"Talking"
'Thinking'
Flashback - "Talking"/ 'Thinking'
Chapter 12:
The Samurai and guards, as well as civilians of the Land of Birds, who sided with Mōsō, and who have survived the battle against Toki and her side, have been rounded up after Mōsō's defeat.
Toki wasn't happy that all those people sided with someone they barely knew, and who has killed the previous two daimyo. Because of that, she has ordered the execution of all those who went against her.
Because of the civil war, and because of Toki's order, the population of the Land of Birds has dropped by over 10% of the total population in less than two months since the start of the war which concluded with the mass execution.
After the execution, and the mass body torching, and as per the agreement between Naruto and Toki, Toki has taken over as the Daimyo of the Land of Birds. Of course, she is just a figurehead and the real leader is Naruto, but there is no need for anyone outside of Naruto, Taya and Toki, to know of that.
The bodies of the Stone ninja who were killed have been burned along with all the other deceased. Of the only two survivors from the Stone Shinobi who were in the Land of Birds, one has been allowed to leave with her life and with a message to the Tsuchikage, while Suzumebachi has been taken by Naruto as he has plans for her.
Taya has taken the heads of Gari and Kakō, and sealed them inside of a scroll, since Naruto plans to cash in their heads, just like he did with Raiga's head.
With the civil war in the Land of Birds over, it was time for Naruto, Taya and Suzumebachi to continue their journey.
It took about two days, but Naruto was able to convince Suzumebachi to join him, instead of going back to Stone, since there is literally, nothing left for her there.
She was pissed off at Naruto because of the defeat she suffered at his hands, but most of all, because of the fact Naruto killed her siblings. Because of that, she refused to join him, which is why, in the end, it took two days, to change her mind.
Or course, Naruto could have used force to make her join him, but he knew that in the long run, it wouldn't work, since she will never trust him. Naruto was finally able to convince her to join him, when he told her of his plan to rebuild the Whirlpool Country, and told her that if she joins him, she will have a chance to rebuild her clan from scratch.
That offer was more that Suzumebachi could ever hope to get from anyone, and considering how she and her clan were treated in the Stone, she knew that if she goes back, she will be killed off. Seeing that there is no other choice, Suzumebachi accepted Naruto's offer, and has joined him on his journey.
Before they left, though, Naruto decided to leave a Blood Clone with Toki, to act as her guard, and to train her forces so that they could defend themselves in case of an attack by another mercenary group or in case of an attack by one of the Shinobi Villages. Naruto did decided to have his clone transform and look like someone else, since his face will become quite known in the EN very soon. The Blood Clone transformed into Ulquiorra Cifer.
A week after they arrived in the Land of Birds, Naruto and Taya left, now with new addition to their small group, in Suzumebachi. They headed west, to another of the countries, located in between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth.
XXX
After what they've done to his shinobi, Naruto and Taya were sure that the Tsuchikage won't be happy when he hears that most of the forces he sent to the Land of Birds, are dead, while one was taken away, and only one was left alive.
They were both right about that. Tsuchikage was not happy, and has immediately decided to add both Naruto and Taya into the Bingo Book.
Now, while Taya was already in the Bingo Book from before, and he knew who she was and had some information of her, the Tsuchikage knew nothing about Naruto, except his physical description. He didn't even know his name, since the kunoichi who Naruto left alive, didn't know his name.
As such, Naruto's picture in the Bingo Book was hand-drawn, and the information was scarce. It was only written what the Stone Kunoichi knew, which is that Naruto has insane physical strength, that he is a swordsman, and that he has some strange abilities, which allowed him to kill two A-Rank shinobi without even touching them.
Even though they didn't have much information about him, the Tsuchikage still decided to mark Naruto as an S-Rank threat, with a capture alive order. He wants him alive so that he hand Naruto to a team of special researches who will dissect him in order to find out about Naruto's powers.
Taya was already an S-Rank ninja, so in her case, nothing was changed, expect the fact that she is now wanted by the Stone as well, and not only by the Cloud and Sound.
As of that day, Naruto and Taya got to the Stone's shit list.
XXX
Konoha has also got quite interested in Naruto and Taya, after they heard about them from Tenten, Lee and Neji.
When the three genin of Team 9, told the Elders about what happened in the Katabami Gold Mine, the three relics of the old, were both annoyed and interested.
They were annoyed because, not only did their genin practically failed the mission, as they couldn't take out Raiga, but they were also annoyed because they lost the chance to get their hands on the Katabami Gold Mine. They will admit that they didn't have high hopes of acquiring that mine, but they did hope that Team 9 will defeat the Kurosuki Family, thus leaving the Katabami Gold Mine without anyone to run it, thus, giving Konoha a chance to come and take them for themselves.
That all failed with the arrival of Naruto and Taya, who killed Raiga, and then took over the mine.
On the other hand, they were interested in both Naruto and Taya, as they seem to be strong.
Of course, once Team 9 described Naruto and Taya, Danzo pulled out the Bingo Book and showed the entry on the 74th, page. The moment they saw the entry, Team 9 recognized Taya, and confirmed it was her. As for Naruto, they didn't have anything, so they were blind when it comes to him.
But, in the eyes of the Elders, Taya is an extremely powerful S-Rank Kunoichi, who has managed to achieve something barely few before her did. Danzo didn't say though, what is it that Taya has achieved, even though he saw the curious looks on the faces of Team 9.
Now, at that point, Taya was already in the Cloud and Sound's Bingo Books, as an S-Rank ninja, and Danzo, along with the other two elders, knew that Taya used to be a part of Sound and worked for Orochimaru. The fact that she is now with someone else, and that she is in the Sound's Bingo Book as of few weeks ago, meant that she has switched her allegiance from Orochimaru, to someone else.
That means, that even though the elders know nothing about the person with whom Taya is traveling right now, they could guess that he is more powerful then both Taya AND Orochimaru, otherwise, Taya wouldn't go with him and abandon the Sound.
The fact that there is someone like Starrk out there, made the elders sweat, because he has no allegiance to any village nor group, and for all they know, he will one day become the enemy of Konoha. Of course, the thought of someone as powerful as Naruto potentially joining Konoha, made then almost salivate.
Once they heard about what happened in the Katabami Gold Mine, the elders had to make a decision. They will add Naruto and Taya into Konoha's Bingo Book, and mark them as S-Rank ninja, with a capture ALIVE order, OR, they will simply let them be for now.
They know that if they don't add them into the Bingo Book, some other village might get their hands on them before Konoha, but, the problem with adding them into the Bingo Book is, that none of the two have ever done anything against Konoha and the Fire Country.
The people in the bingo book are always criminals, and missing ninja, and while Naruto and Taya might be classified as such, they are neither missing ninja from Konoha, nor they are criminals who did something to Konoha and Fire Country.
That means that if Konoha adds them into Bingo Book, just because they want them for themselves, they could draw the wrath of two S-Rank ninja, and at this point in time, no one in Konoha, not even Danzo, wants that.
In the end, the decision was made, to simply let Naruto and Taya alone, for now. They will see what happens in the future, and if the chance presents itself, they might add them into the Bingo Book. They did decide, though, to alert their shinobi about those two, in case some other of their ninja run into the two. By doing that, they will tell their shinobi to try and convince Naruto and Taya, in a polite way, to join Konoha, saying things like, how it is definitely better to be a part of one of the Five Great Hidden Villages, then to go around and hunted by other villages.
The three elders completely forgot about the information that Tenten gave them. The fact that Naruto and Taya are planning to build their own country, means that they have no intention of joining any village, even the Five Great ones.
XXX
After the Land of Birds, Naruto, Taya and Suzumebachi, headed west, to the Land of Vegetables.
On the way, Naruto wanted to learn about the small countries which are located in between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. Those were the countries he plans to visit before he heads to the Whirlpool, and he wanted to know what he can expect.
From what Taya, but mostly Suzumebachi told him, Rain Country, is the first country which is bordering both Earth and Wind, to the east. From there, onward to the west, there is the Land of Birds, which they just visited, and then there is the Land of Vegetables, which they are heading toward.
The Land of Vegetables is a small nation, not very rich or powerful, but peaceful and from what little Taya and Suzumebachi knew, the Daimyo is a nice man, who cares about his people.
Even though it is located between two of the Great Nations who have bad history with each other, the Land of Vegetables was never used as a battle ground for the Stone and Sand shinobi, unlike the Rain, who gets raided and partly destroyed in every single war between the Stone, Sand and Leaf.
Land of Birds was also never used as a battle ground, just like the Land of Vegetables.
Neither Taya nor Suzumebachi, said anything about the current situation in the Land of Vegetables, since they didn't know. Rain Country and the Land of Birds are standing between the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Vegetables, so Taya never saw any reason to learn much about small, rural country. The same was with Orochimaru, who never had any interest in any of the small countries, west of the Rain, so even when she was working with him, she didn't learn anything about the Land of Vegetables, except what everyone knows. Suzumebachi didn't know anything else about the country, for the simple reason that she wasn't interested.
West of the Land of Vegetables, there is the Land of Mountains, and that is the last country which borders both Wind and Earth.
The Land of Mountains, while not much bigger than the Lands of Birds and Vegetables, does have their own Hidden Village, unlike the previous two. The name of the Hidden Village, is the Village Hidden in Stones.
According to Suzumebachi, The Land of Mountains and their Hidden Village, have close ties to the Land of Earth, and have been allies for a long time. In the times of war, the Land of Mountains would always assist the Land of Earth in their battles against the Land of Wind.
The Land of Mountains is by no means, a peaceful country, unlike the Lands of Birds and Vegetables. It has a hidden village, they are allied with the Stone, and have a great many, Kekkei Genkai users, who have always been of help to the Stone Village, and the pain in the ass for the Sand and other enemies of their own country and the enemies of the Stone.
Taya said she has never been there, but Orochimaru did, and didn't find the place interesting, even with as many Kekkei Genkai users the Land of Mountains has.
Suzumebachi then said that more to the west, there is only the Land of Valleys, and there are two more, which are toward north from the Land of Valleys, and one toward south from the Land of Valleys. The country to the north, is the Land of Iron, which is an independent country, and has no Shinobi, but has samurai, while the Land to the south, is the Land of Sand, and they are known to be Sand's allies. The Land of the Valleys, are Stone's allies.
Once Taya and Suzumebachi finished explain what they know about the small lands in the western part of the EN, Naruto thought about it for a while. He thought about, what to do and where to head, after they leave the Land of Vegetables.
In the end, he decided that they will go through most, if not all of those countries, but will try not to draw attention while in the countries which are allied with the Stone and Sand, as well as the Land of Iron, since he doesn't see any point in getting himself known too much to the EN. Not yet at least.
XXX
Naruto and Taya couldn't believe what was going on, when they arrived in the Land of Vegetables.
It seems that wherever they set foot, a coup d'état, is happening.
The two of them, along with Suzumebachi, have arrived in the capitol of the Land of Vegetables, and found out that three brothers, Janin, by the names of Renga, Jiga and Ruiga, have arrived in the Land of Vegetables, and were able to convince majority of the country's leaders to turn on the countries daimyo and betray him.
Once the majority of the leaders, as well as majority of the people in the capitol have turned on the current daimyo and the joined the Janin, the daimyo was executed.
But then, the Janin ended up revealing that they never planned to honor the agreement they had with the people who betrayed their former daimyo, and so, the three brothers, killed them all, after which, they went to find the daughter of the former daimyo, Haruna, so that they can kill her as well. They left behind some of their forces, though, so that they can keep an eye on the people who were still alive, and in case something unexpected happens.
Something unexpected did happen, though. None of the Janin expected Naruto, Taya and Suzumebachi to arrive in the Land of Vegetables. Even more, the brothers couldn't even dream that Naruto would decide to save the country, and along with Taya and Suzumebachi, they killed all the ninja, who were working for the Janin, and were left to keep an eye at the capitol.
The Janin were in for a big surprise when they get back to the capital.
XXX
Unfortunately for the Janin, not all of them will be returning to the capital.
The daughter of the former daimyo of the Land of Vegetables, has disguised as a man, and along with her two most trusted guards used a caravan to escape from the Janin. Her guards, have managed to hire a team from Leaf, under the pretense of helping the peddlers move their wares in a D-ranked mission.
A three-man team was sent from Konoha to do this mission. Members of this team were: Shikamaru Nara, Hinata Hyūga, and Chōji Akimichi, with Shikamaru as the team leader, as he is the only one in the team with the rank of Chūnin, while the other two were genin.
The three of the, along with the help of one of Haruna's guards, (the other one was killed by the youngest of the brothers), were able to defeat the youngest brother, who was then killed by the second brother, who didn't want to share the spoils in three parts.
Unfortunately for that brother, he would also be killed in the battle against Hinata.
This has left the oldest, and by far, the most powerful of the Janin, who didn't have any trouble in defeating the three Konoha ninja, along with Haruna's guard, before he captured Haruna, and took her with him back to the capitol, as he has planned to execute her in front of all of her people.
XXX
Imagine Renga's surprise, when he came back to the Land of Vegetables capitol, with Haruna dragged behind him; only to find the corpses of the people he left to look after the capitol.
He was shocked first, before he got angry at the through that trained ninja have failed him and got killed by a bunch of civilians.
He was even more surprised when he arrived in the daimyo's palace, only to find Naruto seating at the throne chair, with Taya and Suzumebachi, standing on his sides. The smirk he saw on Naruto's face, was infuriating.
Long story short, Naruto told him that he has disposed of all the ninja who were in the capitol, and then proceeded to face off against Renga.
Not only Naruto, but Taya and Suzumebachi were very interested when they saw Renga's powers, especially when the battle moved outside of the castle, where Renga was able to use his full powers because of the sun.
Naruto was interested enough, that he has decided to acquire Renga's powers for himself. It didn't matter to him that he might never use those powers. To him, they were interested, and he will get his hands on every form of power he finds interesting.
When he was certain that he has seen the full extent of Renga's powers, Naruto sucked out his soul, and by doing that, he absorbed Renga's memories and powers. Naruto did wish that he could just suck out the power from the souls, and forgo the memories, because sometimes, seeing memories of other people, makes him sick when he sees the kind of people they are and all the horrors they have done.
Considering what Naruto has done while he was a Hollow, the fact that he feels sick by some of the things he has seen in Gari's, Kakō's and Renga's memories, shows the kind of bastards the three of them were.
With Renga dead, and Naruto now having his powers, Naruto then turned his sights at Haruna, who, once she saw the way Naruto was looking at her, felt fear unlike any other before.
It would turn out, that there was no need to be afraid, because it took her a minute after Naruto started to talk, to realize that he doesn't seem to want to harm her, but it turns out, that he does want the Land of Vegetables to be his.
Of course, Haruna didn't like this, but she didn't dare say that, because Naruto just might change his mind, and then kill her. If he does that, he will simply make himself the next daimyo, and there wouldn't be anyone who would be able to stop him.
On the other hand, if she finds a way to make him change his mind, and leave her country alone, then she will become the daimyo and her people would be safe.
Unfortunately for her, she wasn't able to convince Naruto to just leave peacefully and let her rule her own country.
Fortunately for her, Naruto was willing to let her make everyone believe that she is the leader of the country, while he will be the true leader from the shadows. Naruto promised that if she accepts this offer, she will be able to do as she wants, while he will only give her orders on the most important matters. Basically, he offered her the same agreement as the one he has with Toki and the Land of Birds.
In the end, Haruna didn't have other choice but to accept Naruto's offer, as she knew that things will end badly for everyone but him, if she was to refuse.
Naruto, Taya and Suzumebachi then introduced themselves, Naruto was using his fake name, while Taya and Suzumebachi their real ones.
At that moment, Naruto sensed that the leaf ninja are heading toward them, he realized that Shikamaru, Hinata and Chōji are the ones who are coming, and since he didn't want to have another run-in with Konoha ninja so soon after the Katabami Gold Mine, he created a Blood Clone, much to Haruna's shock, before he, along with Taya and Suzumebachi left, leaving the Blood Clone behind. The Blood Clone then went and transformed into Coyote Starrk, before he proceeded to explain to Haruna what he is, and why the original created him and left him behind.
By the time Konoha ninja arrived in the castle, Naruto, Taya and Suzumebachi have already been half way through the capitol on their way toward the next destination on their journey.