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Thank you all for reading this story, I appreciate each and every one of you. I'm really just happy that this story has this many readers and that this many people find this story interesting enough to stay. It exceeded my all expectations. I took a week off from writing this story cuz I was feeling…off. I'm not sure when next I'll update.
Enough of about that.
Enjoy…
CHAPTER 22
Lady Wakano's Underground Catacombs,
Under the Fire Lords Palace,
Fire capital
Usurping the last Fire Lord had not been an easy affair.
The revolution of the people in the country was in full swing and the capital was destabilized by the number of people from all parts of the country, from all walks of life, trooping to the palace gates and roaring for a change in government.
The loyalists to the Fire Lord as at that time were less in number but more specialized than those that wanted a change. The guards of the palace supported Wakono to ascend the throne, once they had tracked her down and implored her nanny to allow her to face her destiny, but there were a number of gangs that were profiting from the daimyo and his family, that would severely lose power if someone with a clean slate like Wakono came in to rule the country.
The gangs, two in number-The Crystal Satchel and the Bonfire Yakuza-spared no expenses in ensuring the palace where the daimyo and his family stayed was not overrun by the citizens.
It was a period in time that the while country was in turmoil.
The youngest male born of the family, a peace loving monk, had died whilst praying and the royal family were losing legitimacy at a staggering pace.
The people recalled a last born that had been smuggled out of the palace when she was at the age of four, and was just about twelve or so when the revolution was at its peak.
Wakono stepped up to the sound of her people calling but the fact remained that even though she had more supporters at her side of the battle, the other side-the Daimyo's-had the backing of stronger fighters.
So she went to Konoha to implore for their support.
Wakono discovered that the Sandaime had little faith in her and that he was unwilling to spare any ninjas for the cause, not wanting to mention that he had history with the present daimyo. He phrased it this way; Konoha will remain neutral and will develop with any change in the situation.
Bullshit, was Wakano's thoughts.
He didn't want to take sides and in case she was the one that ended up claiming the throne, then he would dutifully kiss up to her.
As she stormed out of the office, she bumped into Jiraiya, who was well aware of the situation in the country but was more concerned with building his spy network. He and his student, Minato, were entering the Hokage's office to request for an A rank mission.
Minato noticed how distressed Wakono was, not recognizing her, and asked her how he could help. Wakono told Minato her search for help in the village to overthrow her corrupt family, out of ear shot from the Hokage and Jiraiya, who had gone right on into the Hokage's office, thinking Minato was with him. Minato was a fifteen year old chunin and a fulltime student of the Toad Sage at that time.
The riots in the capital and around the country weren't quiet in any way, and Minato knew how corrupt the royal family was, so he secretly lent Wakono his support under the assurance that no one would ever find out of his input. He had even gone out of his way to wear a mask, different clothing and use a different fighting style he was normally used to.
Once Wakono ascended the throne successfully at the age of twelve, in the privacy of her private chambers and in the presence of no one but the two of them, she bestowed two Royal Favours to the man she thought of as her Brother-in-Arms.
Minato spent the first one; he requested to be in Wakano's confidence. That she confide in him in any problem. That favour could easily be done, for her first inclination was to trust the blue eyed blonde teen that had helped usurp her family from the throne. Wakono could admit that she was a pompous, entitled girl, that her pride could fill the whole palace and that she dealt with matters mercilessly though justly, but Minato knew deep down that she meant well.
Wakono would never intentionally hurt her people if she could prevent it, and Minato was well aware of the truth that resided in her heart, even though they had only spent a few days together overthrowing the Daimyo.
So, she trusted him.
For the next favour, Minato requested he hold onto that one until he needed it.
Somewhere in the back of Wakano's mind, she was afraid that the Royal Favour would be perverse and involve the blonde doing illicit, immoral things to her, but when she remembered the sincerity Minato had displayed in those few days and that he had placed his career as a shinobi on the line just to help her, purposefully defying the Hokage without his knowledge, she suspected that her new friend would do no such thing.
Maybe some time after they met, she had harboured feelings for the likeable seal master, but she had been forced to discard them when she was confronted with many truths; her father and her family had left the country in a state of disarray, the gangs were running wild, the council was as rotten as her family and lastly, Minato clearly held feelings for another person.
He might have tried to hide it, but Wakono, as young as she was, knew.
She agreed to hold onto the Royal Favour until he was ready to use it, no matter how long.
No one knew of Minato's friendship with the young Lady Daimyo.
Whilst she kept Minato in her confidence, the Sandaime Hokage urgently arrived in the capital to offer his and Konoha's services to her, predictably kissing her ass to atone for not aiding in the rebellion. The Daimyo had retaliated in kind by halving the funding going to the Hidden Village and increased the bi-annual tax on Konoha returning back to the Fire country Treasury.
Wakono didn't bother giving Hiruzen Sarutobi the same bullshit reason back to him, she just said it; I don't like you and your presence annoys me. I'll be cutting your funding; don't come to the Palace again unless you're invited.
Her guards escorted the Third out of the Palace.
He didn't look too pleased with that.
The Third Great War was sparked when she was fourteen and five years later she had heard from her sources in Konoha that Minato was being sent to the Konoha warfront in Chill. She had been only a day too late to send him a letter, wishing to see him before he left the village for his post, but the news had gotten to her a day too late.
For the next few, Wakono held unease in her heart at Minato's condition while on duty.
She had been unable to send letters to Chill because the condition of the weather in the village and the Sandaime had tactfully refused to give her a walkie talkie that would directly link her to the Advance Guard in Chill, saying that he didn't have it.
She knew very well he did.
It was three months before she heard from Minato again, though it was him that came to her in person via Hirashin seal tag somewhere outside of Konoha.
She didn't bother asking him to explain what that even meant, for seals and ninjutsu were subject that always confused her; she was just so happy to see that he was alive.
Though, she expressed her delight in the one way she knew best; breaking her knuckles in his face with one good punch.
Minato was dull eyed and quiet, he had an empty gaze in his eyes and a tired limp in his step.
He told he wanted to cash in his second Royal Favour; he wanted a secured, secret vault under her protection.
It was a strange request but who was she to question it; she had an underground network of tombs and vaults underneath the palace, of which a few were unoccupied. He stressed on the privacy and the security of the vault and that this single accomplished favour would stand until the end of time, meaning whether or not the interior of the vault was preserved, he wanted that safe area only allocated to him.
Ever so gradually, about twice a week or so, Minato appeared in her personal chambers using a seal tag he had tattooed on the floor underneath her carpet-she still didn't understand-and he would request she either place the item in the vault for him while he rushed back to Chill or he would ask her to lead him to the vault for him to place those items inside himself. The former request for her to put the item in his safe room for him was for valuable; gold coins, some stacks of ryu, precious and rare gems, expensive jewels, weapons, nin-gen-tai-ken-Fuin-jutsu scrolls, articles of clothing, body armour and DNA samples.
Cryptically enough, the soulless blonde man told her that in his search for the truth, he would encounter such treasures and when they had become too much for him to carry in his seals, he came to her to ask if she could leave them in his vault.
Wakono was amazed.
The vast and diverse number of those sort of items she asked her to keep for him, heaping them up in the middle of her room and bowing disappearing once again when he was done, baffled her.
This meant that Minato had travelled all over the continent in his 'search for the truth'.
Encountering or stealing these marvellous items.
Of course, Wakono did not have the strength to lug all of those things back and forth to the underground vault and she certainly didn't know how to seal them away to carry over there, so she set apart five soldiers whose primary function was to carry those items for her, sworn to secrecy and would be executed on the spot if they were found to be stealing Minato's treasure.
Luckily for them, they were wise enough not to push the Lady Daimyo.
The latter kind of items he had in the vault, the one where he would ask her to take him to his vault, were handwritten letters, many dairies, many scrolls he had written himself, and many notepads.
For those items, he begged her to not look into, as he stashed them away on tall, expensive looking shelves or in ornate cabinets, both of which she purchased with Wakono money.
As Minato's friend, she respected his privacy and kept away from that part of the vault.
Wakono joyously dived through the rest of Minato's Collection, taking time out from her day to survey around and organize his glimmering assortment of treasures, loot and bounties.
Like she said before, one of her favourite past times was going through Minato's Collection.
Wakono had waved for her guards to not follow her and Minato into the catacombs, so the duo were travelling down winding stairs, past areas that branched out from the stairs to other sections of the meticulously designed network of underground rooms, until they got to the very bottom of the stairs and walked forward to the far end of the passageway to a normal sized door made out of solid steel and gold trimmings on the edge. The door knob was a fat ruby, which Minato grasped. The seals he had drawn on the door and the knob glowed as they recognized his finger prints and a small circle opened on the door, about the same height as the tall blonde. Minato stood closer, his hand still on the red knob, and he closed his left eye, pushing his head forward a bit and waiting.
A seal inside the eyehole projected a beam of clear white light, an untouchable manifestation of Minato's chakra, and confirmed that it was indeed the owner of the vault standing there.
Wakono bit her bottom lip in anticipation.
Minato turned the knob and pushed the door open.
The room was big.
The room inside was hewn out of solid rock and reinforced with steel beams, like every room, but unlike most rooms, this vault had a coating of light blue paint on the walls and navy blue tiles.
Minato hummed and Wakono, noticing the small glint of interest in the design, said with a deriding scoff. "I had some free time last week."
The man exhaled and turned to her. "Thank you for doing this, Wakono."
The teen closed her eyes and humphed. "It is what I owe you, is it not?"
Minato did not reply, only looking back to his vast collection of items.
Taking the result of ten months of untiring 'search' in.
There were two black painted cabinets wedged in the right corner of the end of the room, filled to the brim with Minato's handwritten research and answered questions; his diaries, his letters to Mikoto, loose sheets of paper from him and dozens and dozens of scribbled in notepads. There was a chest next to one of the cabinets, which was about half of Minato's height, that he suspected had all the jewellery arranged inside and another chest next to that one that had precious gems, maxing out the storage capacity of each chest but still managed to be locked tightly. Another chest had Minato's gold coins. The Fire and Snow country ryu notes Minato had stolen from various places were wrapped in bundles of hundred ryu notes and organized atop one of the cabinets housing his writings.
He hadn't truly counted how much he had stolen but Wakono leaned in to him, having to stand on her toes a little, and whispered. "Two million ryu and change."
You would think that someone with that much money would at least feed himself. But Wakono had to forcefully stuff biscuits into Minato's mouth whenever he wanted to drop off a handwritten document.
There were wardrobes of the fine clothes Minato had gotten; some shinobi wear and others civilian garb.
Most could be sold for more than a few pieces of gold, not to talk of ryu.
There was an entire wall carved out of the vault at the far back that Wakono contained all of the books, scrolls and documents Minato had acquired over the months; the aforementioned jutsu scrolls, thick back books and a vast assortment of documents that confirmed his doubts.
Then his eyes went to the other treasures he had stumbled upon or stolen during his secret research trips around the continent.
To one side, mannequin proudly stood wearing a complete suit of crimson red samurai armour, complete with a horned helmet, a sheathed katana that was thoroughly rusted due to being immersed in water for what he could guess were hundreds of years and a wakizashi, the short range, short bladed backup weapon of a samurai, also sheathed on the same side as the katana and rusted through as well. The katana, short blade and the armour could be fully restored if given to the right weapon maker and at the right price. On the same side were the skulls of a few curious looking animals, a tattered sackcloth rucksack that exuded black light in its immediate vicinity. There was a strange looking dog collar; black collar and three silver metal chains coming out from the collar.
Once lost weapons, from the same bow staff an unknown War General used thousands of years ago, to a long bow and arrow quiver that dated a handful of years ago, to even a set of ten daggers that he recalled, from the person he had stolen it from, used to be owned by a ten armed giant that had once terrorized Hidden Salt Water.
Not only were there weapons, but there were also scrolls and scrolls of stored chakra Minato had thought would be useful at some point in the future, like Tsunade Senju's chakra.
Minato began his trek into his large collection.
He ignored two summoning contracts, both seated on different marble pedestals.
He ignored one ominously silent weapon that was in the grasp of a single, clean white, dismembered skeleton hand. He had gotten the weapon from the Valley of End, after following a gut feeling and swimming down to the bottom of the lake, dug through several inches of heavy sand and silt. It was the fabled weapon Madara Uchiha had used when he was alive, and used last before he died.
Made from the metal of a fallen star and, supposedly, crafted by a wolf demon, Minato's eyes didn't once linger on Madara's infamous Gunbai.
The blue eyed seal master ignored the Shodaime Mizukage's dull broad sword, not listening to the sentient creature as it mutely whimpered for him to return it to the place he had stolen it from.
It had nearly cost him his life to acquire that last one from the Cliffside cottage of the First Mizukage, which was a popularly visited monument in the village.
He ignored all of this and walked up to the wall on the left side of the vault and looked up at the sheathed sword hanging there, among the handful of others. This one wasn't the most attention grabbing of the ones hanging on the wall, with a simple black sheath and a plain white handle with one lightning strike curling down from the end to the circular guard of the katana.
Minato raised his hands and pulled off the Nidaime Hokage's lost katana.
Raijin no Ken, Sword of the Thunder god.
He held the sheath with his left hand and grabbed onto the handle with his right, his knuckles whitening as he did so. A surge of electrical energy flooded his system but he suppressed it, shoving the lightning affinity chakra back into the sword.
Minato pulled the sword out slightly with a heart shuddering ssssshing!
His blue eyes reflected off the gleaming blade, then the silver steel sparked and turned yellow, humming with bright yellow electric energy as it sensed that the person holding it possessed potent chakra. He stared at the half unsheathed, fully activated blade for half a minute, his lips turned down in a frown and his blue eyes spinning ever so slowly, the yellow lightning coating the blade-Minato's and the chakra locked inside the sword-receded back into the handle and back into Minato's hand, before he summarily sheathed it with a satisfied click.
The humming sound died and the room was delved into a solemn silence.
"I'll be taking this." He said to the young lady that had doggedly followed behind him. He faced her and said. "For now."
Wakano's lips were in a straight line and she nodded tersely, holding the hollow gaze of the man before her.
This whole vault would later on be considered to be the most expensive collection of history, knowledge and human culture, and the documentation of the author's gradual decline into the realm of hushed insanity.
Many years into the future, Minato's Vault, as it would be called once the place was uncovered, would come in the possession of a man from Hot Springs village, though the acquisition would be sold a week later by the man's son when his father killed his wife and their last born child, claiming to be under the possession of an evil entity that had come from the underground library in his ownership. The man's son would say that the vault was being haunted by a demonic, vengeful, malevolent…thing…
Minato's Vault would pass from one owner to the other, the former owner either dying a tragic, horrible death or murdering his family in cold blood, until it finally ended up in the hands of Sayeko Suzumebachi and Hayato Kuma, direct descendant of Ginko Suzumebachi and BLAK Operative Panda respectively, who would carve out Minato's Vault from the present place it was and relocate it to Mito's Grassland in Dark country.
It would remain there in Dark country.
Minato's Vault was considered the most haunted place on the planet.
It would be a popular tourist attraction, where visitors were strictly forbidden from touching anything.
For that moment, the only knew of the existence of Minato's Vault was the Lady Daimyo and Minato himself.
The blonde seal master moved past his friend, Tobirama's sword clenched in his left hand, and walked with clipped steps to the door. Wakono hastily followed, blindly closing the door after her and saying as she reached Minato. "Whatever you plan to do with…that," she eyed the sword even she would hesitate before picking up, a panic in her eyes. "Promise me you won't get hurt." She ran in front of him and grabbed him by his uncaringly unzipped flak jacket, glaring up at him and masking her worry with an expression of aristocratic disdain. Speaking like a master forcing the words she wanted to hear from a servant. "Promise me, Namikaze."
The man looked down at her wordlessly, with the same vacant gaze as when he first arrived that morning.
"Namikaze." She said through grit teeth, trying her best to keep up her entitled façade around her only true friend in the world of flatterers and backstabbers they lived in. She closed her eyes as her proud face fell and tears welled up in her eyes. "M-Minato…please…just-just promise me you'll be ok."
The Konoha ninja soundlessly placed a hand on her shoulder and a small, tired smile lifted up on his face. Wakono opened her eyes and looked up, dark brown meeting cool blue. Minato's hand came up to her face and he slowly wiped the tears coming from her eyes, his eyes dimming ever so gradually that he was the one making her cry.
Her hands trembled on his vest as he cleaned her tears he could and her body shook with trepidation.
Minato, the one that she knew and the one she loved being friends with, felt guilt for making Wakono mar her beautiful face with those tears.
He told her what she wanted to hear.
"I promise…I'll be ok."
A shuddering sigh escaped the nineteen year old girl's lips at the vow, that her close friend had given her his assurance of his return.
Somewhere in her heart she doubted his words, but even if it was for now she wanted to know that whatever Minato was going to do, it wouldn't get him killed.
The Fire Lord sniffed rudely and flicked his hand off her face, saying as she averted her face from him, so he couldn't see her wipe her tears. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
Minato smirked fractionally and he disappeared in a yellow flash.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
One hour later
Light City
Snow country
Light city was the commonly called the City That Knew No Rest.
It epicentre of Snow country's economy and the city was also where the largest market on the continent was based in.
The Light city was named so because ever since the general area took off as a popular place to trade goods and services irrespective of country or village affiliation, the lights of the city could be seen as far as the Snow country capital.
If you were looking for something that couldn't be found anywhere else, there was an eighty percent chance you will get it in the Light City Market.
Naruto's eyes shone with interest as he exited the train station; the buildings were made out of metal and glass, towering high into the sky, the road was tarred black and demarcated with yellow and white lines so carriages and steam engines could amble down unhindered, men and women dressed either in formal kimonos or sharp black suits walked up and down the pavements, trooping into banks or into their shops. Parents walked holding the hands of children, who skipped without a care in the world, to wherever they were going for that day. Despite all of this, there was still a thin sheet of snow blanketing the whole area; the snow would have been heavier and more torrential if it was winter but seeing as it was summer, it was lighter and more bearable.
The Dark Leader could guess that if he ventured out at night, he would find skimpily dressed women hanging out by the road and advertising their services to whoever passed by.
Dark country had an equivalent to Light City, called Ghost Town, in the south western region.
Daichiharu Pansa-Senshi-the head of the clan that populated most of the western and southern regions of Darkness-had named the town himself and the people accepted this name despite Naruto's feeble protests.
Ghost town wasn't too close to the western border but it was close enough in the south western area for Sunagakure, River country and Uzushiogakure to easily access the area. Kiri would have to take a boat from their village and circumvent the continent to Dark country but it was well worth the two day journey.
It could be because the town was named after their infamous and precious Leader, or it could be because of the strategic positioning of the town so that it could be found and accessed by Dark country's four allies.
It could be both.
The point was, business in the town exploded.
So much so, Naruto had unofficially dubbed Ghost town as a trade town and convinced the River Daimyo to not move the Merchants Guild from out of River country.
Traders and merchants from the four allied nations and Dark country flocked to the town named after Naruto's notoriety, and set up shops and businesses, displaying their goods and services. There was always something going on in the Ghost town market, the lights of the contradictorily named town never went off, the markets were constantly open and the streets were populated with people who went about one job or the other. The place was arguably a centre of Dark country's economy, rivalling the Dark Capital, seeing as the capital was where Naruto lived and was also the heart of administration for the country-The Leader's Tower, the Shinobi and Civilian Divisions, the Defence Corp Headquarters and the Police Headquarters-, so people from his country and from allied settlements frequently rented or bought houses there constantly so as to also live near Naruto.
Combining the Dark country capital market and the Ghost town market, the chances of finding an unlikely, rare or impossible to acquire material was raised to ninety one percent. And if by chance they didn't have what a buyer wanted, then ninjas could be dispatched from the capital to retrieve that item, at a marginally higher cost.
Naruto's country had two places that would have what anyone wanted and had the shinobi strength to find and attain what was not available.
The bespectacled Leader smiled mysteriously and walked with Koyuki into the lively city. It made him feel pleased with the stage his country had reached that it took only five nations-Suna, River, Uzushio, Kiri and Darkness-to make Ghost town and the Dark capital into the vibrant marketplaces they were now twenty or so years after the civil war, while it took the whole continent about a hundred years of swarming to Light city to make it the centre of Snow's economy.
It just meant that Dark country was ever developing.
And no one, outside of allies, even had a clue.
Light city was noticeably different though when it came to the amount of pollution pouring out of it; Ghost town and the capital were making headway in using solar energy, and presently the generator for the country and the backup generators for the four regions were being powered by a hydroelectric dam in the southern region. The Dark Leader commended Light city officials for making littering a serious crime and also for making indiscriminate waste disposal a serious offense, punishable by a year in prison, but it still couldn't compare to Ghost town or the Dark capital.
The actress eyed the tall man and said, keeping a straight face and said, brining Naruto out of his thoughts. "You are the last Daimyo to arrive, lord Naruto."
"I hope I didn't keep them waiting."
"No, lord Naruto; they only came here a few hours ago. The meeting will hold tomorrow. Lord Doton is hosting a dinner this night in his mansion in the city for the Four Leaders." The chakra armour wearing Snow shinobi and Naruto's BLAK guards maintained a wide berth for the Naruto and Koyuki to walk, keeping the throngs of Koyuki's adoring fans back. Naruto spotted some Dark born civilians and some allied civilians among the crowd and he smiled at them, his eyes closed and curved upwards as they screamed for his attention. "I'm taking you to Lord Doton's mansion now." Naruto nodded and waved to those that had come to see him in. Koyuki sniffed lightly as she finally noticed that not everyone in the crowd was there to see her. "I was not aware you had any people in Snow. Did you not forbid your traders from trading with us?"
"From directly trading with you." Naruto aptly corrected, as this courtesy did not extend to his allies, for the merchants of his allies could cooperate with his merchants and work as middle men to Snow by taking Dark goods into the blacklisted country. "And I recently allowed it."
"Why did you change your mind?" Twenty seven years of Dark country blacklisting Snow, Kumo and Iwa, even as the Lightning village were famously neutral with Darkness and held no grudge once they found about the latter country's blacklisting. The actress was just finding out that there were now Dark traders in Snow country and Kumo, as Iwa was still forbidden from entry by Naruto's order. Their identities were still largely hidden and the merchants didn't stand out, but they were there. The proof was crowing for Naruto's attention. "Because of the meeting?"
"Partly."
"Partly?"
"They're scouting out your markets." They would report back to Naruto if getting involved in Snow's and Kumo's markets would add any sort of advantage compared to when all three nations were blacklisted.
The smirk broke out on the black haired woman's face. "You're just realizing your mistake?"
"More like, I want to give my merchants more variety." Naruto was content with the gradual, easy pace of development surging through Darkness. They stopped before a carriage and Naruto patiently waited as Kisame stepped inside, inspecting every nook and cranny for traps or dangerous items, pushing his hands down on every part of the chair and walls of the carriage, searching for even an errant needle or a loose nail that could cause even mild discomfort for his master. He came out and nodded his head, stepping aside with a deep bow as Naruto marched inside. Koyuki followed inside, gently helped in by the Leader of Darkness. The man sat down heavily and leaned back in the cushion and flicked his wrist, bringing out his book as the door of the carriage closed. Kushina and Kisame marched outside, keeping a watchful eyes around as the Snow and BLAK ninjas cleared a path for the horse drawn carriage.
Koyuki glanced at the book the Master of Dark country was attentively reading. "I did not know you were so fond of Jiraiya as to read his books." She looked outside as Naruto briefly looked over the book at her. "From what I heard, you despised him when you were in Ame and you despise him still."
"Oh, I don't like Jiraiya," Naruto admitted, then he smiled slightly. "But he's a pretty good writer."
"Among your favourites?"
"Let's not go that far." Naruto laughed.
"Who is it then?"
"Nanako Hogo." He answered straightforwardly. The clan head of mole summoners of his country might not have been able to understand the concept of jokes, innuendo or subtlety, but the woman was a stellar murder/mystery author. She was in the best position to write stories of that genre because of her post as the Director of Southern regions Defence Corp; Makoto Gado, her northern counterpart, did not have such a gift. The woman was now trying her hand at supernatural stories, though never venturing into the realms of fantasy. Nanako had previously been writing under the fake name Jin D. Koritsu (Or Jin the Orphan, for some of her other publications) when she found out that her Leader was an avid reader of her books, she revealed her identity during a book signing Naruto had attended-being among the first ten people, of the hundreds of people, to arrive at the venue and stand in line for her autograph-. She had been encouraged to try her best when she heard Naruto express to her how much her books meant to him. Naruto whipped out one of her books and handed it to Koyuki, the title was Unseeing Eyes, and he planned to read it after he was done with Jiraiya's book.
Koyuki sniffed pretentiously as she collected the book, the back and front was a blank, dull shade of brown, and she flipped open the book, flipping to the back to the authors page. A small picture of the young looking clan head smiled beauteously at her, she skimmed over the summarized history of the writer and scoffed. "Figures you'd only like a writer from your country."
The man smiled and replied. "You should read it," he went back to his own story. "Return it when you're done."
The woman frowned and placed the book on her lap. Curiosity overtook her. "Thank you. I'll read it this night."
"Don't forget to tell me what you think." Naruto murmured as he flipped to the next page of his novel.
Ten minutes of silence and they finally arrived at the Snow Daimyo's mansion, famously called Crystal Citadel.
The high walls were made out of thick, opaque white-blue blocks of what looked like solid ice; the gate was noticeably made out of a metal that had been frozen to its very core, therefore making it look light silver. The path the carriage was treading on was tarred black. The guards opened the gate for the carriage and the blonde man set his book down to behold the palace of the Snow Daimyo; the mansion was massive, painted light blue and white to almost match the snow but having four sentry towers situated on all four corners of the building made out of black blocks. The doors of the mansion were painted dark red. There wasn't much of a garden in front of the building, only identical, snow covered trees arranged in strictly kept rows. Thick whiteness covered bushes and shrubs.
There was a water fountain a few feet from the entrance that served as a roundabout, which the carriage dutifully clopped around.
A butler smoothly walked up to the carriage, two more butlers followed suit with climbing steps in their hands, which they dropped by the door of the carriage as the first servant slid the door open and bowed with his hand over his heart.
There were a total of ten or so uniform wearing servants, butlers and maids, standing outside of the mansion and forty armoured soldiers lining the sides of the walkway into the mansion, more than a few of them watched from the two sentry houses facing the entrance gate and some lines the walls of the large house.
Naruto tucked his book into his sleeve and got up, Kisame and Kushina hustled to the sides of the steps and went down on one knee as their Leader took his time stepping off the carriage. The masked man observed the magnificent splendour and unity of the Snow servants and shinobi, then he smirked as the first butler silently motioned to the door and proceeding to walk forward in unhurried steps. Naruto didn't follow; rather he turned around and held out his hand for Koyuki as she slowly came down the steps, careful to not trip on her kimono.
The woman looked at the hand guiding her down, and then to the faintly smiling man helping her down. Koyuki unconsciously squeezed Naruto's hand a little bit tighter and frowned at how comfortable she was being with the same man that had insulted her not two hours ago. For someone of his 'history' his hands were surprisingly warm. "Thank you, Lord Naruto"
The two butlers that had intended to help her off the carriage looked uneasy, but Koyuki waved for them to leave.
Naruto released her hand without a word but a small nod to her appreciation, not noticing how the actress's frown deepened, and walked to the entrance, closely followed by his two appointed guards. BLAK squad Eleven did not need to be issued a command to zip to the sentry houses and gain entrance, ignoring the Snow shinobi as they protested. Team Twelve had gone back into town to speak with the Dark merchants.
Two soldiers threw open the door and the butler that had been waiting for him bowed again, gesturing for the Leader to enter the mansion.
There were two passageways leading out and into the hall he had entered, and an indoor balcony a floor above the hall which Naruto's black ops patrolled with Snow shinobi and a few of the Leader's other appointed guards. Right now, they all stood ramrod, unmoving, roughly sixteen in number. While at the edges of the hall far away from the people in the middle, the two appointed guards of each Leader stood in the corners.
Inside the giant, white marble floor hall were already three people, Naruto moved towards them, adding to their number.
The Four Wealth Nation Daimyos.
Darkness was the only minor nation that the Leader could wear ceremonial robes and wide brimmed hats, like major hidden villages and Uzushio. So Naruto was the only person in their midst that was dressed in a formal cloak and wide hat, the latter of which he took off his hat and held it laxly in his left hand.
Naruto ran a hand through his shaggy yellow hair as he joined his counterparts, the corner of his eyes turned up apologetically. "I apologize for keeping you all waiting."
Doton Kazahana laughed deeply and shook his head. "No need to apologize, they both just arrived anyway."
A busty woman with dark blue hair and frosty blue eyes smirked darkly. "To think the 'fastest man' would be the last to arrive."
Naruto shrugged with a tittering chuckle. He knew what the woman was implying, though he didn't fall for the bait. "What's the point in rushing when you can take it easy?" He turned to the only samurai among the Four and a sweat drop slid down the side of his face at the murderous glare that returned to him. "I see you're well, Mifune." The hard faced man frowned harder and his hands closed tightly around the handle of his wakizashi, strapped to his hip and Naruto closed his eyes with a gaily hum. "You're still mad, I take it."
Doton interrupted before Mifune could lose his cool. "Ah, I'm sure we all know each other but for the sake of formality, let us introduce ourselves." The friendly man went first. "I am Doton Kazahana, Daimyo of Snow country. Pleasure to meet you all."
The blue haired woman and she went next. "I am Kamina Suitokku, Godaime Hyokage of the Village Hidden in the Chill." She was as tall as her male counterparts and she had a stubborn chin, a seeming patent for a leader of any kind. She was in a plain purple skirt that flowed down to her mid-calf and high heeled black shoes with a white long sleeved button up shirt that was tucked into her long skirt, high waist skirt. The high waist of the skirt stopped just under her large breasts, barely contained in her tight white shirt. She had on ninja grade pantyhose that hugged her mostly unseen legs. One of the last accessories she had on were a black scarf around her neck, black gloves on her hands and an ice butterfly hair pin perched up on her hair. Kamina's blue hair was tied up in a tight bun on the back of her head. The cold woman wore cold makeup; frosty blue lipstick and dark, though modest eye shadow. She was a famous scientist; daresay almost as infamous and sadistic as Orochimaru.
The two that had already introduced themselves turned to the glaring samurai, who remained silent for a short five seconds before he grunted. "Mifune. Daimyo of Iron country."
"My name is Naruto. Leader of Dark country."
Despite Kamina being a Kage and not a Daimyo and Naruto referring to himself as a Leader, the meeting was still called Conference of the Four Wealth Nation Daimyos because Frost country did not have a Daimyo, and as such Kamina branched out her control out of her hidden village and coordinated, commanded and maintained order in all of Frost country. In Naruto's case, Darkness was still a whole country, and not a hidden village, and as such he was still technically a Daimyo.
"Lord Naruto," Doton said, making Naruto turn his eyes away from one of Doton's shinobi who had a chainsaw strapped to his hip. It was a strange weapon, but who was he to judge; his strongest attack had once been a kick to the crotch and his best weapon had once been a rock. "I hope the journey wasn't too taxing."
"It was enjoyable, Lord Doton." Naruto answered with an amiable smile.
"If you're too tired, then I can have one of my servants lead you to your sleeping quarters."
"I had plenty of rest on my way here, there is no need to break this," motioning to the square of Leaders. "Up so soon."
Kamina introduced herself into the talk. "Darkness is on the other side of the continent, Lord Naruto, how is it that you're not tired?"
"Good genes, I guess."
The woman narrowed her eyes and smirked attentively sweeping her eyes over the youngest Leader. "You were able to battle Hanzo the Salamander and his ninjas for four hours and thirty minutes, correct?"
"I was much younger then." Naruto answered with a raised eyebrow.
"Four hours of continuous motion, maybe you're not the 'fastest man'"
"I'm sure we're not here to discuss how fast I am." Naruto said, overlooking the seductive glimmer in her intelligent grey eyes.
Doton coughed into his fist. "No, we're not." Servants rushed into the bare and very glamorous ballroom, hefting an ornate table carved out of fine oak and decorated with gold, chairs with red cushions and made out of the same wood as the table. The placed the chairs behind the Leaders and bowed before taking their leave; Mifune touched the cushion of his own seat tentatively and then sat down regally. Doton seemed offended that the samurai would think he would lay an attack there, less offended when Kamina took no precaution and simply took her seat elegantly. Naruto didn't look at his seat before he sat down, arranging his white and black cloak so as not to rumble and holding his hat to his side, where Commander Bat swept down from the balcony, sealed it into her wrist with a deep bow and then leapt back to the balcony, no waste in motion. "Ehem," the Snow Daimyo brought back their focus from the short interaction between Leader and Kunoichi. "We can talk of the Neutrality Contract tomorrow. For now, let us get to know each other and our respective countries."
They all turned to the masked assassin that had lead the Hermit Nation right onto the Wealth Nation listing, and his cerulean eyes looked back at each other, Mifune included.
"I will go first," Kamina said, keeping her eyes on Naruto for five more seconds and then turning to the Snow Daimyo, then to the Iron Daimyo. "I believe Hidden Chill is third and we have reached this acclaimed position because of decades of mid and long term investments into science and technology, training our shinobi in adapting to any situation they see themselves in and creating our own trading channels and networks all over the continent from scratch. My father saw to it that there were no limitations for our merchants."
Naruto's eyes closed with a silent laugh; he knew where this was going. Mifune, glaring hell fire to the blonde man on the other side of the table, spoke next. "Iron…has been a neutral country since its creation, so as to preserve our samurai way of life and because affiliating with shinobi, whose way of life is deplorable, disgraceful and dishonourable," after saying this, he fixed Naruto with a long stare, one that lasted a full minute before the blue eyes man finally raised a slow, curious eyebrow. "I will not reveal what Iron has been investing in for generations now and generations to come, but I will say that even though associating with ninjas is a sin, my predecessors and I have never halted or prevented traders from moving about the continent." He leaned forward on his forearms and his eyes bored into Naruto's own, daring him with his next words. "The only limitation…is that trading with Darkness is forbidden." The hard faced man smirked sharply. "I blacklisted your country, Lord Naruto, as soon as you became Leader."
"Lot of good that did." Naruto replied with an upward twitch of his eyes. "I blacklisted two major hidden villages and a wealth nation and Darkness was still able to become a Wealth Nation."
Doton rolled his wrist as Mifune ground his teeth. "Granted that you ended up opening non-allied trade with Kumo and my country, why did you blacklist us in the first place?"
"For the sake of building a cordial relationship with you three, I will explain myself," the Dark Leader shrugged. "I just didn't like you three."
"Is…Is that it?" Kamina wondered aloud.
"Past run ins with Iwa, Kumo and Snow has affected my opinion."
"But is Kumo not neutral with Darkness? Why did you blacklist them too?" Mifune asked.
"By association, really. I respect Cee," Rest his soul. "But I cannot forget what Kumo did during the war to Ame, when that place used to be my home."
"You used a past grudge to alter your judgement." Mifune stated with a scoff.
Naruto smirked at the man. "I can say the same about you." Mifune grit his teeth. "Point is, I lifted the ban on Kumo and Snow two months ago."
"Almost too late, Lord Naruto." The Chill Kage murmured as she tapped her chin. "I wonder though, why is the ban on Iwa not removed?"
"Iwa attacked my home and a close ally of mine on two separate occasions. I might never lift the ban on Iwa." Naruto said firmly, his eyes hard and his composure unyielding. He turned to Kamina. "What I feel like I should apologize for is that blacklisting Kumo made it significantly harder for Chill and Darkness to neutrally associate." Seeing the way to get to the cold village was to pass through Kumo or spend an extra week sojourning the open waters around the continent.
"Oh?" she raised a carved eyebrow. "And what are you benefitting from my village?"
"Training." Naruto answered simply and the scientist was taken aback.
"Training?" Naruto nodded. "Just…training?"
"Yup." Naruto ninjas have now added cold tolerance to their abilities; not like the winter blizzards in their country didn't already give them this skill. They somewhat had heat tolerance from training in the deserts of Suna, self- and team-awareness in pitch blackness from training in the Dark Forest-also known as Night Forest-as well as training in the mists of Kiriagakure. The Ninjas of Dark country were doing pretty well off now than ever before and Naruto was proud of this fact. "Just training."
"Are you aware that Chill is among the highest producers of medicinal herbs. I have the best and most skilled medics in the world." She pointed out factedly.
"I get medicinal herbs from Suna quicker and cheaper." He saw the invisible dip of her shoulders at the mention of her village's competitor in medics and valuable medicinal herbs.
"Ah yes, your allies, of course." Doton muttered.
Naruto's eyes flicked to him from the contemplative woman. "Hm?"
"I heard you and Torune Uzumaki were close." The Snow Leader said aloud.
The blonde nodded once. "We were."
"Is that why the Kyuubi is no longer in Konoha?"
"He lost faith in the Leaf."
"Pray tell, is it because you used your skills as a shinobi to create this doubt?"
"No," Naruto replied coolly. "It is because my and Torune's sister, Mito Uzumaki, was tortured and killed while under the protection of Konoha."
The Snow Daimyo smiled warmly and sat back. "Is that so?"
Naruto tilted his head to the side. "…What are you implying?"
The man raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not implying anything. I just think anyone would do anything, even murder family, to get what they want. And in your case, you got the Kyuubi."
Naruto chuckled lightly. "I am not so barbaric." He said, taking a jab at how Doton killed his own blood brother for the throne. The big chinned Daimyo felt a twitch on his cheek but his smile never wavered. "Torune entrusted the health and safety of the nine tails jinchuriki into my hands."
"He could have very well taken the Kyuubi back to Uzushiogakure." Mifune supplied with a tight grunt. "Brother or not, the Uzumaki clan have centuries of knowledge on how to keep the Kyuubi under control."
"Need I remind you, not once has the Kyuubi escaped or even slightly leaked out since its holder has lived in Dark country." Naruto said with a lecturing pointer finger.
"Not any we are aware of." the samurai continued with his malicious glare, sitting straight in his seat. "Not with the secrecy around Darkness."
"Speaking of," Kamina said. "Why is it that you refused entry into your country, Lord Naruto?"
"Allies alone are allowed in." the Leader of Darkness aptly corrected.
"That's not the answer to my question."
"My people and I have a general distrust for foreigners. I was only able to build trust between my people and my present allies because of decades of relations." The Uzumaki clan had first stepped onto Dark shores a few years after the country was fully established. Uzushio being the first and Darkness a close second; the Uzumaki people came with fish, sake and fuinjutsu and built small. River, Suna and Kiri had been living in Darkness years before the civil war but they notably hadn't done much wrong, unlike Iwa, Snow, Kumo and Konoha.
"Are you sure it is not because Darkness is actually one big, underdeveloped slave camp?" Kamina suggested brazenly, watching for a reaction. "It would explain why there are no missing ninjas coming from your country."
She didn't get what she expected, as Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yet Chill and Snow were among the first to recognize Dark country's wealth status. If my memory serves me well…you three reached that conclusion before even my allies, did you not?" The three Leaders and the watching guards were surprised by the composure and lack of outrage of the Dark Leader, who was known to not have a problem slaughtering any person that he saw as irksome. The Iron Daimyo only grunted in denial but the Chill Kage shrugged, nodding once while Doton provided no audible answer. Naruto then furrowed his eyebrows, curious, asking. "I wonder though, even when no one, aside of my allies, has been into my country, why did Chill and Snow identify Darkness as a Wealth Nation?"
They knew that Naruto meant that, seeing as none of the three or their ninjas had ever set foot in Darkness, he wanted to know how they concluded that Naruto's country was wealthy.
Mifune was the one that first spoke, gesturing to Doton, Kamina and himself. "The three of us held a meeting in my country to kick out Wave and immediately fill the void." He began, meshing his fingers together and clearing his face of his enraged emotions and speaking professionally. "We agreed that we had…rushed the analysis and induction of Wave into the Wealth Nations when we found out how easy it was for their borders to be infiltrated from all sides and how such a 'Wealth Nation' was used as a battleground by three major hidden villages."
"We did not want to make that mistake again, so we took our time and studied each country on the map for about a month." Kamina added.
"River and Uzushio had vocally said they did not want to be among the Wealth Nations and Salt Water is lacking in manpower, if not they would have made a great candidate." Doton provided.
Naruto patiently waited for them to continue.
Doton went on. "I will admit, it was difficult to pinpoint Dark country as a country worthy to be among our ranks but we investigated and scrutinized every external factor we were able to get our hands on."
"…Like…?"
"Products from merchants from your country, once we were able to identify them, that is." The Snow Daimyo said. "The high quality of the goods and services was very impressive. They are at an approvable level of wisdom and, after days of observation, we saw how much money they return to Dark country with. Dark ryu is frequently exchanged but it is still considered a precious currency. Your borders and near impenetrable, whether it is your ninjas or fuinjutsu, or both, we aren't certain how no person without authorization can enter undetected and come out alive." Here, Naruto's eyes twinkled. "Last we looked at your allies-Uzushiogakure, Kiriagakure, Sunagakure and River country-and how your alliance with them has improved or declined life there."
"First," Kamina said with a raised finger, taking point in the discussion. "Was how Darkness has a Merchants Guild with River, when no other country but Iron has been able to do that." knowing full well that River used to be a Wealth Nation, the second on the list, before they stepped back. "Second is your close and frequent relationship with the Uzumaki clan. Now, Uzushio is a difficult place to enter, as they too have a strict border, much like Dark country, but we were able to see full blooded Uzumaki men and women wearing the forehead protector and vests of your country outside of Uzushio." This was a closer alliance than anything Uzushio had with Konoha; little wonder why Torune gave Darkness the nine tails. "Joint missions and joint ownership of stores inside of Uzushio, not to talk of outside. It's almost disturbing to see how close your country is with the Uzumaki people."
"Last," Mifune finished. "Is how much your alliance with Suna and Kiri has changed those two villages."
"…What do you mean?"
"That secret farming facility you built with Suna," Doton said with an annoyed throb above his left eyebrow; he was irritated by how private the facility was. He had offered Tetsuyo and Rasa billions just to have a peek inside, offered many bribes to Dark-Sand ninjas to allow his shinobi entry and even gone to Suna personally to see if he could use his status as the Daimyo of the wealthiest nation to force his way onto the farm. All to no avail. The past and present Kazekage were not threatened and neither did they cave. "Ever since Suna began selling crops-high quality and high quantity, need I add-there is a noticeable boom in their economy. Better buildings, better living conditions, better sources of water and so on. We also saw the oil boom from when Suna adopted Dark ryu; more sales, more profit and more reinvestments." Doton knew this cycle very well; invest, gain returns and reinvest more to gain more returns. "Suna coal and natural gas are also now a valuable commodity." The big chinned man then frowned. "And…I do not need to include how Suna has its much acclaimed Desert Oasis Beach Resort."
The Four Wealth Nation Daimyos knew the bare basics of how currencies worked and how, when a country outside of their own was to adopt their currency, there would be a regular return-whether it was monthly, bi-yearly or yearly-into the bank of the original owner of the currency. Kiri and Suna had adopted Dark ryu some fifteen years ago or so and ever since then, predictably, there was money flowing into Naruto's country.
A lot of money.
It was the same for Iwa and Kumo with Snow ryu.
There really wasn't a way to measure how much was entering Dark country National Bank. There was even news going around the continent that Uzushio and River wanted to get in on Dark ryu and that the deal for both countries would be finalized in a few weeks after Naruto's return to his home country.
Plus monthly returns from Dark traders from selling their highly demanded products.
Plus returns from ninjas coming back from missions.
In all honesty, Doton Kazahana was threatened by how much he didn't know of Naruto's country.
Naruto could have a force brewing in his country, with the aim of taking over the continent.
Doton didn't like secrets.
"Suna has been making efforts for years to reach where it is now. I scratch their back, they scratch ours. That's how this world of ours works, right?" Naruto said, defending his friend's village. The three other Leaders nodded begrudgingly, agreeing to Naruto's point. "The same can be said about Kiri. The Kage of those two villages made consecutive accurate decisions when it comes to their relations with Darkness."
The three older Leaders looked at themselves and hesitantly agreed that Naruto was right.
Doton silently grit his teeth and his fists clenched into hard fists under the table.
The main plan for this meeting was to weasel information out of the youngest Leader on the events happening inside his reclusive country; Dark allies were keeping their lips sealed.
If he could strong hand his way into Darkness somehow, all the better.
Yes, sure, they could all sign for their countries to be neutral so as to prevent the occurrence of a Fourth war when the five major nations quarrelled, but this, gaining information about Darkness, was the main plan.
It bothered the Snow Daimyo to no end on how much he didn't know about Darkness.
He had spent many sleepless nights wondering what was going on inside Naruto's silent country and plotting ways upon ways to at least unravel one layer of the secrecy.
Like any decent Leader not allied to Dark country, he felt threatened by the air of secrecy and the steady rise in power of the country that refused to open its borders to anyone by allies.
Honestly, it scared him.
Darkness had gotten a seat among the wealthiest nations and the older members of the listings hadn't even ventured into the country.
That was how powerful Dark country was presently.
What would it look like in another ten years?
Who was to say Dark country hadn't already surpassed all three of his senior Wealth Nation counterparts and Naruto, knowing this, was merely humouring them by coming for this historic event.
Who was to say in some years' time, Dark country would elevate past just being a wealthy nation and become a Great Shinobi Nation?
Were they already that powerful?
Honestly, yes.
Darkness had big names like Red Reaper Kushina, Sea Monster Kisame, The Nakamura siblings, Wicked Witch of the Water Shimara, Epic Mist Ran, and who knows how many more.
Darkness had the connections, the network and channels, whether be for trading or for military expeditions. Ones no one could pick out or discern.
Darkness had their sources; for all he knew, Naruto could have someone high up in his country already, long before he removed Snow from the blacklist.
Outwardly, Dark country was a fortress.
As the meeting progressed, Doton felt like he knew less and less about Naruto's country.
He would throw a question, or a jab at Naruto's capabilities as a Leader, and the younger man would deflect the attack with a vague answer that somehow managed to convince even him, politely diverting the conversation to another Leader.
Like now, they had spent fifty long, detailed minutes outlining their reasons of why Dark country was rightfully meant to among the Wealth Nations, assessing how external factors contributed to their final decision; the leading question had been why Naruto, for over twenty seven years, had banned non-allied countries and villages from entering his country.
Then Naruto took ten minutes to speak to Kamina about, now that Kumo was off his blacklist, prospective goods they could trade in.
Kamina would convince Naruto to have some of his ninjas look into their Science and Technology Institution; if Naruto invested enough, she could wave for the administrators of the school to allow Dark people to school there.
Doton coughed and directed a question to Naruto; do you believe you are stronger than your allies?
Naruto answer was a five minute speech, unclearly saying that, "A man is only as strong as his allies." Whatever the hell that meant. Naruto capitalized on their dazed confusion and tossed a question to the glaring Mifune, asking him how difficult it is for a samurai to navigate the world when said world was predominantly made up of ninjas.
The whole hall was enthralled by how Naruto spoke, not even caring that he had only confused and mystified them more on what was happening inside Darkness.
This back and forth of Doton sniffing for information, even the tiniest morsel, and Naruto giving a useless, cryptic answer and using the split second of agreeable, though confused, silence to change the topic before the other Daimyos got their bearings.
The Snow Leader unconsciously suspected that they were all under a genjutsu but discarded this allegation when he remembered his palace had been specially protected against illusions.
After the tenth avoided question, he finally saw it.
The glow in Naruto's peaceful blue eyes and the secret smirk directed to him, and only him.
The Leader of Dark country…knew what Doton was trying to do.
He knew exactly what he was trying to do…
Doton felt a vein pulse dangerously on his forehead and his kind smile twitch down for the just a split second.
Coming into this meeting, the Snow Daimyo knew better than to underestimate Naruto's capabilities as a diplomat and he was smart enough to not look down on Naruto's abilities as a Leader.
But this whole situation was…unexpected.
The bare little he would say would captivate the other Leaders and the spectating guards and he would leave them yearning for his words until Doton dutifully fired a question at him again.
Doton's self-assigned job had turned from interrogator to admirer.
Kamina was definitely intrigued and Mifune's dark glare had reduced to a slow boiling rage. The samurai and the scientist had long since caught onto the game Naruto and Doton were playing, and they had been avidly spectating and participating, but one thing they weren't going to deny was that they were impressed with how the youngest leader was handling the invisible pressure the Daimyo of the First Wealth Nation was putting on him.
The two veteran leaders were not in the dark about what was happening.
No doubt, the guards would go about telling others about the eloquence of the Dark Leader.
Doton had been eating out of Naruto's hand the very moment the blonde man had walked into the hall.
"You slippery little shit." He swore quietly and to himself and Naruto, not catching the muted curse, perked up and sent a friendly smile over to Doton.
"Is there something wrong, Lord Doton?"
"No…nothing wrong, Lord Naruto." His jaw tightened and his fingers cracked.
This merely proved that Naruto was much more dangerous than he had anticipated.
Not only was the bespectacled blonde a living legend and a war hero to boot but he was also a persuasive, charismatic speaker.
"You sneaky…yellow headed…punk." He muttered and Kamina turned to him, a questioningly raised eyebrow and a laughing smirk. The scientist had also come to the meeting to weasel information out of Naruto, but more about his background and not concerning Darkness, and Naruto had caught onto this as well.
"Did you say something, Lord Doton?" Mifune also turned to him with a dry look, inaudibly saying that he had expected more from Doton than to devolve into (cowardly silent) petty insults.
"…We dismiss for lunch."
Naruto clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Ooooh lunch, finally."
Authors note
Another chapter comes to a close.
What are your thoughts on the events that happened in this chapter?
Leave a review, would you so kindly. Please stay safe, wherever you are in the world, and I will see you when I see you.
Foy.