!"
Nin-chan looked mildly displeased, as she shifted in her position. "No, no."
A mischievous grin touched Ki's face, "Oh, your name is no! I get it now, no-chan."
No-chan sighed, pushing the hair out of her face before staring down daggers into Ki's eyes. "My name is Chamei Midori, Jonin of Ochagakure."
Ki cocked her head, smiling at her victory. "Whatever you say no-chan."
No-chan or Midori, blanched at this. "Say what you will, demon, my name doesn't matter. Yours is another matter." Midori brought a small booklet written with all those strange symbols that Ki couldn't read for the life of her. "Your name doesn't come up in any demonology books I've been able to source. But it does come up as the name of a witch of green."
Ki shrugged her thin shoulders, her smile fading from her face, "My mom named me after an angel, is that not common here?" I know they practice this chakra religion, and disdain the gods. Do they even disdain their names?
Midori seemed to tense up after the word angel, her eyes examining Ki up and down. "What do you mean 'not common here'?"
Ki scratched a finger against the side of her forehead, "Well, this continent?"
Midori scratches some more symbols into her book, "So, you're from the east?"
Ki shook her head. "No from the South. From Ostosia."
Midori leaned back, her hand holding her quill tense. "There's nothing south, just more ocean."
Ki rolled her eyes, "Then you're going to tell me that the world is flat too? Tsk, there are a lot of continents to the south. Seems like your map makers didn't explore as well as you thought."
Midori frowned, "Then let me ask you demon, if you're from the south why are you here?"
"Shipwrecked." Ki stated.
"Shipwrecked?" Midori said, baffled.
Ki nodded, recalling the events that landed her in this very strange land. "Father had traveled up to this continent on some profitable trade runs. Of course this was before my mother died of fever. Brought me along since he couldn't trust his brother to look after me. Four month journey, during which he taught me some of the language. At the tail end of the journey we reached the coast of the country called… the land of Sand? There we were hit by a maelstrom that slammed us against the coast."
Midori raised an eyebrow, looking curiously at Ki. "So, your father died from the collison."
Ki glared at Midori, "No, ninja killed him for not having any of your chakra. Whatever that means."
Midori crossed her arms, hand under her chin. "How long ago was this?"
Ki quickly thought about that, counting the winters that had passed in this strange land. "Four years in your calendar, give or take three months."
"You've been surviving on the streets for four years?" Ki couldn't quite place no-chan's tone. Somewhere between disbelief and grudging respect.
"I got pretty good at stealing. It made surviving the last years easier than starving to death on the streets begging for food from apathetic strangers." Ki bluntly stated. She wasn't proud of that. She had to survive to get home. That was all there was to it.
Midori nodded strangely enough. "And how long have you been stealing from shinobi?"
Ki shrugged her shoulders, unamused by the question. "Long enough to get caught, I suppose."
"Answer the question", Midori asserted. Her eyes glaring down from their perch.
Ki glared right back up. "Ever since I landed here after stowing away on that Gato freighter. So two months? I guess." Ki lied. More like 6 weeks all told.
Midori seems to be rocked to the core by this revelation. Her face was in apparent shock. That made Ki far too happy for her own good. Smirking like an imp, Ki elaborated more. "It was personal. They killed my father. If I could inconvenience them then all the merrier."
Midori's eyes looked back at her, seething in rage and something else that Ki couldn't put her finger on. It was nastier than rage that was for sure. She started to regret pushing in the knife in this sore spot.
Midori stood at this reaching for her sword hilt, only to stop midway through. As if remembering where she was and who she was with. Midori reseated herself, her eyes never leaving Ki's for a second. Ki decided that in the future, not to push this issue.
Midori seethed, and the inflection caught in her voice as syllables crashed out of her mouth. "I would have thought wherever you were born would have beaten some fucking common sense into you. Didn't you have ninja wherever the fuck south you were born? Didn't they teach you to never fuck with ninja?"
Ki looked on passively, "Uh… no? We don't have whatever this chakra religious stuff you use. We don't have ninja or samurai or warrior-monks. We have templars, avatars and clerics."
That stopped her captor short. She bound out her little book again, scribbling more symbols into it, as if Ki's life was notes for a test. "So, you don't have chakra from wherever you're from?
Ki nodded, "Yeah, we can't shoot fire from our mouths or fire green vines from our wrists. But we have the gods and that's enough. "
Midori looked very confused, before she tentatively said. "The gods are dead."
Ki raised an eyebrow at that, her voice of pure sincerity. "Gods are very much alive. If the gods were dead, then I would be dead. One of my ancestors was an angel of gods, if Gods were dead I would have disappeared like the descendants of Angel of Orange." Ki remembered her home. The avatars of the gods that walked the street. Daily triumphants prayers sessions of priest-kings. Temples on every street corner. Religious holidays every fortnight. Orphans that were fed, cared for and adopted. The sick healed or comforted. Elderly respected and listened to. A society which cared. Not this godless continent. Where death stalked every branch. Accursed place all except the highest.
Midori shifted in her seat, her eyes looking between her booklet and Ki. For a ninja, she hadn't expected honesty, Ki guessed. Still, if she could prove that she wasn't whatever this demon nonsense was, she could be back in the streets by nightfall or better yet on a ship further south. If she had to be nice to this ninja, then so be it. Anything to get her closer to her people.
Ki barely heard it. A clatter across the yard. Like a dish being broken or window being broken. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something scurry across the roofed walls. Probably an animal. Returning back to her captor, she vanished like she had before earlier today. Stupid speedy ninjas.
Daiki felt her before he even realized that they had been made. Body flickering into existence to his right, a Tea ANBU slammed her leg into his side. He fell from the roof, pain radiating from his abdomen and kidneys. Rin-san barely had any time before she was on him too.
Daiki saw from the ground weakly that Rin tried throwing shurikens to break her charge. Only for the Tea ANBU to create a shield of thick flower petals around her, blocking the projectiles. Rin-san tried to leap into the bamboo forest surrounding the estate, but she had him in an instant. First a knee to the stomach. Then an open palm strike to the solar plex. A final brutal crunch to his groin by her foot spelled the end to that fight, as Rin-san fell from the roof in a heap.
Daiki tried to stand up, only to find dark green moss growing on his side. Ahh fuck, Chakra leeches. Only to feel the clenched armored fist grasping him from his back, and Kunai piercing his posterior. He could barely hear her. A whisper on the wind. "Who sent you?"
Daiki gulped, "Na… no one. We… heard that there was a creature over here, so…"
Daiki felt the Kunai scrape his back, as he held in a scream of pain from the intrusion. "Don't lie", the Tea ANBU whispered. "Or the next one goes into your groin."
Daiki tried to shake his head, fear and anxiety radiating out of him as he losted control of his bladder. "I'm… not lying. We heard there was a creature here, but there's just a girl."
For seconds Daiki leaned forward, waiting and wishing for the killing blow. Then felt the kunai remove from his back, he hazard a look back only to feel the backend of a Kunai slamming into the side of his head. His last thoughts were, is this what death feels like? Before the blackness took him a dreamless sleep of oblivion.
Land of Tea… Ochagakure… Chamei Clan Section... The Ethereal Garden…
"It's an interesting story to say the least." Her grand uncle finally said. They were in the Chamei's clan Ethereal Garden. An underground garden built without need for sunlight, water or even soil. Instead the plants here fed directly on the chakra that surrounded them. An ideal place to experiment on chakra leeches and for quiet conversations away from chakra enhanced ears.
"I'm not sure I believe it myself, Junpei-sama. It's when I was conversing with her I had a feeling that this was not a demon." Midori replied solemnly. "I was not prepared when she revealed that she was a descendant of the Witches."
"Yes, it would certainly explain her powers, and why she thinks the gods exist. We've known that the descendants of the Witches went south after the Great Truce, according to the chronicles. Of course, how much of that is true has been debated by scholars for centuries. Looks like we have an answer finally." Junpei-sama sighed.
Midori saw at that moment, saw how old her uncle had become. His hair was practically white. The black and green washed out long ago from age and stress. His hand trembled holding his pipe. His eyes were weary and tired from trying to keep the clan together. These new worries had not been kind to him these past years. Hopefully this new question mark doesn't eat at it him anymore.
"Would that mean she has a soul?" Midori earnestly asked.
"Unknown. Though it would be plausible considering what the chronicles tell us." Junpei-sama paused for a moment, Midori noticed all the same. The mumbled prayer on his lips. One handed seals for the Sage. "For the moment, continue to observe and talk with this 'Ki'. I'll investigate whether her story about her father being a merchant is true.
"As for the other problem…" Junpei-sama's voice turned from paper to steel. "Operational security was compromised by rumor mills and gossiping amongst the clans. An issue we are dressing down at the moment. Still that leaves what to do with that pair of idiots."
Midori pursed her lips. As much as the assignment made sense when it was hatched by the council, she was just a single kunoichi. Additional help would make it so that she didn't spend all her time being a babysitter to whatever this Ki was. "We could use them to watch her. I can't be the demon, err… Ki's guardian 25/7."
Junpei-sama rubbed her long white beard in thought, before shrugging his weary shoulder. "I'll have to talk to the rest of the council. It would kill three birds with one stone I'll admit. Those pair of talentless fuckups have been gobbling up every D ranked mission in the village. Getting them out of the village would do some good for training up the upcoming talent. Not to mention, how some proper guidance and team training under an experienced Jonin could rectify whatever farce the Yuduru and Toki have been doing with them."
Midori was actually surprised at that. "Me? As a Jonin instructor?"
Junpei pointed her pipe toward her, "Why not. It's about time you were assigned a team anyway. Actually, if we throw the witch child with the other two fuckups, we could create a 3 person team. Should create enough stir to silence the current rumors in place."
Modori nodded, "Of course that makes sense, uncle. What would that team be called?"
"If I remember correctly, we currently have 36 teams at the moment. So most likely it would be team 37." Her uncle walked over to a chair and gestured that she should follow to suit. "Of course, I had hoped that Toki Minoru could be called back from his current assignment to assist you in watching and training the child. That unfortunately is unlikely with the situation in Kiri becoming even more unpredictable."
Midori's eyebrows rose in confusion sitting down across from him. Has something happened in Kiri lately that I haven't been briefed on?
Seeing the confusion evident on Midori's face. Junpei grunted, "Nothing to worry about now. The council only got word about an hour ago. The Mizukage just purged the water court."
Midori's face fell. I had not expected that development. "Purged as in… murdered?"
"We're not entirely sure. It does seem like most of the Water Daimyo himself and his close family has been eradicated. In the meantime the Mizukage has installed one of the second cousins of the now dead Water Daimyo as regent. They supposedly hold the Water Daimyo's 2 year old grandson hostage in Kiri, we think."
Midori gulped, "That's a cluster fuck."
"Indeed, which is why we want you to start putting together an experimental training program for the child. These increasingly chaotic moves by Kiri have made Kono unpredictable. With that snake of a Hokage in power, we could have another Great Shinobi war break out any second." Junpei-sama leaned back in his chair, his finger tenting. "I would have prefered a couple years to try to corral and weaponize the child, but we may have to move sooner than we would comfortably like."
Midori closed her eyes. She had so very little time to get this done, and she had no idea yet how she was going to materialize the demon-witch child's powers. And training the two other idiots to be combat effective was asking for trouble. What other choice did she have? War was fast approaching, developing a weapon was still better than having no weapon at all to possibly counter Kono and Kiri bloodlines. Opening her eyes back up, she gazed back at her uncle. "Consider it done."