(Meanwhile, during Siege of Trost)
Levi was a man who trusted his instincts, and for good reason. He had never been let down by his gut feeling before. And right now his gut was screaming at him and it left him seriously on edge.
A few hours ago, when they had received word that Trost was under siege by titans, the scouts had immediately abandoned the outpost they had been trying to set up and had rushed back as fast as their horses would allow. There would be no point of establishing an outpost if the wall fell after all.
During their return however they had witnessed a rare sight.
A horde of titans had rushed out towards them, numbering in the hundreds and completely dwarfing the entire survey corps in number. To make matters worse it was in what was essentially an open field. Yet instead of the massacre they had expected, for the first time in their history the titans completely ignored the humans that they loved to gorge on. The horde had simply sprinted as fast as they were able through the gaps in their Long Distance Enemy Scouting Formation. It was almost as if the scouts were not there at all.
As they neared Trost however they had been treated to another strange phenomenon. Titanic, steaming skeletons were littered everywhere around the pathway headed to Trost, for almost as far as they could see. Something had been outright murdering the titans on this side of the wall and whatever it was, it hadn't been the scouts. They had passed by this same route earlier that same morning without a titan in sight after all.
One titan corpse in particular caught their attention, and Levi couldn't blame Hange for rushing towards it with the excitement of a five year old and without any semblance of situational awareness. If he had been a scientist he would rush towards what remained of the armoured titan as well. It was obviously no longer among the living, but what perplexed them was the pitiful state it was in. It was bruised, its armour battered and it had been missing an arm. Levi was well aware they had nothing in their collective arsenal to injure it like that. An entire bombardment of cannonballs hadn't even scratched the armoured titan's exterior back in Shiganshina.
Due to this, even with how close they were to the breach and possibly to a battle, Erwin was forced to leave Hange and her squad behind as they obtained samples.
"Dammit four eyes, now isn't the time." Levi muttered irritably to himself, but even he could see the importance of studying that armour.
What concerned him the most was whatever had put the armoured titan in such a state was probably still out there and they didn't know what it was or why it had decided to cause such slaughter amongst the other titans. Was it a titan itself? Or was it something else? Levi almost didn't want to know, but Erwin's orders were absolute and Hange's squad would have to fend for itself. They would need the full force of the scouts in the upcoming battle. It comforted him slightly however that at least they wouldn't have to worry too much about titans at the moment. The beasts were either still at Trost or had deserted the area amongst the horde they had witnessed earlier.
But their surprise at the death of one of their most problematic adversaries didn't amount in any way to the sheer shock value that struck them when they came across the skeleton of what could only be the colossal titan. It was strewn out as if it had fallen flat onto its back, and lay in front of the breach as a steaming pile of bones. It was one thing to find the armoured titan dead, it was another thing entirely to see that something had apparently dispatched the colossal titan.
"Erwin. Tell me if I'm dreaming," Levi said with a look of disbelief as Erwin ordered the entire expedition to an immediate halt.
"Unfortunately I am seeing the same thing," Erwin replied with his ever impassive expression plastered onto his face. They were still quite a distance from the wall, but aside from the colossal skeleton there was not a single sign of any titan in sight.
"I can smell fear," Mike offered as his horse rode up to stop alongside the duo. "And not our fear as that's a given. This place reeks of something so much more and it's getting stronger the closer we get to Trost."
"Something's wrong. There's no one on the walls. Has Rose fallen?" Levi asked almost to himself. Even he was uneasy about entering Trost and he couldn't tell why. But if the wall had fallen then what was going to happen to humanity? They were already jam packed like sardines as it was.
They all froze as the sound of an otherworldly roar reached their ears.
Even at their distance, almost as one being the entire regiment backed away as the sound of more than one unnatural roar echoed from within Trost and the uneasy feeling gnawing at Levi's stomach only grew. Was whatever that was making those sounds the reason for the deaths of the armoured and colossal titans?
If it was responsible, then Levi couldn't blame the horde of titans earlier for running from something that had massacred a staggering number of them. The sound alone shook even their bones. Even with Erwin's usual insatiable curiosity, the leader of the scouts did not order a charge and simply adopted a wait and see approach. It was wise, but Levi was also relatively certain that even if the commander ordered them to enter Trost, the scouts wouldn't move a muscle. Whatever was in there had been enough to instill blind fear into titans, as well as kill the strongest of their enemies. Insubordination or not, nobody was getting into Trost while that thing or things were in there. Well, Levi would probably go if Erwin ordered him to do so. But it didn't mean that he would be completely willing however, and thankfully Erwin didn't seem to think it was necessary.
"We do not need to risk ourselves. We are in no danger at the moment and can afford to wait. If the wall has indeed fallen then we will need to be humanity's sword to eradicate whatever they are. They might be abnormal titans and with that, there is a chance they may yet exit Trost on our side and we can let them pass through us and avoid a fight entirely. Or they can enter Wall Rose and then we seal Trost before we deal with them. Without the Colossal and Armoured titans we may be able to trap them in Wall Rose, especially since they no longer have a viable method to destroy the gates." Erwin suggested.
"Risky, assuming we can even take them down. But I agree," Mike nodded. "It is worrying that I also don't hear any cannon fire, so I am unsure if the garrison forces are either out of ammunition or if they are even still capable of resisting."
Because that was the harsh truth. You did not win against the titans. You weathered the storm and prayed for the best that you could do it again tomorrow.
"I hate waiting," Levi spat with a bored expression as he stared at the walls. He was sure everyone was curious for answers, though equally afraid, but until Erwin said something he wouldn't move. Thinking wasn't his job, he just had to follow orders.
Despite the plan, when the noise and the oppressive presence died down a while later, Commander Erwin instructed them all to wait at least half an hour in case it returned. It was an order which everyone had been happy to oblige. It was a tense wait as everyone eyed the breach, half expecting for something to burst out and attack them.
"Levi, Mike, Nanaba, Gelgar. Each of you call your squads." Erwin ordered to some of the most trusted and cable people under his command after the time frame he had given expired. "I want your teams to scale the wall and assess the situation in Trost and report back. Levi and Mike Squad, I want you to approach from the left side. Nanaba and Gelgar Squad will approach from the right. Avoid the breach as we do not know if something will rush out."
"Sir yes sir!" They chorused as they assembled their teams to complete their tasks.
Levi understood the necessity of this role. While all of the scouts were armed with mobility gear, their horses and carts were vulnerable. They either had to be lifted up onto the walls via pulleys or travel through Trost. Pulleys would take a lot of time, and so if the danger had subsided then they would simply go through Trost.
A few minutes later Levi narrowed his eyes from on top of the walls as he surveyed the damage. While the rear of Trost near the inner gate was still relatively intact, the majority of Trost had suffered considerable destruction and was definitely uninhabitable. Even the buildings that had remained standing suffered enough structural damage that they would have to be torn down and rebuilt. At least the inner gate was secure however, that would make their life far easier. Now all they had to do was defend the outer gate of Trost as they rebuilt it.
It left the question however that if the inner gate was secure and nothing had run out on their side, what had happened to whatever was causing all of that noise? He narrowed his keen eyes as he searched for any indication of the threat. He was sure Mike and the others could assess and report back that it was safe to enter Trost for now, but he was still wary. Something that big didn't just disappear.
He ignored the abundance of titan skeletons nearer to the breach, as well as some of the half eaten bodies of garrison soldiers, as he scanned the wreckage until something caught his eye. Near the centre of Trost was a completely flattened section of land. He was certain the damage on the ground and the surrounding area had not been caused by the clumsy stumbling of titans. It was almost as if there had been an incredibly powerful thunderstorm, though isolated to just that area. A large swath of the ground looked like the rock itself was on fire, with large puddles of water that shouldn't have any way of being where it was. Aside from that were the enormous structures of shining crystal that remained. While there had to be an explanation for the water and fiery ground, where did that crystal even come from?
"I see I'm not the only one who noticed," Mike said with crossed arms next to him as they both gazed at the peculiar sight.
"Yeah. Do you think it was those two titans responsible for all the uproar?" Levi replied as he gestured to the only two titan skeletons in the area.
"I think they killed each other in their fight," Mike pointed out.
"And there's no other way to explain how all that happened around them either. Nothing got out of Trost as far as we are aware." Levi added.
What he didn't mention however, was that there was only one person he knew personally who could manipulate the elements and therefore suspected had a part in this. While two titans killing one another with otherworldly powers was frightening in its own way, it didn't seem as if the two titans had been responsible for each other's deaths. For starters if it was only those two without a third party, it had to have been a mutual death for them to perish so far apart from one another and to both be trapped by crystal with their napes blown out. Levi hadn't seen the boy in a few years however, not ever since his stupid mistake had cost the lives of Farlan and Isabel. Uzumaki was unlikely to forgive him for that. But even still, had this been his work? Was he the one responsible for eliminating the titans?
Levi was left to ponder on that even as he shot a green flare for the rest of the Survey Corps to proceed through Trost. He had to talk with Uzumaki about this first, if he could find him somehow. Was he still around the area or did he head back to the Underworld already?
He was so lost in thought pondering about how that meeting would go, that before he knew it he was riding his horse alongside Erwin as they entered Wall Rose through the inner gate of Trost.
"Erwin, what do we do now?" He asked, slightly annoyed by the awkward silence that had overcome the entire regiment.
"This needs further thought. But I plan on making the search for answers a priority. It is not worth the risk to operate with such a large variable left unchecked." Erwin replied. "Either we discover that we have a weapon to finally use against the titans, or we discover that we are doomed and that there is no point resisting. We need to find out what caused this, if those titans really killed each other or not, or if there are more of them. If they can turn the ground to fire and summon that unbreakable ice structure, then this endeavour against the titans is more hopeless than we thought. But why only now? Why are titans with these abilities only appearing now?"
Coming from Erwin, that statement definitely meant a lot. He was a curious man, one who would search tirelessly for answers. Levi was also aware of how much went unsaid, such as Erwin's stance that until they solved this mystery they were no longer going to exit the walls and all plans for establishing further outposts would be suspended until further notice. When Erwin wanted to know something, he would gamble on it. That was a difficult trait to have as you either won big, or lost just as much. In a way Levi worried it was more of a selfish tendency, rather than one meant to benefit humanity. But either way, if Erwin told him to do something he would.
Levi's ears twitched and he momentarily ignored what further plans Erwin had been quietly discussing with him to focus on the sound of a soothing melody as it tickled his ears. What instrument was that? It was faint and he struggled to pinpoint its exact location, but he was confused as to how it seemed to be everywhere all at once. Aside from the fact that this wasn't exactly the atmosphere one would expect to hear a flute, there was also the fact that the sound was everywhere and nowhere.
"So over all, today's mission to set up a forward base into titan territory was a failure. We will have to rethink our strategy for succeeding missions. We needlessly lost men and we have not achieved anything today."
Levi snapped out of his thoughts and stared at the commander with a serious face. Of all the things that had happened today Erwin could not have the outpost at top priority. He had even just said minutes earlier that all succeeding missions outside the wall had to be put on hold until they had answers.
"Erwin." Levi demanded in a low voice to show just how displeased he was. Erwin could play the 'pretend not to know anything' card with everyone else, but not with him. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
The commander glanced sideways slightly at the captain, whose horse was slightly to his right and few paces behind. He was already quite used to the almost blatantly disrespectful attitude that Levi used to interact with everyone, including him. He was also aware however that Levi valued him above all others. Erwin didn't know what he did, but somehow somewhere he had earned Levi's utmost loyalty. This was an invaluable asset to him as the man in question was indisputably recognized as humanity's strongest.
It was also a little known Ackerman trait, but once a member of the family found a 'host' they would devote themselves to that person completely and protect them to the limits of their ability. It was a two way benefit however as finding a host also served to somehow unlock the true hidden potential of an Ackerman. Erwin even doubted at times that Levi was human. It was why Erwin was so invested in recruiting the host of the Ackerman in the 104th cadet batch. If she was anything at all like Levi it would be massive boost to their forces.
At first he had been so sure that the host was the Jaeger boy, but over time it had become apparent that the girl's host had either shifted somehow to the Uzumaki, or he had always been her host to begin with.
Strange name aside the boy was talented, though he hadn't shown any feats to compare him to Levi. It was strange a strange phenomenon for him however, how the boy seemed to display skills that were average but bordered on being prodigious. Erwin was naturally suspicious about this behavior, coupled with the fact that the Uzumaki didn't seem comfortable using the mobility gear even if he was proficient at it. If anything Erwin could confidently state that the boy was downplaying his abilities on purpose. For what reason, he did not know. This information, coupled with the fact that at every mention of the boy Levi would become visibly uncomfortable, gave further credence to his theory.
Levi refused to say why it was, leaving the commander of the scouts to conclude that Levi was aware of something he wasn't privy to. Erwin would leave him his secrets. But his issue now was how was he going to convince the Uzumaki to join the scouts? Where the boy went, the Ackerman would certainly follow. As it was, they had nothing to use to convince him. If anything the reputation the scouts had for being suicidal wasn't born from nothing and it was a mighty deterrent even to an aspiring recruit. If the reports were true and he cared about the safety of the Jaeger, Arlert, and Ackerman above all else then it would not make sense for them to join a regiment that so regularly danced with death.
Another thing that had interested him however was the matter of how the host of the Ackerman had changed, if it had even ever been the Jaeger boy to begin with. That was very relevant information to him. It would be detrimental if one day Levi was suddenly loyal to another person that did not share his vision.
Levi had reassured him however that it was incredibly unlikely. He had described the feeling as a biological imperative that they reacted to, not a conscious thing they could just decide on one day and then randomly seek to change their host. Even Levi didn't really know what bonded an Ackerman to a host after all aside from the knowledge that his body told him to. He couldn't claim to know what happened with the Ackerman in the 104th because he himself hadn't experienced a change in host, if it was even possible.
That reassurance meant a lot considering that the man in question was his most useful tool. While the scouts were mostly pawns on the board, with a select few officers, Levi was the Queen. As humanity's strongest he could be nothing less, although for some reason Levi had always persisted that there was another man who could claim that title should he wish. Frankly Erwin didn't believe that.
But back to the matter at hand, Levi usually didn't interrupt unless something was bothering him. And it took a lot to bother the man, aside from filth of course.
"What's the matter?" Erwin asked in a calm fashion as he stopped his horse.
"Don't give me that bullshit. Why are you suddenly planning for further outposts?" Levi demanded as he brought his own horse alongside Erwin's.
The commander blinked. What kind of question was that? They had just returned from trying to set up a forward base and they had failed. It wasn't a new thing, the scouts as a whole had an abyssal track record when it came to accomplishing anything. What was wrong with that? If anything they should be planning more effective ways of defending an area from titans. They already had the long range scouting formation he had devised to minimize losses but that was only effective in getting the expedition from point A to point B.
"Because our previous expeditions have failed?" Erwin answered unsurely.
"Have you lost your mind? What happened to searching for whatever caused the damage in Trost?" Levi asked exasperatedly with a disappointed frown.
"Why? What happened in Trost?" Erwin asked, feeling very confused and left out of the loop. They had just gone through Trost and nothing had been out of place. If anything he was used to the irritated crowd of civilians that bombarded them with questions and glares every time they returned from outside the walls.
The look of annoyance on Levi's face worsened at his answer however and Erwin was seriously wondering what he had missed to rile up the shorter man so much.
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Levi sneered. "The titans attacked Trost, but something had been disposing of them and killed the armoured and colossal titans as well. Whatever it was also completely destroyed the centre of Trost. It was why we abandoned our mission on the outpost in the first place."
Now that was a cause for alarm indeed, if it had happened of course. But they had just passed through Trost. Nothing had been out of place, and Erwin would definitely remember if there had been signs of an attack. Much less with the damage that Levi was implying. But both the outer and inner gates of Trost had been untouched when they passed through moments ago. And furthermore they had encountered almost no titans on the way back. They had abandoned the outpost because they couldn't defend the area.
"Are you feeling well?" Erwin asked out of concern.
At the scathing look Levi shot him Erwin felt that maybe he should indulge the man a little more instead.
"Something is seriously wrong here," Levi muttered. "I'm not sure if it's just you. Hange!"
"Yosh!" The slightly unhinged scientist of the scouts replied sarcastically as her horse rode up to meet them.
"Erwin doesn't recall the dead colossal and armoured titans. Nor does he remember the damage in Trost." Levi immediately stated upon her arrival.
"Oh really! They're dead? Are you sure!? Where!? I must go obtain samples immediately!" Hange exclaimed with the excitement usually found in a five year old.
"You'd better not be messing with me four eyes," Levi warned as he narrowed his eyes.
"Hm? Why would I do that? You're the one who shouldn't be messing with me! Are the colossal and armoured really dead? Like really really dead?" Hange countered with her own narrowed eyes that only brightened again at the possibility of such a find.
"You already got your samples you idiot. You left them with Moblit, and you were adamant we return to them as soon as possible. You even have a shard of that indestructible crystal from inside Trost in your pocket." Levi deadpanned.
Erwin's brow furrowed in confusion when he watched Hange reach into her pocket and pull out a crystallized substance he had never seen before. The look of honest surprise on her face meant she hadn't even known it was there. He was starting to understand why Levi was suspicious all of a sudden. There was no way Levi could have known such a detailed piece of information unless he had seen Hange obtain it somehow. But why couldn't he remember any of it?
"Huh? Where did this come from?" Hange asked as she inspected the crystal closely.
And why couldn't Hange remember either for that matter?
"So whatever is going on, it isn't just affecting you." Levi said as the man looked forward thoughtfully.
"I'm afraid so," Erwin admitted. Levi was onto something. After asking a few others such as Mike and Nanaba, Erwin concluded that Levi was the only one who believed a battle had occurred within Trost. Normally one would say that Levi was going crazy, but inspection of Moblit's carriage confirmed that they had samples of titanic flesh and some of the armoured titan's golden plates. Crazy or not this sort of indisputable proof was incredibly difficult to deny.
And as the only one that remained unaffected, Erwin decided that it naturally fell to Levi to inspect and figure out what was going on. Maybe it was another Ackerman trait they were unaware of. He really had to inspect what had happened to the rest of that family.
"Levi. I want answers. We do not know what caused this, or if was a someone. We will carry on to behave as we were. You have full discretion in this task. Report back only once you are satisfied with what you find." Erwin ordered.
The way he stated those parameters would ensure Levi would get the job done. He was meticulous with details after all.
The short man nodded once and turned his horse to head back to the wall. Erwin watched him for a moment as Levi quickly scaled the wall, probably to gain a better view of the surroundings. He turned his own head and ordered the rest of the scouts to follow him back to camp to treat the injured. Once Levi returned, they would act. But for now they would have to lay low. Right now this apparent danger greatly eclipsed the titan threat, something that could collectively mess with their memories. And until they had a way to fight it they were completely and utterly helpless.
(Meanwhile)
"Where are they?" Jean asked almost to himself as he scanned the crowds of soldiers that were resting. Many of them had gathered around together behind the inner gate after their evacuation, and had only moved further away from the walls when what sounded like two enormous beasts began clashing within Trost. Nobody had even dared venture back in as they all waited near the inner gate, expecting a breach at any moment.
Jean had come a long way from the coward he had once been before entering the training camp. Sure, one reason he had entered was for him to avoid a lot of the people pestering him about his looks. But his main reason had always been to get as far away from the walls as possible. Living a comfortable life without worrying about what he was going to eat, coupled with being far away from titans and people with expectations was a another factor. But aside from being in the military police, you couldn't really get much further away from the walls than being dead centre and serving the king.
Unlike Marco he wasn't doing this out of a sense of loyalty. He had been gifted with talent and good looks, and he wasn't shy of using them to his advantage. He was aware the system was corrupt, but he hadn't cared enough as long as it served his goal.
Unfortunately for him, he had met Naruto. And that had derailed his plans somewhat. To the point where he might even join the scouts, if only to keep Eren alive. Maybe. He was still undecided whether he would go to the military police or to the scouts.
Oh they had a rough start, that couldn't be denied. But after a while and his constantly butting heads with Eren, Naruto had just sighed and decided to leave both boys to sort their differences themselves as he watched over them. Naturally this led to the two becoming friends, even if they would never admit it out loud. Apparently by Naruto's book, friends of his family were his friends to. After a while it didn't seem so bad to Jean, who wanted the barest minimum of social contact, because by proxy Naruto's protection extended to him.
For someone seeking safety and comfort, it had meant a lot. Especially when Jean couldn't find it in himself to keep his mouth shut even when he knew he had to. While people would quite happily punch him for his careless words, they would think twice around Naruto.
He vaguely recalled the day he and Eren had a fight turn physical, as he contested the idiot's idealistic views in comparison to his more pragmatic ones. He thought he had lost quite a few friendships that day as he blurted out his selfish reasons for wanting to join the military police. So it had been a surprise when Naruto had found him and sat next to him, just gazing up at the moon together until Jean had asked what he wanted.
"You're my friend. Like family, friends are important to one another. You can have many, like Eren, or very few like Mikasa. But it isn't the quantity that matters, it's the quality." The whiskered boy then turned a sincere blue gaze towards him. "And I consider you a friend. One who cares, but struggles to show it. You may not even realize you're doing this with your family that you say you want so badly to get away from. But while we may not always get along or agree, a friend is someone who's there for you in thick and thin. Right now you're worried and I can guess what it's about, but you and Eren will get over this by tomorrow, I'm sure of it. Then everything will be back to normal I promise. Just try to look at things from his point of view."
Jean held back a small smile at the thought of that encounter where Naruto had then held out a fist for him to bump. He wasn't part of their family, but he was their friend. A few weeks after that Naruto had even dragged him off to reconcile Jean with his parents and sister during a vacation. And for that he was grateful.
"Who?" Connie asked.
"Those who made sure everyone else got back over these walls idiot! Who else?" Jean snapped. Well, some things hadn't changed. Namely, his own ability to see sense whereas others were content to act like either dunderheads or idealistic dunderheads.
"Jean calm down. Now isn't the time," Marco reprimanded before turning to face Connie to clarify. "Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Temari, Ymir, Christa and maybe even Haku. They were resting when we left all of them and they aren't here."
Jean happily let Marco take over, content to let the patient boy deal with Connie before they exploded at each other. Seriously didn't Connie even consider what had happened to the others? The red haired boy sighed as he turned his gaze back to the walls. If Naruto had been right about one thing it was that achieving his dream without any friends to take alongside him would not make him happy. On that vein he had pursued friendships with people who had the capability to get ranked into the top fifteen cadets of their batch. Marco, Reiner, and Bertholdt were who he would say he was most comfortable around. Ymir, Christa, and Sasha were bearable as they didn't act like fangirls around him, and to some extent even Connie was a friend of his. And they had all made it into the top fifteen. Heck the only one who hadn't made it among their group of friends had been Armin.
"You mean they might still be in Trost with whatever's making that noise?" Connie exclaimed with wide eyes as the realization finally hit him as to why Jean had been so worried about the whereabouts of the others. "Shit!"
Jean snorted at the other cadet and instead turned his gaze to Sasha, who had her head tilted to the side as she stared at the walls.
"What's wrong with you this time?" He asked curiously. It was always fifty fifty with Sasha. Sometimes she gave out indispensable advice that was necessary to their survival with the added insight that only someone with her uprbringing would have, while at other times she'd just be airheaded and talk about something stupid that caught her attention as a socially stunted person.
"I feel like I've heard them before," Sasha muttered to almost herself in response as she remained oblivious to the incredulous looks the others were giving her at her statement.
"Care to share?" Jean asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing that one of the only ways to get Sasha to do anything was to indulge her. "Where would you even hear something like that?"
"No not this specifically. But it is similar to when we used to hunt wolves in my home forest before it was cut down for farmland," Sasha replied absentmindedly. "It's the sound that a cornered animal makes when it is finally trapped and has no other choice but to fight. There's no way for it to be safe or feel safe until whatever makes it feel like it's in danger is gone."
"But they're all just stupid titans, right?" Connie asked suspiciously. "And what exactly would scare mindless titans anyways? We're the only ones that even interact with them and that's because they want to eat us."
If there was one thing Jean kept Connie around for, it was for asking questions that Jean had to stuff he wanted to know about but didn't feel like asking himself.
Sasha just gave a non committal shrug in response. "I don't know. But whatever is going on in there is stopping the armoured from breaking the inner gate. So as long as the battle remains between them and not us it is none of our concern."
"Do you think maybe the armoured is fighting with another titan like him?" Connie suggested after a little thought. "Maybe that's why it's distracted. I mean we did hear the bell so that means someone saw it."
"You may be right," Jean said begrudgingly as he pondered about the entire situation, although the more he thought about it something had been nagging at him for the whole day, even more than their currently missing comrades.
"Come to think of it though, don't any of you find it weird that Naruto is missing? I mean with his stupid daddy complex you'd think he would at least have been there with us. Where the heck is he?" Jean asked as he turned to the others.
He mulled over the thought for a while, ignoring whatever the others were doing. After everything Naruto had taught him about family and friends, he hadn't seen even one glance of the golden haired boy for the entire day. In his musing he almost failed to notice that the deafening cacophony of noise in Trost had all but died down.
"How long has it been silent?" Jean asked when he finally realized it.
"For a bit now," Sasha replied as she plopped herself down onto the rooftop. "That means one or more of those very noisy titans is gone."
"Yeah tell me about it," a voice grunted as he landed on the group near to them with a companion. "And don't worry. They're gone. We're sure."
"Reiner! Bertholdt!" Connie shouted excitedly.
"You guys look like shit. Where the heck have you two been?" Jean asked bluntly.
"Yeah, and we haven't seen you guys since we all got briefed. Where were you assigned?" Marco asked politely.
"We were vanguard on the left side," Reiner admitted with a tired sigh. "Bert got knocked unconscious when a titan grabbed at his cables and he hit a building. I stayed near him and tried to keep us both alive when the rest of the group got eaten."
"Woah woah wait. So you mean you were in there with the crazy titans making all that noise?" Connie yelled in disbelief. "No fricking way! How was it? What did they look like? Was it really the armoured?"
Reiner and Bertholdt shared a look, something which Jean narrowed his eyes at. He had known them for quite a while now, and they occasionally had that look between each other that they shared and it made Jean's hair stand on end for reasons he couldn't explain. He had known they were hiding something and respected their privacy, but he hated that he wasn't privy to what was going on between them.
"In a way…" Reiner admitted reluctantly.
"Shut up, you're starting to sound like a twelve year old girl Connie." Jean scolded immediately, having noticed that Connie was bothering his two friends. If they did just survive that experience they may have even been traumatized by it and Connie was being very inconsiderate. If there was one thing they could rely on, it was that Jean wouldn't hold back his tongue to call anyone out on what he thought was wrong. That included Naruto.
"I bet they didn't even see anything. Bert probably played dead while Reiner was just so terrified he hid the entire time until it became quiet," Jean snickered.
"Glad to see you were so concerned we got out alive," Reiner grumbled back with a playful glare at the redhead.
"Hey guys, can you spare me a bit of your attention?" A hooded figure interrupted as he landed on the roof next to them.
Aside from Jean, who had gotten used to it sometime over the years, the group collectively flinched away from the sudden appearance of the man. He hadn't so much as landed on the roof of the three storey building using the gear, rather he was just suddenly there alongside them. It was a habit Naruto had developed and liked using to surprise whomever he had to talk to. He only did it with his close friends however, and it made Jean smile a little that he was counted as one of those.
"I need you all to sit," the distorted voice requested as it gestured towards the roof tiles. Jean complied without complaint, drawing confused glances from the others as they were aware Jean didn't like being told what to do. In response he shot them a smirk which he knew would infuriate them, simply because it implied he knew something they didn't. In this case it was true however, he seemed to have been to only one who caught on to the hooded figure's identity.
"Why should we trust you?" Connie demanded suspiciously as he studied the fishy looking man in a hood. He didn't remember much of what his parents taught him, but not talking with strangers was one of the few that somehow stuck.
This time Jean outright laughed, drawing Connie's ire onto him at the process. "Dude, what's with the getup? Just show yourself already before Connie runs back to mama!"
"That's it! Come-"
"Sometimes I really think Eren's hotheadedness is infectious," the hooded man chuckled as he raised his hood slightly to reveal his identity and the rest of the group gasped at the sight of the golden haired boy with whisker marks and cerulean eyes.
Reiner on the other hand flinched quite visibly, instantly drawing the concern of the others. It looked almost as if a titan had suddenly appeared before him and he wanted to be anywhere else than where they were at the moment.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at broad shouldered boy with a puzzled expression.
"Dude what's wrong with you?" Jean asked. "It's just Naruto."
"Y-yeah. You just startled me, that's all." Reiner chuckled sheepishly. "Why are you being all sneaky though?"
He was lying, straight through his teeth. And the glance Naruto shot Jean showed that the whiskered boy had noticed it as well but wasn't going to press it at the moment. It was strange seeing someone such as Reiner, who was viewed as confident and reliable, behave something like Armin used to.
"Anyways, what's with all the secrecy?" Jean started once again once the silence had gone on long enough to become awkward.
Naruto shook his head as he returned to the topic at hand, "I'll tell all of you, but I really need you guys to sit for this. It might take a while."
After a few confused glances at one another, they all followed suit as they arranged themselves into a rather wide circle on the roof and readied themselves for whatever Naruto had to say. They were interrupted however by the heavy sound of the inner gate opening and despite themselves they turned and glanced to face the gates in alarm.
"Oi, what the hell do they think they're doing opening the gate!" Connie yelled as he shot to his feet in horror. He wasn't the only one, almost every soldier on their side of the wall rose either to fight or flee.
They breathed out in relief however when they noticed that it was the scout regiment, returning from a mission they had left on earlier to establish an outpost.
"That means the titan threat really is over for now right?" Marco asked.
"Well the garrison wouldn't have opened the gates if there was a risk of titans getting through, and the scouts probably cleared out any titans that remained otherwise they wouldn't enter through the gate. So it probably explains the silence after the fight Sasha said happened and the titans must have all left anyways," Jean murmured. He glanced at Naruto and the golden haired boy gave him a slight nod to acknowledge his conclusion.
"Whew what a day!" Sasha laughed cheerfully as fell onto her back and laughed as she stared up at the sky. "I'm hungry! What do you think is for dinner tonight to celebrate?"
"Titans just ate a ton of us and the first thing that comes to your mind is food?" Jean said as he made a disgusted face. "You're practically a titan yourself."
"Mutton meat, maybe some beef! Oh those are only for the highest class! But we deserve a reward for fighting so hard for today right!? Oh some juicy meat! Not just soup or potatoes and bread!"
"Sasha stop talking!" Connie wailed as his stomach began to rumble. "We know we aren't getting any of that and you're just building our hopes for nothing!"
"Guys, Naruto wanted to tell us something!" Marco sighed tiredly as the two of them began to bicker.
Jean just rolled his eyes until he noticed that Reiner and Bertholdt were being unnaturally quiet. While it wasn't too strange of Bertholdt, Reiner was usually boisterous no matter the situation and was only outdone in energy by Eren. So for them to be fidgeting and uncomfortable was something new, and he would've attributed it to being trapped with whatever those beasts were. But they weren't like this earlier. It had only started once they caught sight of Naruto. Jean did not understand however, Naruto hadn't even shown his face for the whole day and not to mention they had been friends with Naruto even before Jean. If anything they should be more comfortable around him than Jean was.
"Hey, does anyone else hear a flute?" Connie asked suddenly.
"I'm surprised you even know what a flute is," Jean replied almost instantly. He didn't even have to think about the response as it shot itself out of his mouth before he realized it. On that vein however he couldn't hear said flute, but before he could laugh at Connie for hearing things Jean noticed that everyone around him was looking around them, as if searching for a similar thing.
Then his eyes landed on Naruto who had his own eyes narrowed in annoyance at something.
"This entire evacuation drill is so taxing. I just wanna go home already!" Connie sighed tiredly.
"Evacuation drill?" Jean asked dumbly when it became clear no one else was going to ask. "Is it just me or did he just say we had an evacuation drill? Because I'm pretty sure those were real titans Connie. This isn't funny."
"Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed again?" Connie asked with a frown at Jean.
"I think maybe he's just convincing himself it was more than just evacuation. You know, to make it seem more exciting and all that. Today was very boring so maybe if it was a battle and we lost some friends it would make it seem more interesting. Kind of like role playing." Marco butted in with a polite smile at Connie before he turned to Jean reassuringly. "Right, Jean?"
"Are you kidding me? All we did was watch people slowly file out of Trost and wait until we got signaled that the drill was over. I mean look at them waiting over there!" Reiner laughed as he pointed at the civilians they had evacuated from Trost near the ships. "How does anyone find fun in that? Everyone here was bored! You should have told me about your role playing Jean so I could've joined in to make this more interesting!"
Jean narrowed his eyes at his friend. All traces of uneasiness were now suddenly missing from Reiner's body language. He didn't care what anyone said, that kind of body language change didn't suddenly happen.
"Heck if you'd have told Naruto over here he definitely would've made it interesting!" Reiner bellowed again as he dropped a large arm over Naruto's shoulder with a grin.
Jean was mildly relieved when he noticed that Naruto was also visibly unsettled by the sudden development in all of the others.
"You're not affected?" Naruto asked immediately when their eyes met.
"You mean like these other retards saying today didn't happen? No. What just happened?" Jean responded just as quickly. Whatever had happened, he really hoped he wasn't going crazy. For a moment he had thought he was the only one.
"It happened after they mentioned that flute," Naruto added thoughtfully as he pried Reiner's arm of him and playfully shoved the larger man into Connie.
"I didn't hear it," Jean said with a thoughtful look. "But everyone else sure looked like they did."
Jean scowled at the intense gaze Naruto shot him.
"If there's something wrong with me can you just say it?" Jean demanded in an irritated manner. That cerulean gaze could really become unsettling.
"Have you ever meddled in anything resembling mind control or mind defense?" Naruto asked seriously.
"No." Jean said with a flat look. "Never heard of them. Literally the closest thing I can relate to mind thingy is when I pissed off Eren over something and he yelled at me."
"What did he say?" Naruto asked seriously as he drew Jean to the side. The others looked on in interest for a moment before they left Jean and Naruto alone to talk.
"Why does that matter? It was few years back and I can't really remember." Jean muttered back before the dots connected in his mind. "Don't tell me that's what's going on here. Someone's messing with our minds!"
"Shhh quiet down!" Naruto hushed him before Jean felt himself hauled into an alleyway where Naruto did something with his hands and wrote something on the wall next to them.
"What was that?" Jean asked stupidly. He was used to Naruto being mysterious, but this was directly affecting him and if someone was messing with minds he really wanted to know.
"It's a privacy seal. No sound gets out of this area for a while so you can feel free to shout now if you want." The whiskered boy answered quickly as he took of his hood and stared Jean right in the eyes. "Now what did he say?"
Jean ignored the strangeness of something that seemed like magic in favour of the order he had been given. When Naruto ordered something, he was going to get it.
"I can't remember what we were arguing about or what he said exactly. But it was something along the lines of 'you're so stubborn nothing can get through your thick faced horse skull'," Jean complied with a slight grimace. Okay so maybe he did remember exactly what Eren had said.
Naruto sighed heavily then chuckled to himself. "Yeah, that would probably do it."
"Do what?"
"Well first of all what happened up there to the others is something known as genjutsu in my language. In clearer terms, it's an illusion. I sensed it and got rid of it on myself, but I can't do anything much for you guys to dispel it since I'm just a clone and this would require more chakra than I have at the moment." Naruto explained.
"Yeah you lost me," Jean admitted. Illusions? Clones? What was even going on? It would explain the sudden change in behavior of the others however, but that didn't mean that he understood it.
The golden haired boy sighed. "Okay maybe I got a little too ahead of myself. A better start is, my family and I have… abilities… so to speak that operate a little beyond comprehension. And this has a lot to do with it. Eren may have accidentally given you a particular immunity to being mind controlled for instance."
Jean was aware of the very disbelieving glance on his face and the Naruto clone rolled his eyes at him before Jean bore witness to someone summoning fire to their hands.
"A little more ready to believe?" The clone asked with a raised eyebrow and a teasing grin before it seemed to realize something. "Ugh, there was the easier way I was gonna use on all of you earlier. Jean, sit."
With that tone of order Jean found his body moving before his mind could catch up. He tilted his head slightly when he caught sight of Naruto then making strange formations with his hands and the world around him faded away, reforming into one of their rooms at the male dorms with Naruto seated cross legged in front of him.
"What the-" Jean exclaimed with wide eyes as his eyes darted from side to side. It was almost like he had been teleported.
"I picked this place so you'd be more comfortable. It's like one of those late night talks we use to have with the guys. And before you ask, yes. This is also an illusion both to help me explain things with visual aids and to help me convince you that there are things going on that you wouldn't believe. Though I guess you are still susceptible to some illusions, but I guess it's because this one isn't really affecting your brain in any way." Naruto shrugged as he tossed Jean a pillow to lean on. "And no I didn't just teleport us. If I could have done that I would have been in Trost way sooner."
"Well. This whole thing is already a mess. Try me," Jean shrugged back. The concept of normality had already been thrown out the window a while back and he needed something to help him come to grips with this entire mess. People didn't just forget things, especially a war with titans, just because of hearing some random flute. And people weren't able to make privacy seals, whatever the heck those did, or make the male dorms appear out of nowhere either. Frankly if whatever Naruto said was believable it wouldn't be hard to convince him.
"I'm not what you would call ordinary. Neither are those I call my family," Naruto replied as the other boy made himself comfortable.
He raised a hand to stall any further questions from Jean as he instead began to project images in front of them. In it, Jean witnessed memories of Armin with healing techniques that looked like magic as his hands glowed green, healing a wound Haku had inflicted on herself so that he would be able to practice. Seeing the flesh knit itself back together was both unsettling but very reassuring. This was followed by a moving projection of Mikasa somehow summoning water out of thin air, controlling it into different shapes which were used to different effects. In a surreal way it was almost like the water was bending to her will. She wasn't the only element bender apparently as Naruto himself gave a brief demonstration of fire and lightning.
Jean was taking it all in rather well so far, and he was stupefied but it but it was something he could wrap his mind around at least. What he couldn't take calmly however, was when Naruto manifested the biggest shock to him when he displayed Annie and Eren shifting into their titan forms.
Healing wounds, crafting illusions and bending the elements was one thing. But for ordinary humans to be turning into these monsters? These enemies of humanity? This just broke a dam and opened up a whole slew of other questions into Jean's head as he struggled to comprehend the entirety of this. Were all humans titans? Was he a titan? Were all titans human? Of course, Naruto could be lying about all of it but Jean couldn't see a reason why he would. If anything Naruto had sought them out for a reason, but for what? The only reason the others weren't getting this same information was because an outside party had interfered.
"Yup. I'm dreaming," Jean concluded. "Either that or I've lost my mind."
The world had been so much easier earlier that morning. Wake up, do a bit of wall duty and then retire to bed. He would then claim his right to enter the military police as a top graduate and then proceed to live out his life as far away from titans as possible. Because titans were an enemy they could do nothing against. But now this? What worried Jean most aside from people suddenly turning into titans or others flinging magic was how easily other people could mess with his head. Were his thoughts even still his own?
"You at least, don't have to worry about that." Naruto interrupted. Jean shot him a look with narrowed eyes. He hadn't been thinking out aloud.
"This is a mental space Jean. Both of us can affect it with our thoughts, but I'm still in charge so we won't get carried away. Either way you're thinking really loudly. But as I was saying I don't think you have to worry. You see, one of Eren's powers which we don't understand yet is that he can activate abilities in others. We have no idea how it works, but somehow he must have made you immune to any and all forms of mind control. Maybe it was an inherent ability or maybe he granted it to you we don't know. But I suspect this is why you didn't hear the flute the others heard." The whiskered boy continued.
Jean felt himself relax slightly at the admission, though he was rather miffed that he had Eren of all people to thank for this. He shook his head as he tried to put all of this new information aside, Jean decided to get straight to the point of this meeting since this clone of Naruto had said it didn't have too much time. He could meditate more on what he learned later on.
"Why are you showing me this?" Jean asked. "You don't act without a reason, especially not in revealing something like this. You could have kept it all a secret, though I suspect you didn't show me everything."
Naruto grinned at him. "Of course I didn't show you everything, just what I felt like you needed to know. My family and I are capable of far more, I'll leave it at that."
"That's fair," Jean muttered. He had gotten a glimpse of Mikasa with blood red eyes earlier and had assumed it was a trick of the light, but he wasn't so sure anymore and he didn't really want to find out.
"Anyways back on topic. I came to you guys because during this battle of Trost I have discovered some information that greatly affects all of us," Naruto admitted. "You saw what happened with Eren and Annie. I have reason to believe the colossal titan and the armoured titan are shifters as well, though I don't know where from. But aside from them there are enemies from outside the walls as well, kind of like me. Sasuke's group? Yeah they're bad news. And I plan on speaking with them about it. But more than that, what we know of these walls or what happens within them is all one elaborate lie. This illusion making everyone think there was no battle in Trost is an example. It's unsettling me that there's something going on in these walls that I know nothing about, and we need to find out what."
"Then why me?" Jean attempted to clarify with a confused expression. "You seem very well equipped to handle pretty much anything."
"Aside from the fact that you're my friend and I can trust you, I don't have much of a choice. Especially now that apparently you may be the only one immune to this whole mess. But I can't be everywhere at once and I'm better equipped to search for answers outside these walls than you are." Naruto replied honestly.
Jean merely nodded, he would arrive at the same conclusion as well.
"This wasn't what I had in mind though," Naruto continued when he noticed that Jean didn't want to interrupt. "Originally I had planned to use the opportunity to pretend that my family and I had perished in the battle, and for that I would need to ask you guys to be witnesses of our deaths so we would be free to move around. But we need a different excuse now obviously, considering everyone thinks today didn't happen and so if a bunch of us went missing-"
"Wait, but I thought you said that we had enemies inside the walls as well? If you're leaving to study what's going on out there, are you abandoning us?" Jean blurted out with wide eyes when the thought struck, unintentionally interrupting Naruto in the process but he couldn't help it. Yes they needed a new plan, but he sure didn't want to be left within the walls if there was something dangerous in here. To be fair now that he knew the Uzumaki family had powers and two of them could turn into actual titans, he would take his chances with them. Rather than go up against an enemy he couldn't see and would have to tackle alone.
"No I'm not abandoning you. You're my friend," Naruto scowled with an affronted look. "And yes I have a family that takes priority, but friends are still very important to me."
"Sorry if that came out wrong," Jean apologized quickly, silently cursing his quick mouth.
The whiskered boy lessened his glare a moment later.
"Don't worry about it. But as I was saying anyways, we know very little about what goes on within these walls, and for your sake we need to find out what. Simply put, I need a spy. My clones don't last forever and may get dispelled by an accident. Furthermore they do not have the paperwork assigned with real identities. You graduated among the top fifteen and will definitely be recruited, especially after the 'loss' of some of us. Something is going on inside these walls and even with my abilities I could never actually infiltrate the innermost region of Wall Sina. I've been trying for a few years now. You will have access there as part of the military police, and can find out more than I ever could. If anyone's gonna unravel this, it's gonna be you." Naruto explained.
"I can see why I get this job then," Jean admitted. "But this is going to be really hard to pull off alone. I don't think I can do it."
"And I understand that too," Naruto comforted with a smile. "It's asking a lot, but this affects you in a different way. Whatever the system in these walls is, I came across reason to believe we are all being kept like lab rats in a cage for some reason or other. All of our friends live in these walls, your family as well because you don't have a choice with titans out there. Can you rest easy knowing that they are all going to be easily manipulated and used without even knowing for what? If anything you're the only one with any idea there is something wrong."
Jean's eyes hardened at the mention of his family and what few friends he had. He didn't always have the best of relationships with his parents who had wanted him to become a farmer, or his little sister who wanted so much of his attention. But after Naruto had forced him to visit them and had tagged along, Jean could now understand them and he no longer hated them. His parents just wanted him to be near them, and his sibling had been lonely. They also then understood that he if he got a job within the walls, his salary would be able to help them live more comfortably. Although admittedly that had been the reason Naruto had thought up for him as an excuse.
To leave them at the mercy of something they didn't understand left a sour feeling in his mouth.
This was only added on when he thought of Marco, who honestly wanted to serve the king. If Naruto was right, then that faith and loyalty was unwarranted and misplaced. Imagining those innocent eyes dreaming of serving something that would use them as lab rats made him feel sick. To make matters worse he had seen it earlier, when Reiner had been transformed from someone fidgety back to his usual loud self. His friends were completely at the mercy of whoever was pulling the strings, and completely unaware. If he could do something about it, he wouldn't let this continue.
"Now that's a look I like to see." Naruto laughed, drawing his attention back to the whiskered boy. "The motivation to protect what's precious to you no matter the cost, I can respect that."
Jean nodded once at the acknowledgement, feeling like he understood Naruto a little better now. The sense of responsibility he now felt over their lives couldn't just be dismissed that easily. Maybe that was why Naruto had found it so easy to form his family. Or maybe he could have just been gathering those people who had powers.
"Hey, no. I can still hear your surface thoughts and for your information they developed those long after we established the family," Naruto said with a deadpan look. "Can't you have a little faith in me?"
"You've got more than enough faith in you from your family," Jean shot back with a smirk.
Naruto rolled his eyes with a smile and the two boys settled down into a comfortable silence, staring at the small fire that was burning in the fireplace.
"There is an entire world outside of these walls Jean. On a scale we can't even begin to imagine. Enormous civilizations and entire countries that completely dwarf the walled territories in size. They are so big our entire territory is like a small region within their countries. Can you imagine the space and freedom they experience? Aren't you curious why we are being kept like lab rats here and why only we suffer this plague of mindless titans?" Naruto said with unfocused eyes, as he began to unconsciously imagine the world outside from the books they had been read and some of Annie's memories.
Jean could only watch in star struck awe as the images in Naruto's mind flitted across in front of him as he lost himself in them as well. It was all like a marvelous dream.
"So we find out more about this world together then?" Jean asked thoughtfully after a few moments more of enjoying the scenery.
"Yes, in a way. This is Armin's dream actually, to visit all these places. And the best part is while we're at it, you get to fulfill your dream of getting into the Military Police." Naruto smirked with a teasing glint in his cerulean eyes.
"Low blow dude," Jean replied with a disappointed look at the other boy. He was slightly miffed at how his dream was in fact rather silly in comparison to Armin's. In a way Jean found he could understand Eren better as well, this really was something to fight for.
"I feel like I escaped this stupid titan threat only to get thrown into another thing entirely," Jean sighed after a moment. "But I agree with you that something has to be done. And you didn't have to do this for us either. You could have just left and disappeared without bothering, so thank you." He said sincerely.
Naruto just shrugged in response. "Well I could still do that to escape all this trouble," he said thoughtfully.
"Jerk," Jean said as they shared a laugh. "But if you're really leaving the walls, where will you go? And how will I contact you?"
"We don't know yet, but it doesn't matter right now. The world outside is massive and we could end up anywhere really," Naruto replied honestly. "But anyways I have an advanced piece of paper I've been working on for a while now. Its predecessor required chakra molded to activate it, but I've made it in a way so that anything written on this page is transferred to its sister sheet which is on my person and vice versa. I'd explain it in further detail but it may just fly over your head."
"I said it once, and I'll say it again. You're a jerk. Eren definitely got it from you."
"Just shut up and listen," Naruto laughed as he sat next to Jean to show him how it worked.
It was almost like a small blackboard and a mirror combined. Anything that was written down on one paper appeared directly onto the other sheet, practically identical to one another. The only downside was if one side rubbed out their message before the other side was able to read it then the information would be lost. But Naruto clarified that they could work around this issue by only rubbing out a message once it was acknowledged from the other side.
"Okay that is really cool," Jean admitted after a while. Working it was simple enough to remember, and it was a reliable way to transmit information.
"So, are you on board?" Naruto asked seriously.
"Yeah, I'm in. You didn't really leave me with much choice," Jean said with a laugh.
"That's great then," Naruto said as his shoulders sagged with relief, "Because I'm almost out of chakra and I'm gonna dispel in a bit."
"Woah what? Wait a minute what do you mean dispel?" Jean asked in alarm. The male dormitory around them vanished, leaving both boys back in the alleyway sitting across from each other.
"I'm just a clone remember?" Naruto said with a grin. "Don't worry, I'm still all me. But my only purpose was to find you guys so I wasn't given all that much energy to stay for long. The boss is out there getting the others somewhere safe, and I don't know if you'll see each other in person again anytime soon. But keep in touch Jean, laters." The clone said as it handed him the scroll of rolled up paper that they would use to contact each other.
As soon as Jean accepted it the clone grinned once more at him and gave a half salute before it popped into a burst of smoke as if it had never been there. Jean looked around him for any further sign of it, finding none. In fact he may have convinced himself he was dreaming if he wasn't holding something undeniably physical in his hand that he didn't have earlier.
He made his way back onto the roof to find the rest of the group still in relatively high spirits that the 'evacuation' was almost over and they would be free to relax. Jean just gripped onto the scroll tighter before he hid it inside his uniform. He would find out what was causing all of this and find a way to get the out of it.
"Where's Naruto? You guys were gone for a while." Reiner asked as he acknowledged Jean's return.
"He ran off to look for Mikasa," Jean replied automatically. He momentarily wondered if the mention of the girl's name would somehow bring back their memories.
"Oh, usually it's the other way around." Reiner laughed as the others joined in.
Jean grit his teeth and ignored them, instead looking up at the massive wall. There was one last piece of evidence that he had to check to prove something was off. Trost had suffered significant damage throughout the day after all, and that wasn't something one could easily hide. Memories could be changed or taken away, but damage to a city?
"I'm going to check something," Jean said seriously as he ran towards the wall without bothering to check if they would follow. This was more to satiate his curiousity than theirs. If they followed and saw a damaged Trost and had their memories restored then so be it.
The others shared confused glances with each other as they watched him go.
At the top of the wall a few moments later, Jean couldn't help but gape at the sight before him. There was Trost. And it was untouched. He had been expecting destruction, and titan skeletons at least. But even the outer gate that had been demolished by the colossal titan remained intact as if nothing had happened at all.
He pressed the scroll inside his chest tighter. Naruto was right. Something was seriously wrong here, and whatever it was he needed to find out what.
First things first however, he could no longer pretend that Naruto and his siblings had died in an attack that apparently didn't happen. They would need another excuse. But Jean would deal with that later. He knew his memories of earlier today had been real. He had engaged in combat with actual titans and had witnessed a few comrades get eaten. How were those deaths going to be explained? What was even going on?
"So I'm not the only one. That's good."
Jean turned to the voice of the short man who had appeared beside him and took a step back almost out of reflex. "Captain Levi? From the scouts?"
"At least one of us knows each other," the man said sarcastically and Jean found himself heavily unsettled by the much shorter man's gaze.
"Jean Kirstein. 104th Cadet batch sir!" He immediately said with a salute, placing his fist over his heart, although idly he wondered what worth the salute was. He was supposed to be giving his heart to the king with this salute, but he was already going against that to unravel this mystery.
The man known as humanity's strongest thankfully turned his dead gaze away from Jean and instead looked out over Trost with a frown of distaste on his face.
"I assume you're up here as well because everyone is saying this place wasn't as destroyed as it obviously was when I passed through it earlier?" Levi said in a way which left Jean unsure whether the man was making a statement or a question.
"Yes sir," he settled for answering as he too surveyed the unblemished city. "And I fought in the vanguard as well earlier today."
"Do you know why we're both unaffected by this obvious tampering? It could easily us both being the crazy ones, but I have evidence to believe otherwise." Levi continued.
"My friend had a theory," Jean admitted slightly carelessly.
"Friend? So you're not the only one unaffected? Where is this other person?" Levi asked immediately, the urgency in his voice not lost on Jean.
"Why?" Jean immediately snapped back out of reflex. It was an automatic response he hadn't completely done away with yet. If someone used a particular tone with him he threw it back. The only man who had consistently gotten away with it had been Shadis, and that had only been because Jean learned to associate snapping back at the man with extra work as punishment.
Although in this case he realized he couldn't just blindly trust anyone anymore. As someone positioned high in the scouts Levi could potentially be an enemy who knew the secret, and maybe was even tracking down anyone unaffected so he could kill them. His slip of the tongue earlier already put Naruto in danger, and he wasn't about to repeat that blindly.
"Because I need as many of us as I can find," Levi snapped back in return. "Everyone suddenly lost their memories after hearing a fucking flute and luckily I convinced Commander Erwin to let me find out what's happening. So the more of you there are the better, so we can get to the bottom of this. Because I don't know about you, but being controlled like this makes me feel violent."
Okay maybe the man had a point and wasn't entirely an enemy. He seemed genuinely very disturbed by whatever what was happening, and Jean could see the benefit of having such an ally to help him. Aside from no longer being alone, having access to the scouting regiment and their knowledge was a bonus. He wasn't about to put all his cards on the table however, but maybe he could give an olive branch. He couldn't just name drop Naruto though. Then again, Naruto did say they were going to leave the walls, and was therefore safe from whatever repercussion this could have. But still there was no reason to risk the name.
"Thomas Wagner," Jean said simply. The boy was a good kid, but he wasn't close to Jean and if anything should happen he wouldn't feel too bad about it.
Levi narrowed his eyes even further at Jean. "Liar," he accused.
"Wha-"
"Do you think I'm an idiot and can't tell when people are lying brat? If what you're saying was true that there is someone else and it wasn't just you diverting attention away from yourself, the most likely I would believe would be your batchmates Ackerman or Uzumaki." Levi snarled as he made his way towards Jean and lifted him by the shirt.
Despite his size the man was unbelievably strong. Looks were indeed deceiving.
Jean realized however that he had given the man a hint he probably shouldn't have when the man dropped him a moment later with a stoic expression instead of his furious one.
"I saw the expression on your face," Levi said, "This other unaffected friend of yours, it was Uzumaki wasn't it?"
"How did you even deduce that?" Jean asked stupefied. So much for keeping that a secret.
"Aside from you admitting it now, he and I are well acquainted. I guess you could even say we were friends once, though I am unsure now." The man said with a frown. "Can I meet with him?"
"I'll have to ask him that sometime later. He isn't here at the moment." Jean answered. It was the truth anyways so he didn't have a lie there, and he couldn't really pretend to deny it anymore. Though he did feel rather stupid for admitting it was Naruto like an amateur. What he didn't mention was how exactly he was going to contact Naruto, preferring to keep that secret for as long as he was able. Naruto didn't just abandon friends, and if Levi had done something to warrant Naruto cutting ties with him then Jean was already uncomfortable with him.
"That's reasonable," Levi admitted with obvious disappointment before his head snapped to the side as something caught his eye. Without another word Levi grabbed Jean and hauled him off in a direction.
"Shut up and follow me," Levi ordered seriously to stop Jean from wasting time protesting as the boy struggled. "I think I found our first clue."
The shorter man pointed and Jean noticed a woman emerge from one of the houses in Trost. She glanced around her for a moment before she began sprinting at inhuman speeds towards the breach and then begin to run up the vertical wall to meet three others.
Obvious Naruto level abilities aside, Jean knew why Levi had been so interested in her. She had been carrying a flute.
Jean followed him willingly after that.
(A while earlier)
Tayuya wasn't someone unaccustomed to fear. She used to have to brave it during every waking moment of her life. Even for someone born into the Underworld she had been dealt a harsh hand, forced to fend for herself for as long as she could remember in a world run by thieves, murderers, rapists, gangs, and just about all of humanity's most vile creations.
Naturally that had hardened her to the point where not a lot fazed her. Death and mutilated bodies were common place. Even her boyish attitude was merely a result of all that she had gone through, and it was a defensive habit she had adopted for her own safety. A young girl in that harsh environment did not last very long. A young boy, with numerous kills, on the other hand was someone who could earn the protection of a gang after a while. Reputation was everything. The façade had been easy to hold up until she had hit puberty, and by then people had begun to notice she was woman no matter how hard she tried to hide it. She had then been forced to branch off on her own, simply avoiding everyone that she could and stealing what she needed to stay alive while killing anyone who tried to go after her. Luckily it was no one high profile, there were monsters in that place she stood no chance against.
Then she had found Kin, a girl whom she had adopted as a little sister. Tayuya had found the girl as the sole survivor of a gang war where one side had thoroughly demolished the other. It had gotten harder for her to stay out of trouble from then onward, but having company was worth the trouble.
Things got better from then however, after a run in with Baku. Luckily for her and Kin, the rumours of him murdering senselessly were false. He still disposed of many who got on his wrong side, just like anyone else. But many of those people he had 'killed' had actually been hidden in a place that nobody would be able to find on their own, safe from virtually anything. It was almost like magic. The place was something he had termed a 'shelter'. But although they were honoured to have been offered a place, Tayuya and Kin had declined because they doubted they would fit in and preferred to rely on themselves. Baku had respected their request and wished them well, and the fact that Baku had left them alive made it easier for the two girls. Reputation was everything, and nobody was sure whether the two girls alive because they were under his protection, or if they had fought him off. Frankly people were afraid of either option.
Unfortunately things hadn't gone well for very long. Kin had ended up contracting an illness that they couldn't treat, and the ones they could go to had no idea what was wrong with her either.
It was the only reason why she was here above ground after all, and running a task as part of an elite squad known as the Four Gatekeepers of Orochimaru. She hated the manipulative man who reeked of something unnatural and Tayuya would have never associated herself with him otherwise, much less work for him. But he could keep Kin alive. Much more than that he was working on permanent cure, and in exchange for this Tayuya had to offer her service. She was a new addition to the group, with the previous Gatekeeper having been promoted to a Fang.
It wasn't her real body running alongside her team on the way to Trost however, just an illusion of herself. She didn't trust them. In fact she didn't trust anyone save for Kin, and maybe Baku. Her illusion was subtle enough that they didn't notice a member of theirs was in fact running far behind them.
In the lead was their squad leader, Sakon of the Western Gates. He had a second head sticking out from behind his neck, and Tayuya was aware it was his brother Ukon. She didn't know much about how they fought, but Sakon had bragged about knowing a plethora of ninjutsu aside from the fact that he could split into two people and merge with other people's bodies for whatever reason. He was a sadistic son of a bitch with a vengeful streak hard to match. If someone annoyed him, he wouldn't rest until the guy was dead, and not after torture of some kind. Then he would mutilate their bodies for the fun of it.
The six armed freak on the other hand, Kidomaro of the Eastern Gates, was partially sane. She didn't like him partially because of his relation to spiders. Everything in his fighting style revolved around spiders in some way. From vomiting threads to use as wire, or hardening the threads into weapons, or even summoning spiders. Not to mention eight limbs. Though she had to admit he was incredibly versatile and intelligent. He loved to play games with what he deemed his prey. And they were sadistic games, but Tayuya couldn't deny that they were brutally efficient and in the end he usually managed to dissect everything there was to know about an opponent. The biggest thing she hated about him however was his habit of taking home trophies, which were usually whatever was left of his opponent that he wrapped in a transparent silk cocoon to preserve them.
The last member of their group, Jirobo of the Southern Gates, was a giant. Not large enough to be called a titan, but at eight feet tall he was taller than almost every other human Tayuya had ever seen. Added to the fact that he could grow even bigger, it wasn't hard to believe that he could throw mountains. He was usually quiet spoken, but like the rest of her teammates he had sadistic streak a mile wide. Added to that he loved to drain people of their energy completely until they were dried out husks, then he would cannibalize on the body for good measure.
Tayuya wouldn't deny that she had a mean streak herself, but that stemmed from the fact that she didn't like to lose. Losing in the Underworld meant you were either raped or killed and naturally her current teammates had her on edge. But that wasn't what was scaring her.
"I can't sense it anymore. Whatever the fuck it was, it's fucking gone." Tayuya said seriously as they sprinted across the ground at speeds slightly faster than horses.
This was one reason Orochimaru had hunted her specifically in the Underworld. Aside from the reputation she had obtained as a powerful fighter, mostly due to Baku and her illusions, he had needed a gifted sensor to make it easier to track his targets or experiments whenever the rare one broke free. But her current issue was that the sickening beacon of energy that had been emanating off of Trost in massive waves had suddenly blinked out of existence, as if it had never been there in the first place. And that fact scared her more than the disgusting presence itself. Orochimaru had a presence just as vile and sickening on a good day after all.
No, what worried her was how it had disappeared from her senses so thoroughly and suddenly. Nothing just disappeared, especially something as sickeningly powerful as that.
"Maybe your sensor's broken?" Sakon snickered from up front, joined in by Kidomaro.
"The fuck are you shitheads laughing at? You, fucking spiderboy, how the fuck would you feel if your wires told you that you caught something massive then it disappeared without snapping a thread?" Tayuya snapped.
"A lady really shouldn't be-"
"Shut it you fucking fatass, I wasn't asking you." Tayuya snarled, silencing Jirobo instantly.
"Oh, okay. That's impossible. I see your point," the six armed man replied thoughtfully. "But I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Maybe it sensed us coming and it's afraid?"
Tayuya didn't believe that. Sure, her team was terrifyingly powerful. But she doubted they would still be as confident in themselves if they had felt what she felt.
"Why do I even have to be here? This isn't even near my fucking sector," Tayuya grumbled. As the Gatekeeper of the Northern Gates, rushing to defend Trost in the south was annoying, especially since she had to run the furthest to get here. She would have much rather spent the day sleeping, or playing music that wasn't meant to be lethal.
"A woman should not be so crass with her words," Jirobo said disapprovingly again with a glance back at her.
"Oh yeah fucking fatass?" Tayuya snarled back quickly, feeling her blood boil. "Fuck you and your misogynistic views on women. Prim and proper bitches aren't bred where I'm from, and the rare ones that are, are fucked. Literally. And like you have any fucking right to talk, this is your fucking sector you dimwitted idiot! And also the second of your fucking districts to get attacked. Noticing a pattern here fucktard? Ever heard of attacking the weakest link? Oh wait, yeah, they fucking destroyed Shiganshina as well didn't they?"
This time Jirobo actually stopped and turned to glare at the girl, forcing the entire group a halt.
"Watch your mouth Tayuya, you may not like the consequences of your words." He threatened with narrowed eyes, his own chakra spiking as chains of black triangle markings began to crawl across his body.
Tayuya just smirked back, spiking her own chakra in response with chains of triskelions branching out across her body.. She knew just how infuriating she could be, but at this moment she didn't care. She was wary of her teammates but in this situation, where they couldn't even tell that her real body wasn't anywhere near them, she had the advantage.
"Oh? Are you sure about this fatass? It would be such a fucking shame for Orochimaru to replace another gatekeeper so soon." Tayuya said with a confident smirk.
Jirobo cracked his knuckles as he walked towards her threateningly, forcing her to look up due to his height. "I completely agree."
"I think you're really missing the point, fucking shithead." Tayuya grinned as the world around them faded away leaving behind a red sky and a black, barren wasteland.
"Your little illusions won't work on me," Jirobo sneered as he flexed his muscles. "I have more than enough chakra to dispel anything you can try on me, weakling.
"I think Orochimaru left something out in his description of me," Tayuya said with a raised eyebrow as Jirobo's fist simply phased through her body. "He may have said I use illusions, but did he say I could affect the real world with them?"
"You're bluffing," Jirobo said a little unsurely as he finally realized that he couldn't hit what wasn't there. "Illusions are mere illusions, they can't hurt anyone unless you overload someone's mental capacity for pain. And that won't work on me."
"Then let's give it a test shall we?" Tayuya laughed ominously. She could feel him trying to dispel the illusion by interrupting his chakra flow, but unless he entered the second state of his cursed seal he wouldn't be able to. "You should be easy enough to fucking replace, lumbering fucktard that you are."
"Jirobo stand down. That's an order. And chill Tayuya, if you both are itching for a fight we can do that once we confront whoever was stupid enough to come here. Alright? You're gonna wake up Ukon with this racket." Sakon ordered as he stood between them with a glare.
Tayuya frowned a little. On the one hand she really wouldn't mind killing Jirobo, and Orochimaru would be willing to overlook that. She was far more useful to him than Jirobo was. But Ukon had a nasty habit of murdering anything in sight if he didn't wake up on his own terms, and if that happened she would be forced to kill him too. And if she killed Ukon then naturally she would have to dispose of Sakon as well. Losing one of his gatekeepers to another was reasonable, since they never got along fully. But losing two gatekeepers to another on the same day was unforgivable. Heck Kidomaro might join in for the fun of it and if she did manage to kill him then Orochimaru would be beyond pissed.
"And don't forget Tayuya, we know why you're serving even if you don't respect Orochimaru-sama the same way we do." The six armed Kidomaru added with a serious face. "He's the only one keeping your sister alive, and possibly the only one able to find a cure. So suck it up and work with us. This is one of the rare times all of the Gatekeepers are together and it was under Orochimaru-sama's request. We can go back to defending our own sectors after this."
"And it's not like Jirobo left Shiganshina undefended on purpose Tayuya. You weren't a gatekeeper yet, but Orochimaru-sama let it happen on purpose because he was curious how his little pocket of humanity would react to the sudden decrease in space. So calm down Jirobo, now everyone knows alright?" Sakon continued.
"Then why the fuck are we rushing to defend Trost now?" Tayuya pondered, slightly more at ease now that she knew there were others willing to step in should anything happen. It went unsaid that all of them feared Orochimaru's wrath more than they wanted to fight.
"Because losing another wall would cause anarchy in what's left. What little stability left here is gonna evaporate overnight," Sakon explained with a shoulder shrug. "And that would annoy Orochimaru-sama instead of amuse him. As it is we have orders to find out who was stupid enough to disturb him in the first place, then we dispose of them. If you two still want to kill each other after we fight our mysterious invaders, feel free. We won't stop you then."
At his words Jirobo's posture relaxed and he shared a look with Tayuya before they nodded at each other with a sense of understanding. They didn't have to fight yet. It would disadvantage them against whatever Tayuya had sensed earlier. They had been rushing to Trost instead of walking calmly specifically because of this unknown factor that had somehow worried Orochimaru enough to send all four of his Gatekeepers together. None of them were in any way threatened by the colossal or armoured titans, but this presence was enough to unsettle Orochimaru however little. And anything that unnerved an insane immortal with superpowers was something Tayuya really didn't want to cross.
With their little team dispute settled for the moment the team quickly traversed the remaining distance in silence. Tayuya could feel Sakon's and Kidomaro's, and to lesser extent Jirobo's, barely concealed excitement for a good fight, but she herself was feeling anxious. This new presence had a strong resemblance to Orochimaru's own malicious chakra. She did not even know how that was possible. Chakra was unique to every individual, like a spiritual fingerprint of sorts. So unless this was a sibling of the immortal, which was frightening in its own way, this was supposed to be impossible. And it had disappeared without a trace. The thought that something like that could sneak up on even her didn't sit well with the red haired girl.
(Around an hour later)
"I can't sense any chakra signatures above average civilian level near Trost. There's a rather large one heading away from the walls but it's not moving very fast. We can catch up to it later." Tayuya dutifully informed her team as they settled down to gaze over Trost from on top of the inner gate with surprise on all their features
"Wow. They sure did a number on this place," Sakon whistled. "This looks like someone pissed off Orochimaru-sama."
"It must have been something to watch indeed," his six armed companion agreed.
"Can we just fucking get this over with already!?" The red haired female of the group snapped irritably. She had been stewing in her own nervousness for a while already and she was at her limit regarding patience. She hated feeling weak, and yet it was all she had been feeling recently. It wouldn't go away unless she could hit something. Aside from that, she had been forced to travel hundreds of kilometers in the span of a few hours when she would much rather be sleeping or studying her music notes which she hadn't had access to in the Underworld.
"A woman shouldn't really be speaking like that," The largest of their group reprimanded, once again.
"Are you fucking serious?" Tayuya was one more word away from killing him, consequences be damned.
"Guys. Save energy for the bad guys please," Kidomaru sighed, resting two hands behind his head, two on his hips and two in the pockets of his pants. "But she has a point. Jirobo what are you waiting for?"
"I need the scouts to enter the inner gate of Trost completely," Jirobo replied impassively with his large arms crossed. "No need for any more senseless casualties."
"Tch, as if you fucking care." Tayuya spat.
"Unlike you, I actually care about the people in my sector." Jirobo said as his eyes moved sideways to glare condescendingly at the girl next to him.
"True, you only lost a few thousand in Shiganshina. Then only a few hundred thousand more after the refugees were sent to their deaths. I'm sure you tried so fucking hard to save them, oh wait. You didn't lift a fucking finger did you?" Tayuya said sarcastically, knowing she hit a nerve when he grit his teeth and leapt off the wall with one powerful jump.
They lost sight of him when he crash landed somewhere outside of Trost with a resounding boom. She was mildly impressed that he had jumped over the entirety of Trost in a single giant leap. She crossed her arms as they waited, and she assumed Jirobo was disposing of anything that couldn't be readily explained to the residents. She couldn't help it however as she smirked victoriously.
Whatever he was doing out there, it gave the scouts ample time to safely enter through the inner gate and then shut it behind them. What Tayuya wasn't sure of, was if Jirobo was taking his sweet time outside the wall on purpose or not. They couldn't start their task until he was ready after all. Those scouts were fortunate that their gatekeeper cared. She had no doubt the rest of the team, her included, would have started the process prematurely just for a few laughs.
"Is it wise to rile him up? You might regret it later," Sakon asked as they waited.
"Let him fucking try. I'll bury his fucking ass, just like I'll bury yours if I fucking have to." Tayuya replied carelessly.
"I can't wait for this mission to finish then!" Sakon laughed as well. "A free for all sounds fun, you up for it Kido?"
The six armed gatekeeper shrugged with a grin. "Sounds like a fun game. I'm in. Wonder what Orochimaru-sama will say if only one gatekeeper returns though."
"Fuck that. I'll just say whoever invaded was fucking powerful and killed you three," Tayuya said.
"You mean I'll say that?" Sakon grinned back.
"Fuck you, you fucking two headed creep."
"Hmph, watch your backs." Kidomaro laughed before they caught sight of Jirobo once again.
Jirobo's tiny figure crashed into the middle of Trost with a large plume of smoke. When it cleared, they noticed Jirobo in the distance run through hand seals before he slammed his hands into the ground. A moment later the entire area inside Trost sunk slowly into the ground, slowly swallowed up by an enormous sinkhole. With another surge of his chakra, Tayuya could only watch as the ground hardened and flattened itself into a blank field ripe for remodeling. Even for Tayuya she had to admit that it was impressive landscaping.
"That's our cue," Kidomaro said as he sprinted to her left and Sakon to her right. Jirobo himself launched himself directly above the breach, waiting for a signal from the others as they took up their cardinal positions in a large square around Trost. Tayuya used this opportunity to swap in her illusion self for her real body, which would be required for the next technique.
Once everyone was in position Sakon flared his chakra and all of them began to simultaneously run through the 146 hand seals required for this particular technique developed by Orochimaru himself. While each one of the gatekeepers on their own was formidable opponent, together they were capable of large scale sealing techniques and barrier ninjutsu that was their biggest strength. And this particular one was why all of the walled districts were identical.
"Fuinjustu: Chiku no Shutsugen!" (Sealing Technique: District Emergence)
Black Kanji spread out from all four users, merging at the centre of the blank plane before lines spread out across the ground like massive scribbles until no spot was left untouched. Then almost like some cruel magic, entire buildings began to rise up out of the seal like they were simply being pushed back up out of the ground. Tayuya began to sweat as she kept her hands clasped together in the snake seal to keep the seal powered with a steady stream of her chakra. She wasn't incompetent, but among the members of the four gatekeepers she was the weakest physically and therefore she bore the brunt of the imbalance as her team could only hold back their own power by so much. It wasn't usually this hard however, but she suspected Jirobo wasn't holding back as much as he usually did. It wasn't enough to destabilize the seal, but it was more than enough to put her in hell for the few minutes they had to keep it running.
Immediately as the restoration of Trost was completed, Tayuya body flickered into one of the abandoned buildings of Trost as she set up her illusion self once again. She wasn't going to trust her real body anywhere near her homicidal team, especially when it would require a lot of her remaining chakra and focus for what she was now about to undertake.
She idly noticed the attention to detail that Orochimaru had placed into even the interior of the houses. There were even dishes and kitchen utensils available among the furniture. Tayuya rolled her eyes. Of course there was. That snake was a master manipulator, invoking misplaced loyalty and somehow inspiring his subordinates into blind devotion.
She still went along with it however, as like it or not Orochimaru had kept his end of the bargain and her sister was still alive. He himself had descended to the Underworld to look for a gatekeeper to replace Guren, and Tayuya had impressed him after he collected a bunch of interesting individuals and had them fight to the death. After that he had bitten her, a memory she still shivered at, and after a hellish few days she was revealed as one of the rare survivors of his cursed seal experiments. From then on he made it clear that she either served him, or her sister died. It was that simple.
Tayuya ignored the depressing thought that she was for all purposes enslaved and instead she took advantage of the bed and took out her flute, smiling at it lovingly. It was best for her to get into a relaxed state and iron out the details of her illusion that she was about to use on all the people in the vicinity.
For the scouts, it was easy enough. Their reports for today's expedition had been planned for months. She just had to layer it enough to delete their memories after leaving the gate of Trost. From there she would use their collective consciousness and expectations of how it would go to formulate a memory of a disastrous mission that forced them to return earlier than expected, leaving out anything they may have seen.
For the civilians, she'd erase today almost entirely. As well as memories over personal possessions they may miss as they returned to their homes. She'd just exchange those memories and convince them all that they were so piss poor they owned nothing except the furniture in their homes. Then she recalled that they were all outside, having had been evacuated as quickly as possible. Oh well, the best illusions were usually those based on truth, so why not explain the whole thing away as an evacuation drill? That would go hand in hand with why there were so many soldiers in the area as well as explain why they were all out of their homes.
Now for the garrison soldiers that had been at war for the entire day it was going to be a bit trickier. There were casualties today, of that she at least had no doubt. And a simple evacuation drill wouldn't explain why they were suddenly missing. Tayuya shrugged as she had an idea. People couldn't miss what wasn't there. She'd just have to erase that particular person from their memories. If that person's family came looking for them then the military would say they were insane for looking for someone who didn't exist.
She momentarily wondered if she should try this on her teammates, before realizing that it wasn't worth the effort. With her chakra and attention split so many ways there was no way she could maintain a convincing hold over any of them, and they were sure to have their guard up against her anyways.
The only one she was worried about was the Ackerman in the 104th. They had been a failed experiment of Orochimaru's to breed Uchihas that would be completely subservient to him. To that end he had Kabuto venture outside the walls and acquire samples of the revered Uchiha clan a few hundred years ago while they had still been amidst their clan wars. Combining what few he could find and breeding them into his most durable test subjects, the Ackerman clan.
Unfortunately while he had successfully managed to breed into them an unnatural loyalty, they never developed it for him. The process at which they chose whom to be loyal to was too random and sporadic for him to even consider a success. Yes they developed an immunity to any sort of unwilling mind control and had unnatural durability, strength, and talent, but until they found a host to assert their loyalty these traits which Orochimaru favoured so highly in the Ackerman never displayed themselves.
Far worse, for Orochimaru anyways, they never exhibited any Uchiha traits aside from their dark hair and eyes as well as a very unhealthy propensity for vengeance. Orochimaru did not like something he couldn't control, and had therefore destroyed what he could of the main branch of the clan before they rose up against him. The few stragglers he had left alive had been mere children, unaware of anything important and so had been left to their own devices and that had been a few decades ago. He kept them around on the off chance one of them somehow unlocked their Uchiha side. It was a side project of the gatekeepers actually, to keep an eye on the populace should any of Orochimaru's pet projects show signs of abilities. Almost everyone that lived in these walls were some experiment of Orochimaru's in some way or other.
So far the only Ackerman they were aware of was the female in the 104th and therefore the only one immune to her removal and changing of memories. That may perhaps be an issue, particularly if her host had died in the battle. But they would deal with that should she raise a fuss. Who knew, maybe she herself was dead already anyways.
With her mind clear Tayuya raised the flute to her lips and closed her eyes, as the demonic melody that followed descended on Trost and its surroundings.
"Well we're done here. Can we go kick some fucking ass now?" Tayuya asked as she rejoined the team of gatekeepers above the breach. She did her best to hide that after all the running she had done, coupled with the two large scale techniques she had pulled off today, she wasn't anywhere near full capacity. One did not show weakness and expect competitors not to pounce on the opportunity.
"We were just waiting for you to direct us," Jirobo said as he gazed at the vast expanse ahead of them.
"Aww, now that's just fucking cute. Keep it up and I might just behave more ladylike." Tayuya teased with a grin as she nudged the giant with an elbow.
"Really?" Kidomaro asked with an eyebrow raised in interest.
"No. Dipshit," Tayuya said with a deadpan look.
"Oh for the love of-" Sakon sighed heavily and hung his head in his hands. "Just lead the way woman. Now I want to hit something too, the sooner we do this the better for all of us."
Tayuya rolled her eyes before she inhaled deeply. She then closed her eyes and extended her senses forward, catching sight of the chakra signature headed towards another group far outside the Wall Rose. She didn't like her impression of it. Her innate sensory ability not only allowed her to sense a target's position, but also their capacity, potency, and other similar details. This chakra was nothing new. It was cold, dark chakra born from hatred and it reflected the inner personality of the person. Aside from its size, it was nothing different from those in the Underworld. In fact, the only blindingly warm chakra that Tayuya had ever felt had been that of Baku. It was both why she had trusted him, but also why she had denied his offer for her to join him. She didn't want to somehow contaminate something that warm and pure. She idly wondered if she should perhaps visit the Underworld again to run into him, even just to catch a glimpse of that chakra.
"Oi Tayuya. We know you don't have to focus that long. Did you fucking lose him?" Sakon breathed out in slight annoyance.
"Sakon. That is not how you talk to a woman." Jirobo reprimanded almost instantly.
"Thanks chubby," Tayuya restrained herself momentarily since he rose to her defense. "But yeah I have him, a few kilometers in that direction. We might want to intercept him before he regroups with another three who I presume are his team. His chakra level is larger than ours, but nothing close to our cursed seal levels."
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go play!" Kidomaru laughed as he leapt off the wall, closely followed by Sakon and Jirobo as they disappeared in the direction she had pointed.
Tayuya glanced behind her slightly, noticing two presences behind her. She briefly wondered if she should do something about them, or at least let her team know. But after a brief scan of their chakra she decided they weren't much of a threat. If they did follow then it was likely they would get caught in the cross fire of some of Jirobo or Sakon's wide scale techniques. Now that would be amusing. If they somehow survived that chaos she could just wipe their memories again.
With that in mind she leapt off the wall herself.
A/N: This was supposed to be part of the previous chapter and was only supposed to be around 4k words. Unfortunately when writing stuff, things hardly ever go completely according to plan and well here we are. Just a bit more world building and setting up the stage.
Pretty sure most of you saw Orochimaru coming, though probably didn't expect how much control he had over everything. Except maybe for that one dude who thought Danzo was running the show. It's a reasonable thought, the guy's crazy sketchy. He has a part to play but it's nowhere near just yet.
Anyways review people hehe, see you guys in a bit with the next chapter. Pretty sure you know who the Tayuya and the others are after.
