Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Bleach, or Ruroni Kenshin.
Chapter 11: Council
Naruto sliced off an enemy samurai's arm from his shoulder when he felt a pulse of Reiryoku from a distance. He growled when he realized that it came from the ring he gave to his surrogate brother. He disappeared from his spot only to appear behind a samurai who was about to cut his head off. With another growl, he swung Kenshin in wide horizontal arc that cleave the attacker in two, armor and all.
He disappeared using Shunpo to reappear on top of the battle standing on a spiritual platform. He looked around until he found the man he was looking for. He disappeared again, this time, with a purpose.
Mifune grunted as he blocked a clumsy swing from a samurai that dared to attack him one-on-one. He expertly slapped the blade away with his own before decapitating his opponent with a lazy swing. A shout from behind him caught his attention so he immediately turned to prepare for another opponent only to see a sword sticking out of an enemy samurai whose face was filled with shock and pain.
"I'm sorry to barge in on you Mifune-dono but I need to ask your permission to temporarily withdraw from the battle." said Naruto before kicking the enemy he just skewered to free his blade and flicked it to the side to get rid of the blood.
"What seems to be the problem, Oni-dono?" said Mifune before sending a swipe of his blade to the side to parry a swing from an enemy samurai before punching him square in the face. He finished him off by separating the head from the body.
"I just felt a pulse of energy from the ring I gave Asuma and I think he would only use it if they are in trouble. It is only polite to ask your permission first before leaving the battle. Byakurai." said Naruto before firing a spell to a target behind the elderly samurai.
Mifune simply turned to see an enemy sneaking up on him with a hole on his head. The aged leader simply shook his head for the lapse and turned to Naruto who was waiting for his permission.
"You have my permission, Oni-dono. I think we can handle it from here but it is best for you to be quick about it since we don't know when those missing-nins would show up. We have fought for almost an hour now and there isn't a sign of them from here."
Naruto nodded and disappeared with a spot causing the old samurai to release a chuckle before turning around and slicing a samurai who was about to cut him.
"Tsk. Youngsters these days. Always in a hurry." He murmured. Those who heard him didn't know if he was talking about the masked shinobi swordsman or the enemy who he just cleaved in two.
Asuma grunted in annoyance as he avoided a sand shuriken from the missing-nin he was facing. It was supposed to be a simple demolition mission to destroy the camp while the missing-nins were away. However, they ran into a complication when said missing-nins decided to double-cross their 'friends' to use the time to raid the camp of anything valuable and hightailing it out of there, leaving their allies to be slaughtered. He was disgusted that shinobis resorted to such tactics but he couldn't deny the fact that these shinobis became missing-nins because of the lack of honor, if there was such a thing as honor in the shinobi world that is.
He jumped back to dodge a fireball that was about to roast him and rendezvoused with the rest of his group to form a defensive line. If help didn't come soon then it would their last stand.
"Damn it. How is your wound, Kurenai?" shouted Asuma as he eyed the missing-nins in front of them.
"Not good." said Kurenai with a cough, blood running down her chin. She was careless earlier when she concentrated on her illusions. One of the nins was able to immediately dispel her technique while another hit her with a shuriken on the stomach. This was one of the reasons why she was a support instead of a front-line fighter. Her skills demanded nothing less. "Are you sure he's coming?"
"Yes, though I'm sure he's going to be delayed a bit considering that he's dealing with an army with the rest of Mifune's samurais. How's the rest handling it?" asked Asume as he flew through a set of hand seals and shouting out his technique.
"Fuuton: Great Breakthrough!"
He blew out a powerful gust of wind that threw some of missing-nins away from them. From the way things were going, they couldn't hold out on the defensive for long and they didn't have the necessary firepower to be on the offensive. After all, six couldn't hope to survive a battle facing an army of missing-nins. They might be skilled but they weren't that skilled.
"He better come soon or there would be none of us to return to Konoha." said the Aburame as he recalled whatever was left of his Kikaichu partners back to his coat before pulling out a kunai and flinging it a missing-nin who wasn't able to dodge the quick attack and died for it. "One down, thirty nine more to go. Logically speaking, we're screwed."
The leader of the missing-nins, a Jounin-level shinobi from Iwa, sneered at the group.
"Why don't you surrender? We'll make your deaths nice and painless if you do." said Iwa nin before leering at the wounded Kurenai with lust in his eyes. "Well, some of you anyway. I'm sure the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha would just love to spend some time with us and make her illusions of fun a reality."
Before they could answer, a rope of white energy surrounded the Iwa nin before flying through the air and cleaved in half, showering everyone in blood.
"I don't think so. There is nothing I hate more than rapists." growled Naruto in a cold voice before flicking his sword to the side to get rid of the blood. He didn't want Kenshin to be bathed in such dirty blood any more than it had to.
"Oni-sama!" cried Akido and Yahiko in relief. This revelation caused the missing-nins to stiffen and look at the newcomer in fear.
"Shit. It's the Hitokiri Battousai. I didn't know he was from Konoha." shouted a Suna-nin in fear.
"I don't care where he's from, let's get out of here." said another Suna-nin before turning around to make a run for it. However, that attempt was cut off when a blast of white lightning blew his head off from his shoulders. Everyone turned to see the masked swordsman pointing a smoking index finger at the once-alive missing-nin.
"I don't think so, my friend." Naruto said coldly before turning to Asuma who was helping Kurenai with the wound on her stomach. "What happened here?"
"The missing-nins decided to betray their 'friends', Oni. When we got here, they were raiding the camp for any valuable. Since we disengaged Kurenai's illusions, they were able to detect us and attacked immediately. We defended ourselves as best we could before I sent out that signal using the ring you gave me. From the looks of it, they came here for the money and not to help with the rebellion." Asuma explained as he tried to staunch the flow of blood from Kurenai's stomach with a piece of cloth he cut off from his sleeve.
"I see." said Naruto before spying the wound on Kurenai's stomach. "What happened to her?"
"She was hit while casting her illusion." Asuma answered worriedly, trying to staunch the flow of blood from his partner's wound.
Naruto growled before pointing his index and middle finger on Kurenai and cast a spell.
"Iyasu." was all he said before a beam of green light hit Kurenai, causing her to gasp. Everyone was astonished to see the flow of blood stop as the wounds began to heal.
"What in the world was that?" said Akido in awe as he pulled out his 'book' and started writing on it. This caused everyone in the ravine area to sweatdrop.
"That's one of my spells, Iyasu. It will heal anything short of a mortal wound." explained Naruto before cutting off the flow of energy since Kurenai was already fully-healed. "Now, let's deal with the trash."
Naruto immediately ran towards the fearful missing nins with Kenshin on his side. It didn't take long for him to reach them and started wading through the missing nins either killing or maiming anyone who got to near.
Determination renewed thanks to Naruto's powerful presence and skill, the Konoha Team got back on their feet and fought like rabid dogs. Jutsus and weapons were flying around taking down missing-nins left and right.
It didn't take long for the Konoha Team to finish the missing-nins off with their combined skill. In truth, Naruto's enemies were too scared of his presence that they weren't able to muster enough courage to fight back effectively making it easy for the Konoha group to bring them down. In the end, it was a slaughter of epic proportion.
When they were done and making sure none of the missing-nins were left, Naruto assigned Yahiko and Akido to seal the bodies into the scrolls since it was possible that some of them would have a bounty on their heads. He then dispatched the Aburame and Hyuuga to enter the caves and retrieve any sensitive information concerning the rebellion. Since he didn't have anything better to do, he checked on each of the shinobis in his team and hit them with his healing spell to get rid of their wounds.
"We're done sealing the bodies, Oni-sama." shouted Akido as he waved a scroll over his head. Being the one in charge of supplies, Akido had plenty of storage scrolls to go around.
Naruto nodded before turning to the rest of the team who was standing in attention in front of him. It was weird since everyone, even Asuma, was giving him a look of respect and awe.
"Mifune-dono and his army should be finishing up with rebellion right about now but I want to make sure that they have everything under control. Asuma, I want you to take charge of the group and head to the rendezvous point and assist Mifune from behind the enemy lines. Give the Aburame and Hyuuga an order to complete their task before catching up. I will go on ahead since I can get there faster than all of you. Understood?"
"Sure thing, Oni. I'll handle everything here. You go ahead and we'll catch up." Asuma said with a nod before turning to the group and started barking out orders.
Naruto nodded before jumping up and standing on the a platform he created at the peak of his ascent and disappeared with an overcharged Shunpo leaving the group from below to look at him in awe.
"Okay troops, prepare your gears and move out. We have a samurai army to back up." commanded Asuma after giving the two tracker Jounins their orders. When everyone was ready, they ran out of the enemy camp towards the rendezvous point to assist the samurais in battle.
Naruto appeared in the air on top of the battle just outside of Tetsu no Kuni. The blonde swordsman observed the fight below him and noted that the defenders have things well in hand. He counted around fifty more rebels before deciding to join the fight. He disappeared again using Shunpo and appeared behind Mifune to slash at a charging rebel before skewering him on the heart.
"Hope you don't mind the assistance, Mifune-dono." Naruto said as a form of greeting.
"Welcome back, Oni-dono." replied Mifune with a grunt since he was parrying a rather skilled samurai's attacks. "I hope you took care of the problem."
"Oh I did." said Naruto before rapid firing six Shos to knock back a group of attacking rebels. "I'm happy to inform you that the missing-nins won't be joining the fight. It would seem that they decided to double-cross the rebels, leaving them behind to steal their valuables. I was able to save my team from being slaughtered and returned the favor. They will be here in a few minutes to assist us."
"Good." said Mifune before executing a lightning fast battoujutsu maneuver that cleaved his opponent in half.
"That was a very powerful attack." Naruto commented as he observed the powerful style the old samurai was displaying. He grunted as he was being pushed back by a rather strong opponent when he blocked a rather powerful overhand slash. He growled at the samurai in front of him and decided to finish him off. His energy was almost depleted from the overpowered Shinsei Taihou and the continuous use of Shunpo to reach his team and back. He pushed back with all his might, throwing the samurai off from his frenzy and prepared to sheathe Kenshin to launch his next attack.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryuumeisen!" Naruto shouted before sheathing Kenshin back into its home with so much speed and power that it created a miniature sonic boom that stunned his opponent. Growling, he used his current battoujutsu stance to end the fight.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Souryuusen!" Naruto growled out before pulling out Kenshin from its sheath that hit the opponent on the ribs and followed it up with the now empty sheath. His double-attack shattered the opponent's ribcage and liquefying his lungs and heart, killing him instantly.
Mifune who already dispatched his opponent watched in awe as the blonde swordsman in front of him executed two powerful techniques with his sword in dazzling mastery. Not only was the old samurai awed at the grace of the techniques but marveled at their devastating results.
"So that is your sword style, Oni-dono? Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is it?" queried Mifune in curiosity and excitement.
"It is Mifune-dono. Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is considered an ancient style. And sorry, I can't tell you where it came from and who taught it to me since that alone is a secret when the knowledge is passed on or if I chose to appoint a successor." replied Naruto as he sheathed Kenshin back into its home. He looked at the rear of the group to see his team attacking the leftover rebels, ensuring the battle to be won in their favor. "It would seem that the battle is at an end."
"So it would seem. All that's left is clean-up." Mifune said with a huff as his eyes observed the mess the battle created. When the last of the rebels were struck down, the loud cheer of victory echoed around the battlefield, punctuated by a similar sound coming from the village. This made Naruto smile behind his mask. Not bad for a day's work.
The Konoha Team stayed in Tetsu no Kuni for three more days to make sure that there weren't any stranglers to make life a living hell for the aged samurai leader. While there, the Konoha Team underwent a side-mission to make sure that all spies of the rebels were rooted out and performed a thorough background check on all council members to ensure that none of this would happen again. They were aided by the various documents they pilfered from the rebel camp and used them to target certain figures of authority that had a hand in the battle, though indirectly.
Of course, Naruto stayed in the background while his team did all the work. He offered, of course, but his team would have none of it since they said that he already done enough for the entire mission.
To pass the boredom of doing nothing, he trained for a bit with Mifune to improve his battoujutsu skills since he didn't focus on it during his training. It was fortunate for Naruto that the old samurai was a master of Iaido, a style in which one would rapidly unsheathe one's blade to attack enemies and re-sheathing it after the attack is completed. A few hours into the training session with the old samurai, Mifune commented that Naruto's skill in battoujutsu was top-notch judging from the mastery of some Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu techniques involving battoujutsu. However, his Iai skills needs a bit of works and achieving mastery only required time and practice.
Considering that the old samurai general couldn't teach Naruto anything new, they indulge themselves in various sparring matches while putting handicaps in their techniques to make the fight more interesting. It was a sight to behold and the Konoha shinobis and samurai warriors would crowd into the arena to see the two masters dishing it out. When their three-day stay ended, the count was 21-20 with Naruto leading with a slight margin thanks to his Shinsoku.
Naruto didn't know it but his legend as a shinobi swordsman would be released into the world, how he stood toe-to-toe and won against the aged samurai whose skills were on par with Kages in the shinobi world.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The Konoha Team with Naruto in the lead entered the gates of Konohagakure no Sato after a successful S-Rank mission in Tetsu no Kuni. Of course, being the leader, Naruto was the one who took care of the Chuunin guards to grant them entry.
"Oni and team returning to Konoha from a successful S-Rank mission to Tetsu no Kuni." Naruto informed the two Chuunins before handing them the scroll containing their mission parameters, a scroll signed by the general and leader of Tetsu no Kuni, Mifune.
One of the Chuunin guards peaked at the scrolled and paled before immediately handing it back to the masked shinobi who was looking at him with a grin on his face hidden behind his demon mask.
"O-Oni-sama and team, w-welcome back to K-Konoha. Please report to the Hokage's Office immediately for debriefing." stuttered the Chuunin who was looking at Naruto in awe, fear, and respect – a curious combination if nothing else.
"Thank you." said Naruto before turning to his team who were grinning at him. During their stay in Tetsu no Kuni, he shared a camaraderie with his teammates and got to know them better. In fact, he was treated more like a friend and teammate than an actual legend. They knew that the masked shinobi swordsman was annoyed when the samurais who saw his feat in battle kept bowing and adding 'sama' to his name. "Alright team. Please head to the Hokage Tower from here for debriefing. I'll meet you there."
Without another word, he disappeared using Shunpo, shocking the two Chuunin guards and causing the Konoha delegates to snicker at them.
Naruto appeared inside the Hokage's office to find his surrogate grandfather reading the various reports on his desk.
"Good afternoon, jiji. S-Rank mission to Tetsu no Kuni a success." said Naruto in a cheerful voice, not bothering to hide his relationship with the old Sarutobi since he sensed that they were alone and no one was within hearing range. Sarutobi took the scroll his masked surrogate grandson offered and noted the signature of his old friend, Mifune, signifying the completion of the mission.
"Very good, Oni-kun." Sarutobi said with a smile filled with pride before reading the mission scroll since the entirety of the team's mission report was inside. He frowned for a bit before breathing out a sigh of relief. "I see that there were some complications during the mission."
Naruto nodded.
"It was a touch and go situation, jiji, but it was a good thing that I gave Asuma-nii a tracker ring of my design so he could call backup if necessary. Good thing too since they were outnumbered 4 to 1." the masked blonde informed him.
"I see. From your report, you created another one of your spells again; this time causing a large amount of damage too." Sarutobi stated with a raised eyebrow. Naruto scratched the back of his head while releasing a sheepish chuckle.
"Yeah. I call it Shinsei Taihou. It is an area-damage spell since I lack one of those. Actually, that was the first time I used it overpowered. Let me tell you, the tongue-lashing I got from old man Mifune and Kurama made my ears ring."
Sarutobi nodded while giving the embarrassed swordsman a mock glare.
"If I was there, I would give you the same thing, Oni-kun. You already know how dangerous it is to experiment un-mastered techniques even if this one is unique to you. Anyway, congratulations on your third successful S-Rank mission."
"Thanks, jiji. Anyway, do you need anything else? I'll be going home now to rest a bit. The others will be coming in any minute now." said Naruto as he sensed his teammates approaching the office on foot.
"I'll call for you if I need you. Go and rest up. You deserve it." Sarutobi said with a smile causing the masked boy to nod and disappear from the room in a swirl of leaves before a knock came from the door.
Danzo was stumped as he read the report from one of his ROOT spies in Tetsu no Kuni. How in the world did the boy acquire such power?
According to his spy, the boy displayed a frightening mastery over a sword style that was equal to the Mifune, a powerful samurai that could go toe-to-toe with a Kage-level shinobi. Not only that, the boy commands a devastating technique using an energy that wasn't chakra that disintegrated dozens of samurais on impact? It wasn't the Kyuubi since the spy informed him that the boy didn't have the tell-tale red chakra nor does the energy display a sense of malice or evil that was a side-effect of the bijuu's potent energy.
Oh, Danzo knew who Oni was from the various reports his ROOT operative kept sending him as they maintained a strict surveillance over the boy. He fought tooth and nail with the old monkey to have the boy inducted into his training program to create a weapon for Konoha and failed every time with various loopholes in the Konoha Charter. He didn't know how his former teammate did it but it seemed that the boy was already a powerful weapon. He didn't even have to lift a finger.
No. The boy, Uzumaki Naruto, grew to be a powerhouse that made Konoha a powerful shinobi village and that brought a smirk to Danzo's face. Despite his rather unethical methods, Danzo would do anything in his power to secure Konoha's place as the strongest and would be damned if he would fail now.
Maybe it was time to meet this so-called Oni and determine his plans in the future. Even if recruiting him into ROOT was no longer possible, he needed to know if the boy was a threat to Konoha or not.
Danzo stood from his chair and placed the document he was holding on the table. A Council Meeting was called regarding the integration of Oni into the ranks. He knew that Sarutobi already made some plans to answer all the questions aimed at him. He too would take such precautions if he was facing an inquisition. He walked towards the door and headed straight for the Hokage tower via one of the secret tunnels from his base to a building a few blocks away.
He was eager to find out if any of his 'questions' would be answered to his satisfaction before meeting with the legendary swordsman.
Sarutobi was sporting a headache. He was currently in his seat in front of the entire Konoha Council, both civilian and shinobi, to answer their inquiry concerning the revelation that Oni, the Hitokiri Battousai, was a Konoha shinobi.
A swordsman, yes, but a shinobi all the same.
He already expected this to happen but he didn't like the bickering that the council erupted to when he confirmed that Oni was indeed a Konoha shinobi.
"Let me get this straight, Hokage-sama, Oni, the mysterious Hitokiri Battousai with an A-Rank bounty on his head, is a Konoha shinobi?" asked Nara Shikaku, Konoha's leading tactician.
"You're correct, Shikaku." answered Sarutobi with a nod of his head. "Though I would like to correct you on that since it is quite possible that he would be bumped into S-Rank soon enough with the feats he displayed in Tetsu no Kuni. In fact, I heard from a reliable source that Mifune-dono had been very vocal with his praise of the man."
This caused a lot of the shinobis in the council to look at him with incredulity.
"But why keep him a secret, Hokage-sama? I mean, it would have been a boon to Konoha to make sure that his identity is public, not to mention who the person behind the mask really is." asked Koharu, one of his advisors and former teammate.
"It was necessary at that time, Koharu. If you stop and really think about it, Konoha has always been obvious in its movement, whether it be missions or spying. Despite how skilled our shinobis are; all our actions will still point back to us no thanks to the spies that I know exists in this village." He raised his hand to stop the objection that he knew was coming from the shinobi-side of the council. "And please don't tell me that Konoha doesn't have any spies because that is an impossibility in itself. We are shinobis after all. If we have spies in other villages, what is stopping them from having one in our territory? No, my aim to keep Oni's identity and affiliation a secret is because I want someone in the shadows to reinforce Konoha's will. A secret operative, if you will, that only answers to me." explained Sarutobi. This caused a lot of murmurs to erupt from the council.
"So what is his exact rank, Hokage-sama?" asked Hiashi in monotone. "With his skill, he could easily be a Jounin considering his bounty in the Bingo Book. In the span of six months, Oni rivaled many of our skilled shinobis in terms of missions and ability."
"You're correct, Hiashi. His skill is definitely that of a Jounin of above though I would say that he is along the level of a Sannin if he decides to go all out." This revelation caused a lot of incredulous looks directed at him. The Sannins were, after all, the strongest in the village next only to the Hokage. "I know what he is capable off and the various mission successes he had for the past six months is a testament to his skill. In regards to his rank, no, he is not a Jounin. He doesn't have an exact rank at all. In fact, I activated a secret position just for him."
"Don't tell me, Sarutobi, he is…" Danzo looked at his former teammate with a new form of respect. The one-eyed shinobi didn't know that his friend had it in him. Homura looked at Danzo questioningly.
"What do you mean, Danzo? Do you know what Oni's position really is?" asked Homura in curiosity.
Danzo nodded and gave Sarutobi a nod of respect before answering.
"Yes, I know exactly what Oni is in terms of his position here in the village. During the time of the Shodaime and Nidaime, it was necessary to have someone protect Konoha from the shadows. This was one of the reasons why I created ROOT in the first place though the program is abolished now." Well, it wasn't but he didn't need to tell them that. He saw Sarutobi raise an eyebrow at this which made him inwardly curse his carelessness in bringing it up since he knew that his old teammate knew that ROOT still existed. He coughed to regain his bearings and cursed some more when he saw the old monkey smirk at him. "As I was saying, the Shodaime and Nidaime created a position that is given to a specific shinobi who showed exceptional skills in all aspects of the shinobi arts. This position is called the Kage's Hand, or Konoha's Assassin."
This revelation caused a lot of fearful murmurs to erupt around the room. Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at Danzo which the one-eyed man mimicked though there was a form of amusement in Danzo's face as noted by the aged leader. Sarutobi swore that his teammate was giving him a thumbs-up for his decision in regards to activating that position though the war-hawk refrained from doing so since it would look childish.
"Danzo is correct." This caused the murmurs to die down. "Despite Konoha recuperating from the Kyuubi attack 10 years ago, it still doesn't have enough manpower to handle the most dangerous missions. Sure, we have plenty of talented shinobis in our ranks but Konoha needed an operative that works in the shadows to handle missions that is too sensitive and must not be traced back to us. This is why I gave Oni the title of Kage's Hand."
"But what is his exact rank, Hokage-sama?" asked Denbe, one of the richest merchants in Konoha with a seat in the council.
"If you want to be specific about it, Kage's Hand is directly under the Hokage. If you want to be technical, a Kage's Hand's authority is equal to that of the Sannin." Sarutobi answered with a straight face.
"But the question still stands, Hokage-sama; who is Oni?" asked Danzo, this question would ensure if the old monkey's determination was well placed or not.
Sarutobi looked at Danzo in the eye and answered with a seriousness that made his body shiver in fear.
"He is my assassin, Danzo. That is all you need to know about him." The Hokage answered coldly which revealed to everyone in the room that the Professor, the God of Shinobis, was back in business.
It has been two days since his mission in Tetsu no Kuni and Naruto was taking the downtime as a vacation to be spent tinkering around in his clearing in Training Ground 44. After checking up and stocking up on some food for his nursery of salmon and other species of fish, he spent the rest of his time harvesting and planting new vegetables in his slightly enlarged garden.
He was brought out of this happy chore when he sensed a presence at the edge of the clearing. He inwardly tensed as he looked at the direction where the presence originated, revealing a man with a bandaged eye and lack of a right arm starting at him.
"Good afternoon, Uzumaki Naruto…or should I say...Oni, the Hitokiri Battousai of Konoha." said the man that caused Naruto to prepare
End of Chapter 11
Date uploaded: July 10, 2012
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