Summary: Chapter 31 of Redesign takes place after the events of the 22nd chapter when Mio is confronted with the reality of what happens to previous artifact guardians - and what will be happening to her grandfather in due time - as Kurata is under attack by the Mikazuki-Uchiha (led by Mikazuki Rikuto and Uchiha Hiryuu - none of which make an actual appearance or mention, but are important) alliance. Important details to reacquaint yourself with, Mio's arranged engagement to Hisano's nephew (as orchestrated by Musashi), Tobirama fronting the Senju and Kuronuma army fighting off the enemies, and I think that's it.
Chapter 31 | A Path in Ways I
They began to loop—the tragedies—and melt into each other until it felt like she lived them all one after the next. The blood soaked fingers digging into her matted hair, the sweet whispers in her ear as the house came undone in Mikazuki Gouki's careless search, and the frozen expression on her father's severed head as her mother's warm body went cold against hers. Behind her—the air wiping cold lashes at her back—the voices of the massacred villagers echoed in her head, the Mikazuki's insignia drawn in blood on the snow propelled her towards the worst sights of it. The men were in pieces, the women were broken, and the children died beneath their mother's fading warmth, as she should have that day so long ago.
Slowly, the scene faded to the feel of a rusted dagger clawing at her back, the blood pooled underneath her, as she watched Eito forced to his knees, the bitter smile still on his face. Konoe chirped in her ear, raving as she carved away at her back, cutting chunks of flesh from it until she was numb from the pain. However, nothing prepared her to see the kunai draw a dark red line across Eito's pale neck or for the blood spilling from it to flow black and thick like tar. The dull knife came into view, reflecting the carnage of her back and a wicked grin from her pallid aunt before she stabbed into it again—
Uchiha Mio twisted underneath the pelt of blankets atop her, feeling as if something ripped across her back. She gasped for breath, the frosty air burning down her throat, as her eyes searched her yurt's familiar surroundings expecting the nightmares to have come alive with her waking. She rose into a seat and tugged off the loose top she had worn to bed, the cold rushing against her sweat-slicked skin. She patted her back in search of a wound that would not be there only to feel the scars of those that remained.
She felt she was going insane. The pain was too much to bear. How could anyone live with it? So much tragedy? How could they not resist the sweet bliss of insanity? She clutched her shirt to her chest and drew her knees up, leaning against them to rest her head on her knees as she tried to imagine something different—happier. She thought of her confrontation with Musashi and his revelation and her heart seized up. Her entire body tensed to the sound of the winds whipping against the tarp outside, threatening to smother the echo of a voice before it reached her.
She tugged on her shirt and leaned against her knees again, resting her head atop them.
"Once a sphere has found a new host, there is no need for the old one."
She opened her mouth and a pained, shuddered gasp escaped her—the oxygen struggling through her airways, pushing through barriers with the promise of asphyxiation. The image of Shin wrapping gauze over a bad contusion on his bicep entered her head as Musashi's words bellowed from the far reaches of her memory.
"It mars the skin with terrible, painful bruises that slowly cover the entire body."
The dread grasped her by the neck like a rope winding itself round and round and round over the pale flesh until it sealed her throat shut and the final breaths in her lungs escaped her with a deafening sound. She dropped back onto her bed, struggling with her crippling anxiety.
"Before the sphere passes onto its new host, it releases a poison that runs through the bloodstream."
Mio reached for her neck, fingernails digging into the constricted muscles. The metaphorical noose was tightening, killing her. I can't breathe. And the fear came rushing back.
"It is the last burden for its previous host and it is meant to kill them after they have finished passing on their knowledge to the new host."
She recalled the awful sound of her heart beating as she observed Musashi's unchanging expression while he spoke his truths, and the painful twist she felt in her stomach like the sharp end of a knife carving into her entrails. She felt sick. She remembered wishing, deep down, that she had half the strength her mother possessed when she lived to steady herself.
Mio wanted her mother now. She wanted her father. She wanted everyone that no longer existed. She needed somebody to cut the noose, to remind her to breathe. Everything in her mind and body was a panicked mess. The cold of her mother's dying body had returned atop her own, smothering her, and Kikyo's voice whispered to her while Musashi's baritone filled her head with bleakness.
"Breathe Mio."
"Once it reaches the heart, it's over. It's incurable."
"Mio…breathe."
"Such is the life of a guardian."
"Mio, breathe!"
The edge of her vision blurred into the dark shadows of the ceiling and tears.
The yurt's wooden foundation shuddered and creaked under the unending assault of the wintry winds.
"Is my grandfather going to die?"
Blood spilled onto her hands from her fingers stabbing into her neck, there was flesh under her nails.
She couldn't breathe.
"Takuto!"
Hashirama's face came into view. His warm hands clasped her wrists, forcing them from her bloodied neck.
She had not heard him enter, but the sight of him made her cry in shame. "I…I…" she struggled, heaving. She wept in desperation, speaking between heaves, each a painful ache in her chest. "I…can't—I can't…breathe!"
Hashirama bent her knees, assuring her everything would be fine.
Nothing he or anyone could do would stop Shin from dying. The poison would kill him. It would kill him as Gouki killed her parents. He would be dead like Eito and all those innocent villagers that died and she would be in that place again. In that sad, desolate plane where only she existed with all her nightmares. She could not handle it. Not again.
"I need you to relax," Hashirama said firmly in Takuto's absence, "and breathe. You need to breathe, Mio."
She shook her hand, tears rolling down her cheeks. She could not. She knew she could not do it.
"Yes, you can," he told her, repositioning her hands. He put one over her stomach and the other over her chest. "Breathe in through your nose."
Mio blinked away the tears that blurred her vision, feeling her heart pulsing underneath her palm and his hands resting atop hers, holding them firmly in place as her repeated his request. His tone was smooth and his insistence clear as he held her gaze.
"Breathe in through your nose, Mio," he urged, squeezing her hands in reassurance. He looked up in the direction of the entrance and called out to Takuto again, his voice drowned in the howls of the wind followed by a silence disrupted by her panicked wheezing. His eyes never left hers again. "You can do it, Mio. Come on, breathe through your nose."
Mio became aware of his hands. Their presence and warmth calmed her.
She nodded slowly.
As she inhaled through her nose, he went on speaking, "Exhale through your mouth. Take your time." He pressed lightly against the hand on her stomach after she expressed her understanding. "Use this hand to push all the air out."
She followed his instruction. She repeated it again—once, twice, three times, even a fourth time—until she regulated her breathing. The fear dissipated along with her nightmarish visions.
"Better?" he asked with a pleasant smile.
Mio swallowed slowly and nodded.
Hashirama helped her onto a seat and she quietly wrapped her arms around him in search of reassurance, crying in silence. He sat stiffly, stunned, but his arm dropped around her shoulders and his cheek pressed against the top of her head, easing into her unconscious actions.
"You're good," he said softly, patting her back.
Mio stared at the blood on her fingernails.
Takuto arrived inside her home to find them as they were without moving and his eyes followed the bloodstains on her blankets to her hands. "What happened?"
"I found her having a fit," Hashirama explained, separating from her. "She couldn't breathe."
Hashirama gathered water into a bowl and some linen cloths, taking both items to her side as she sat in between the two young men, both scrutinizing the damage.
Takuto lifted her chin for a closer look once he lit a candle and started to clean it as Hashirama rubbed the blood from her hands underneath the shallow surface of water. The tiny gashes were disinfected with a green paste that stank of herbs and stung upon contact before Takuto wrapped her neck in loose gauze. She was guided to dry her hands in a cloth and did so before any words were spoken.
"Does this happen often?" asked Hashirama.
Images of the first time flashed before her eyes, being unable to breathe as her mother commanded her to do. "It only happened once," she said slowly, batting Takuto's hand away from her face. "It's done. I feel fine. Thank you…both of you."
"You are not fine," Takuto argued, persisting in touching her face until she let him gauge her temperature. "You have been acting strangely since you talked to Shugosha-sama. Did he say something that upset you?"
Mio rested her head on her folded knees, hugging them to her chest. Musashi had spoken the truth and as alarming as it had been, she had been determined to step out of his home understanding that it was the nature of the spheres and that nothing could be done, as he had said. She had tried to keep her mind out of it when Takuto and Hashirama returned to her company, but it had been difficult to accomplish. The truth had been laid out for her to stomach and its impact had left her stupefied. She had refused to let it upset her, but that seemed to be the only emotion she could feel, coupled with fear—the agonizing terror of losing another loved one.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "It was not meant to be upsetting."
"It was bad enough for you to have a fit," Hashirama pointed out.
"I have not felt like I could not do anything since I met my grandfather," she said, exhaling deeply. "Yesterday, it was like I was nine again and withering from the inside out." Her eyes glazed with tears about to fall and she lifted her face to the shadows stretched before her dancing to the sphere of light emitting from the single candle in her home. "He brought me back to reality and it made me feel so useless…so powerless."
"What did he say?" Takuto persisted.
"He did not say anything at all," she answered. "It was Hiryuu's message."
"The one about the girl?" asked Hashirama, confused.
"The one about me," she said with a nod. "Hiryuu left me a hidden message."
"About the guardians?" Takuto guessed.
"And what happens once they are no longer guardians," Mio finished in response, the sound a bitter cry. "My grandfather gave these artifacts to me. I am the new host and he will die because there cannot be two guardians for a sphere at once."
Takuto and Hashirama absorbed the knowledge, staring at her in surprise.
"But you're the next Shugosha," Takuto stated. "Should that not—?"
She shook her head, silencing him. "The poison is already killing him," she divulged. "I know it. I am supposed to be the Shugosha, I should have all the answers, all the solutions, but the only thing I can think of doing is cry. He's my grandfather." The first tear rolled off her nose and a second followed down her cheek, the rest washed down her face. "I can't lose him, he's my grandfather. He is everything…to me."
"How certain are you?" Hashirama asked, hopeful. "Perhaps it won't happen. Your grandfather is the healthiest man alive, only second to Musashi-san."
"There's a resonance between the artifacts," she whispered tearfully. "And it lingers for a little time between guardians. I can sense the poison running through his bloodstream. It is inevitable. There is absolutely nothing I can do."
Neither one of her companions could think of something to say, and she was glad for their silence. She was not seeking comfort when her mind was swimming in dangerous ideas. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and exhaled, finally feeling the air fill her lungs. However, nothing changed because even though she was breathing in air, it felt like water and she felt like she was drowning in her affliction.
Hashirama pressed his hand to her shoulder, startling her. "You should rest."
Takuto nodded in agreement. "Hashirama is right. You should go back to sleep," he said, starting to gather the medical supplies to return them to their place and stand. "I'll stay to make sure you sleep through the night."
"Thank you," she said, "but I will be fine on my own. I want to be alone for a moment…to think."
"We can come by periodically," Hashirama decided, standing up. "To check up on you."
Mio nodded.
Hashirama was the first to step out of her home, bidding her good dreams, but Takuto lingered at the entrance, facing in her direction. The concern in his expression was a combination of many emotions stemming from a lack of understanding and his own frustration.
"It was only one fit," she assured him, earning a frown. "They never happen twice in one day."
"Yes, but I'm worried," Takuto replied. "I cannot fathom half the things you have experienced in your life or what you are going through now, but wouldn't your grandfather be the first to tell you there is nothing you can't do in life?"
Mio found her smile—a small, bitter one, but she felt it. "Yes, he would."
"Good night." Takuto stepped back towards the entrance. "I'll be back in later."
Once she was alone again, Mio stood to walk to the water. She splashed cold water into her face and stared into the dark as if in a daze. Her mind went completely blank. She never expected to face such a feat in her entire time on Mt. Hyōga or in the presence of her grandfather. Shin had always been invincible in her eyes, like he might last an eternity. She longed to have an eternity to be his granddaughter—to experience his antics, to listen to his advice whenever she was too stubborn and learn from it. She wanted to know all about him and his stories. She needed him to be with her, so that she could make him proud when she finished her training and succeeded Musashi as Shugosha, but something deep down told her that she would never see him again.
After that last time, never again.
Unconsciously she reached to her ear, touching the Black Sphere, which once fueled her grandfather's life, and laid down on the floor, curling into herself. Even with two artifacts, she was powerless.
Mio closed her eyes and let the nightmares take her, but it was not long before she woke. She shook the frightful thoughts from her head and rushed to dig a bag from a chest of her things. She searched for a change of clothing and three more to take with her as well as the essentials. The idea that had dawned in her mind filled her with an insurmountable amount of fear, but she was being driven by the fact that she was no longer nine and useless. She would be eighteen in a week and a half. She held onto two artifacts and she would one day take Musashi's place as Shugosha. Her mastery of the black water jutsu was not where she wanted to be, but she had a grasp on it and had mastered one of several techniques she practiced with the Elder Uzuki.
She would not remain on the mountain a sitting duck. She planned to do something about this war by venturing out despite everyone's insistence in keeping her there and simultaneously seek out the one way she knew might help her grandfather overcome death.
It was a stupidly rash decision, reminiscent of her young self's actions in the past, but she was certain it would work. It had to work. There was no other option available to her and even this had been a stretch. She had been weak and in a sleepy haze when her grandfather had started his story. Shin had talked about the guardian of the Fate Sphere, a woman called Hag, who resided in the Water Country, and her ability to read pathways. She had learned more about the artifact through Musashi and its abilities to reveal the many possibilities one individual has in his or her lifetime dictated by actions and decisions of said person and those around them.
Mio figured that if she could take the Fate Sphere from Hag, she could find a way to save her grandfather. She believed she could find the answer in the Fate Sphere, one capable of circumventing death. With the Fate Sphere back in Kuronuma hands, she imagined the wars ending, sparing many lives. It meant the protection of her family, so she did not bother thinking of the risk of engaging Hag because she wouldn't be doing it alone. She remembered Shin had suggested she take Madara if she ever planned to meet the woman and while a good reason for doing so escaped her, she wouldn't ignore her grandfather's advice. Not when in memory it had been filled with conviction.
"What are you doing?"
Takuto's suspicious tone took her by surprise, but it did not stop her from packing her bag.
"I am leaving the mountain," she said.
"Are you insane? Kurata is in the midst of an invasion with people waiting to get their hands on you and you want to leave the mountain?" Takuto took several steps toward her, prepared to become the wall between herself and mission.
"I can stop this," she said, facing him. "I can save him. I can help everyone."
"It's too dangerous!"
"My grandfather would be the first to tell me there is nothing I can't do in life, you were the one that said it," she said, earning a frown. "I believe it."
At the first sound of noise, she and Takuto looked towards the entrance as Hashirama stepped in, rubbing his eyes as a yawn escaped him. The Senju shinobi took notice of the mess she made and the packed bag in her hand. He immediately became alert.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"She wants to leave the mountain," Takuto revealed.
"Don't do that," Hashirama said. "The Mikazuki and Uchiha are waiting for you to give up and turn yourself into them."
"I am not turning myself over to them," said Mio, earning an awkward look from him.
"Oh." Hashirama blinked. "When are we leaving?"
"Don't encourage this behavior!" Takuto shouted before rounding on her. "You need to reconsider your decision and take your position into account! You aren't just anyone, you are the next Shugosha. There isn't another one after you and you should know what happens every time Musashi fails to pass on his sphere."
"The collective weakens, he as well," she said exasperatedly. "I am not going out there blindly, I have a plan."
"A plan? Really? Are you going to find the grim reaper and kick his ass until he promises not to take Shinya-sama's life?" asked Takuto mockingly. "I understand he is your grandfather and that you aren't ready to let him go, but you can't cure him. The artifact poison is the strongest one in existence. There is no antidote for it. There isn't even a way to ease a person's pain once it starts taking hold."
"I know that," she said strongly. "I am leaving this mountain knowing that, but this is what you're supposed to do for family. You help them when you know you can and if you can't, you try. I have lived all my life giving up." She felt emotion stirring, rising. "It has always been so easy to give up—to resign myself to the flow of time and allow it to dictate what my life became. I have never truly taken charge of my life or made any conscious decision for myself. I have lived under people that decided what would happen to me and I have been content with it. But I have lost."
She hated the tears springing in her eyes now that she held Takuto and Hashirama's attention. "I have never believed in anything as strongly as I feel for this," she continued. "I believe I can make the difference. I can do something. I have never felt like I could do anything because I wasn't strong or confident, but that doesn't matter now because I can do something. And I'm not going to change my mind because I am someone's prize. This mountain is full of people I love and I can guarantee their safety if I can make this work."
"The last thing Shinya-sama wanted was for you to be put in danger, Mio—"
"I don't care what he thinks," she interrupted. "He can be furious all he wants when I bring him home." Even it is to die here. At least then, he might die surrounded by the people that care about him the most, she finished in thought.
Takuto stared at her helpless and turned to Hashirama for support, but the Senju had been won over from the start, only his eyes looked a little bloodshot. The tension in Takuto's shoulders loosened and he sighed. "How do you plan to get out? It's too dangerous to traverse the valleys in the shadow storm."
"Musashi's bears," she said, dabbing away the tears with her sleeves. "They come and go all the time."
"Yes, but those bears only listen to Musashi."
"I am willing to bribe them."
"And if that doesn't work?"
Takuto was determined to find a flaw in her plan, but she made sure to think of everything.
"I know an armadillo with a good nose."
"Same problem, that armadillo with a good nose is Shinya's summon, it won't listen to you. Not in this lifetime. You have a better chance with Musashi's bears."
"I will coerce it."
Getting nowhere, Takuto moved onto question her about her plan once she made it onto the battlefield.
"Find Tobirama and help clear a path for myself."
"Tobirama will never agree to help you," said Takuto with a victorious smile.
"He's right. Tobirama will drag you back to the mountain through the shadow storm by himself, but he won't help you," Hashirama agreed. "We should avoid Tobirama altogether."
"I make a convincing argument," she said in response. "If he refuses, I will have to resort to blackmail."
"Can you even blackmail him?" asked Hashirama, disbelieving.
"I am an ex-spy, I have information on everyone, but I won't need to use it. He will help me." Mio started to check through the items in her pack to ensure she had everything she might need. "You should get your things ready if you plan to accompany me."
"On it," Hashirama called, leaving her yurt.
"I am going too," Takuto said suddenly.
Mio looked in his direction, surprised.
He nodded. "I won't let you go out there on your own."
She went to hug him immediately, thanking him before he pulled away to gather his own things, but as he started for the door, she heard a sound. If she had taken a step back, she might have mistaken it as the rustling of her clothes, but she had remained perfectly still. Takuto backtracked, his eyes on her.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I heard something outside," she said, moving to the entrance and pushing it open to a long snowy road lit by burning torches.
All around her were several other yurts belonging to other members of the Kuronuma clan, but they were deathly silent and the bears that patrolled in the night were too far to make such a sound. She breathed in the scent of the cold and relaxed her body as Takuto stepped out.
"It might have been Hashirama," Takuto said, easing her worry of an eavesdropper. "He is right next door and he looked more asleep than awake when he was in here."
She nodded. Hashirama definitely looked exhausted when he walked in, but she would trust him even on a bad day.
"I'm going now."
"We should meet at the bridge," she said hurriedly. "It will be easier. I'll go find one of Musashi's bears after dressing. I'll have them at the bridge."
"I'll tell Hashirama."
Mio went back into her home and hastily changed into comfortable clothes, hung her bag over her head and shoulder, and started to gather all her weapons, hiding them away on her, before donning a hooded white coat to serve as a disguise. She stuffed the leftover concoction Okimi had prepared for her inside her bag in case she felt feverish and weak on the road due to having ingested the black water too soon in her training.
She left in a quiet rush, zipping past neighboring homes, aware of her surroundings and the possibility of being caught by one of the shinobi walking in and out of the mountain's caves. She ran towards the darkest area on the mountain, sneaking by Musashi's home in search of a particular group of his bears, a pair of bribable bears. When she arrived at the site, she sensed no one and approached, hearing the snow crunch underneath her booted feet.
She exhaled, a cloud of cold smoke appearing before her lips. The emptiness before her gave her reason to reconsider. Her uneasiness had intensified.
Mio rubbed her head, feeling stupid and scared. Hag was the strongest guardian among the few that remained; she was in the protection of the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance with ties to the Water Country that ran deep, and Mio planned to take the artifact from her? She wondered in what world such a thought had sounded like a good idea, but she remembered she couldn't give up. Not for herself or the clan or her grandfather—she needed to hold onto that notion and believe that her determination would be enough.
Do not be afraid, she told herself. Do not be afraid.
She soothed her heart with several deep breaths and recalibrated her thought process, refocusing her attention. Avoid the nonsensical. Obey power. Erase the unnecessary.
Something soft brushed against her hand, drawing her from her thoughts and her heart jumped into her throat. She glanced at the sound of clinking objects and found a small, white bear holding a leather sack in its mouth. It set it down at her feet and stared up at her with dark eyes.
"They are waiting at the bridge, Shugosha-sama, yours to command," it said, not a hint of cynicism in his tone. "Go now, while you can still hide under the cover of the storm."
She nodded dumbly, picking the bag off the ground and stuffing it into her own bag. She thanked the bear without asking questions and headed in the opposite direction to the entry bridge, stopping in front of her great-grandfather's home. One of Musashi's bears must have been eavesdropping earlier, and although it had relayed the information to her great-grandfather, he had extended a helping hand.
Mio stepped closer to the entrance and bowed deeply. "Thank you," she said aloud. "Thank you so much."
She straightened and started to walk away when a voice reached her. "Make me proud."
Mio walked past Enya and Okimi's home when the front entrance burst open and her white-haired cousin stepped out with a rushed look and a misshapen, corked jug in her hand. She initially panicked when Okimi wrapped her arms around her, expecting the worst.
Okimi drew back a sad smile on her lips and made a gesture over their height. "Look at you, taller than me already," she commented with a laugh. Her eyes were filling with tears and the emotion was contagious. "I don't think I ever noticed until now. You're almost eighteen now. When is it? In a week or two?"
"It's in between," Mio said mournfully.
Her cousin handed her the misshapen jug. "It's freshly made," she told her, wiping a tear from her own cheek. "It should last you for quite some time…you know, in case you suffer another imbalance with the black water. I put spices in it. I think it'll taste a little better."
Mio nodded. "Thank you."
Okimi tugged off the silver band she wore around her index finger. "I remember you told me that your parents used to buy you gifts from the last place they were stationed," she started, sniffling. "This was my mother's. Pure silver from the Lightning Country where she met my father."
Understanding Okimi's intent to give it to her, Mio began her refusal early. "It is unnecessary."
"I have never had the opportunity to leave the mountain to anywhere other than the Iron Country, but I know that my mother traveled long and far with this ring on her finger," she continued. "I wanted to give you something you could treasure for this birthday…and I couldn't think of anything better. Please take it, Mio, it's safe with you." She laughed a little. "I have lost it over twenty times this month."
"I lost my other treasures," Mio admitted, feeling terrible about it.
"But you'll find them," Okimi said smiling, putting her hand to Mio's watery cheek. "You can do anything, Mio. You may not be the strongest Shugosha in history, but I feel like you might just become the greatest."
Mio averted her gaze. She didn't believe that. She was going down in history as the stupidest. "I have to go," she said quietly, taking Okimi's hand from her face gently. "Please take care of Sako and Minako. Please be safe with your twins." She looked at the snow beneath her feet, feeling the tears fall from her eyes and watching them disappear as they fell to the ground. She knew then that she was no good at sincere goodbyes. "I promise to come back with the Fate Sphere. I know it can help protect everyone. Take care of great-grandfather too and the bears and Takuto's family. I'm so sorry for taking Takuto away—"
"Don't worry about anything here," Okimi said hastily. "We will protect each other and we will wait for you. Worry about you. Keep yourself safe. Now, you should go before we start crying too much."
They were practically blubbering as they talked, the sobs came more frequently and the tears seemed endless. Okimi hugged her, tighter than before.
"I don't want to let you go," Okimi whispered. "I don't want to see anything happen to you."
Mio's chest was aching. She suppressed the urge to wail like a child in the middle of a temper tantrum as she clung to Okimi. "I'm so scared, Okimi," she admitted. "I'm scared of seeing Mikazuki Gouki…it's paralyzing. I'm terrified of meeting Hag. I don't know what I'm going to do if and when I meet either of them."
Okimi pulled back, holding her firmly by the shoulders. "You must not let them defeat you. You must be strong. Stronger than you are now. You have to be strong enough to survive."
Her words were reminiscent of those Musashi spoke so long ago when she asked about the war and whether they would be okay. He said they wouldn't for a long time and she wanted to make the difference in that future.
Mio nodded. "I'll come back."
Okimi cried harder, hugging her again. "Stay safe."
Mio put away Okimi's concoction and bid her a good rest as her cousin stepped back into her dark home. Mio slipped the silver band on her middle finger and looked at it for a moment admiringly, not having realized when Okimi forced it into her hands.
Shortly thereafter, Mio went to meet Takuto and Hashirama in front of the narrow bridge linking Mt. Hyōga to the rest of Kurata. The two were accompanied by a pair of Musashi's bears and they greeted her with a hint of surprise in their tones, having been skeptical of her ability to make the arrangement. She decided not to say anything about Musashi's involvement or Okimi's knowledge of it when she remembered the leather sack the bear left at her feet as Takuto discussed ridding arrangements with the two creatures.
Mio dug through the sack to feel the metal handle of a handheld mirror, the outer texture of a ceramic cup smooth against her fingertips, the sheath of a small weapon, and a necklace with a pendulous crystal gem that she struggled to see under the distant glow of a burning torch and two small metal spheres flanking it. Finally, her hand touched another surface that warmed against her, the roughness of a piece of parchment, and a small round object so cold it numbed her entire arm after she picked it up and brought it into the light. It shone a brilliant blue, the crystallized remains of a dragon's eye. She picked up the mirror to determine it was Okimi's—a mirror made of intricate black iron—and a spherical object that replaced the chill of the dragon's eye with a welcoming heat. Within it, she saw white and gray mist swirling restlessly, a dizzy dance.
The artifacts. Mio glimpsed over her shoulder, reminded how the other bear had called her Shugosha, and raised a hand to her mouth after, the leather sack open inside her belongings, its contents spilling into her neatly arranged items. She saw the piece of parchment among her things and took it, reading its surface in the hopes it offered an explanation. However, it read like a list of rules covered in riddles.
- A Shugosha is supposed to be in possession of all ten artifacts after the inheritance period ends. It is a time of acceptance, a time when each artifact must familiarize with its new Shugosha.
- It is a Shugosha's duty, thereafter, to return the artifacts to existing guardians and assign guardians for the artifacts that are without one. It is also in a Shugosha's power to take the artifact of an existing guardian to replace them with another.
Mio, the Time Sphere is the ultimate protection and the only one I can offer you. Wear it off Mt. Hyōga and I can guarantee your safe passage through Kurata. Know that its importance lies not in its dormant power, but of what is sitting in the center of the raging storm within it. The answers are in our history, remember the stories you've heard. You are Shugosha now and you have much to learn, so open your mind. Let the other artifacts guide you in your journey until you can find them a new home, whether it be immediate or later in life, offer them to those worthy of them. They are not gifts. They are responsibilities.
Mio stood mortified with the parchment trembling in her hands and the emotion rushing back. The responsibility weighing heavily on her like a cloak made out of metal. She considered going back to leave the artifacts, knowing the Kuronuma clan's mountain village needed them more, specifically the crystallized dragon eye that protected the mountain. She could not think to leave Mt. Hyōga without its protection.
The Climate Sphere was surrounded by a chill that tickled her skin, but its resonance was guiding her in the opposite direction. The eight artifacts on her were starting to push her, as if they had a collective strength of their own and were using it to take her through Kurata's perilous valleys. Their calling was strong and ignoring them was hard to do.
"Mio."
She enclosed the tiny orb in her hand and turned to Hashirama. He lowered his eyes to the piece of parchment in her other hand and the empty leather sack at her feet. She sensed a question coming on and braced herself.
"You should probably help Takuto with the bears, one just threatened to bite his ears off," he said.
"Yes, but you should ask him what he said to it first," Mio replied. She looked past Hashirama to see Takuto whispering furiously at the larger bear while the smaller one sat back on its haunches enjoying their ridiculous display.
He smiled briefly. "We should go," he suggested. "We should go together, leave the smaller bear for Takuto."
"I agree." She stowed the blue sphere into her pack and reached for Musashi's, staring at the violent spin of the mist with an aggrieved expression. There was no time to lose and she needed to believe her grandfather parted with all his artifacts to serve more of a purpose than protecting her.
"Isn't that Musashi's necklace?" he asked, gesturing to it.
Mio fingered the torn black cord, finally recognizing the material of which it was made. "No," she said, biting down on her thumb until she broke the skin. "It's mine."
She brought the Time Sphere around her neck, pressing both broken ends together and letting the black water running through her veins to fall between the pieces and reattach it. The heated water formed a ring around it and she let it fall against her neck, the sphere itself twisting. She fixed it and tucked the Time Sphere into her cloak.
Inheriting the sphere meant Musashi was now in the same position as her grandfather. She needed to find a way to stop the poison from killing them before it was too late.
"Don't tell Takuto," she said quietly. "He'll overreact."
Hashirama nodded. "Promise."
Mio thanked him, striding past him. She moved to stop the arguing and asked Takuto to ride on his own while she and Hashirama would sit together on the larger bear. She stepped toward the massive mammal, petting the side of its face.
"The shadow storm is strong," it spoke, its voice ancient. "We will have to travel slowly."
"As long as you can get us through, I will appreciate it."
"Get on."
Mio moved around to climb on. Hashirama helped her after seeing her struggle before moving on to sit behind her. She noticed he put his hands on his knees and tried not to sit too close. She warned him about falling off as Takuto's bear started to cross the rickety bridge that filled her with fear, but he assured her he would be fine. As soon as the massive bear started to make its way across, she stiffened in her seat, digging her hands into her bear's fur to the point it had to complain to make her loosen her grip.
Takuto and his bear reached the end of the bridge. Slowly, they moved forward, disappearing into the shadow storm like a stone sinking into tar. She tightened her grip on the bear once again, fear stabbing into her heart.
"I can still sense them," Hashirama said, attempting to ease her worry.
She nodded.
The end of the bridge appeared, coming closer and closer—a wall of darkness—when she saw the bear cross it, the shadow storm opened its arms wide to welcome them. Mio stared into the pitch-black, unable to see a thing. She knew the bear underneath her was moving, judged it according to the way the muscles along its back contracted with each step, but it did not seem they were moving at all. She felt its soft fur underneath her hands. It was like water sliding through her fingers.
Mio took a sharp breath and it echoed all around her. Her fear was the pitch-black darkness—a monster hidden in shadows that took her and dragged her down.
She jolted at the feel of hands on both her arms. "Hashirama," she called nervously, her cry echoed back to her in shouts and whispers. She lowered her voice, frightened by the reverberating sounds assaulting her ears. "Hashirama."
"It's me," he called softly, removing his hands from her. His voice came in soft rumbles, almost like a breeze. "This is a strange storm."
"The shadow storm was designed to confuse all who attempt to cross it," the bear answered in its growling, ancient voice. "You are fortunate, Shugosha-sama, to have accepted us to guide you. We are of the few given special permission to cross without suffering its effects."
With her sight taken from her, she felt her anxiety double and her breathing quicken, each panicked intake of breathe coinciding with the rampant beating of her heart. What if the Mikazuki had found a way to breach the shadow storm and were using the shadows to their advantage? What if they were there sensing them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike?
She had six artifacts in one bag and two hanging from her ears. Eight of ten.
Eight of ten. They would fall into their grasps. All would be lost.
She couldn't breathe, seized by her fear. She was terrified. She wasn't ready. She was going out there to die, to be captured, to be tortured, to be in pain, to be used. She had been safe on Mt. Hyōga. Nobody could cross the shadow storm. Oh, but they had Hag. The guardian of the Fate Sphere was a force to be reckoned with, older than the artifacts themselves, her knowledge was vast. Who was to say that she had no knowledge of what the artifacts did? That is why she had sent the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance to Kurata, to start a war—to shed blood upon the pale snow that should never have seen it and weaken the artifact, tear down their defenses.
Hands seized her and she screamed, jolting out of her sitting position and falling from place.
The paranoia won.
Her high-pitched scream echoed all around her in all frequencies, and among the noise, she heard Hashirama and Takuto shouting after her.
Mio crashed into the hard, cold ground after falling and rolled down giving her the impression that she landed in one of the steeper valleys. As her body was battered on the way down by stones and pointed icicles that shattered upon contact, a new worry invaded her thoughts. The black water river ran through the valleys, visible in the long jagged tears between the roads, and it burned hotter than the type used in the Kuronuma techniques. If she fell into one, the probability of her survival would be zero.
She attempted to stop her body from falling further by digging her hand into the snow. She felt her nails scratching the surface of ice and breaking as she skidded lower. She pressed deeper, reaching with a second arm and attempting when her back hit something hard. But she stopped. She lifted her eyes to a faint orb of light piercing through the darkness and the outline of Hashirama's jaw. She saw him clearly after several blinks, standing with two hands put together with a giant root arching behind him. It slid forward and whatever she hit moved.
"I have you Mio!" called Hashirama, sounding relieved.
Using his Mokuton, Hashirama helped her back onto the road where Takuto rushed to her side, holding the waning torch light over her head. Beyond the small orb of light, the darkness persisted. Firelight did not stretch far, but it should have lit more than it was doing now. She saw how easily it would be for someone to lose themselves that way, unable to see past a little circle of light.
Takuto handed the torch to Hashirama. "Hold it over her."
The blond Kuronuma took her hands, observing the damage she caused her fingers. Her fingernails were either chipped or broken, and they were bloody, with the exception of one, her left forefinger where the nail had come clean off. Underneath, her palms were bright red and bleeding from nasty scrapes. Takuto lifted her face by the chin, turning her left and then right, clicking his tongue before reaching into his bag for a swath of gauze and an clear liquid that stung when he pressed it to her face.
Takuto made quick of healing her minor wounds and bandaged several of her fingers. He made her drink water from his supply and carefully pulled her back onto her feet.
Together, they followed the road, marked by thin lines of visible dirt, and found their two bears waiting. They asked after her and she assured them she was fine, only having suffered a few scratches.
Hashirama helped her climb the bear again.
"Make sure to hold onto her this time," said Takuto. Before climbing back onto his own bear, he smothered the flames in the snow.
Mio's heart was still beating rapidly in her chest as she felt Hashirama hold onto her by the waist after climbing. The bear began to move and their traveling continued.
She closed her eyes, hands clutching the mammal by its fur and attempted to clear her mind of paranoid thoughts. She tried to remind herself that she was sitting atop a bear moving through the shadow storm with Hashirama at her back and Takuto in front so that she did not go back to believing the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance had found a way in. She needed to remain calm.
She fought off the terror, but it remained at bay waiting for her defenses to weaken to overtake her once more.
The journey felt long on the winding road, but after a moment, the bear announced their arrival and instantly, as if crossing a thin veil, they emerged from the cloud of shadows into a vast, white field overlooking the battlefield.
Mio stared into the battlefield with no recognition of the terrain. She had no idea what a difference a persisting war made to her home. The thick blanket of snow was covered in broken weapons and banners that bore the Mikazuki, Uchiha, or Senju's clan symbol. And bodies. There were bodies everywhere she turned. Senju, Uchiha, and Mikazuki. Death was everywhere and indiscriminative. It had taken those that were determined to protect her and those that fought against them. Smoke rose and coiled in the sky, various techniques rained down from several directions.
Moving in would be dangerous.
"Mio-hime!"
Mio turned to meet the eyes of one of the Kuronuma shinobi that accompanied Saiko, who acted as Musashi's eyes in the war, and climbed off the bear to greet him. The shinobi met her halfway, looking exhausted and battle worn in pale armor.
"I need to speak to Tobirama," she announced. "Where can I—?"
"What are you doing here?"
She whirled around to see the white-haired Senju coming towards her, his eyebrows drawn in exasperation before he zeroed in on his brother, who stood at her side, and avoided meeting her eyes altogether. That miniscule detail did not sit well with her as she had grown accustomed to the fact that Senju Tobirama, if anything, talked to a person with a fixed gaze.
Hashirama lifted his hands, gesturing for Tobirama to calm himself, but the young man was beyond calm. "I can explain—"
"How dare you disobey orders?" demanded Tobirama. "She is the reason we are fighting this war and you brought her onto the battlefield. Do you want her to be captured?"
"There is an important—"
"Silence!"
Hashirama continued trying to make Tobirama listen, but he was not. Tobirama had taken her by the arm, prepared to drag her back onto the mountain himself, much like Hashirama had warned.
Mio took his hand and forcefully peeled it off. "You can drag me back to the mountain, but I will come back as many times as it takes to leave Kurata," she told him, catching his bothered gaze for a split second before he turned away. She felt insulted. "Why won't you look at me?"
Hashirama snorted. He knew something.
"Brother, this is not the time for your—"
"What is it?" demanded Mio.
"Because of the springs—"
"Brother," Tobirama said warningly, but she could see a hint of red on his face.
Mio blinked. The springs? She narrowed her eyes. "Is this because I walked in on you in the springs?" she asked, as if she had not done it and seen him nude. "I apologized."
Hashirama and Takuto were in cahoots. Tobirama could have killed and thrown the two into the black river if he'd wanted, but he bore with the humiliation, unable to look at her. Everyone's reactions made her realize the full meaning of her words, and what she meant by them. For whatever reason, it had not registered in her mind that she had seen him naked, or that the memory was forever engraved in her head in all its explicit detail, or that this was completely inappropriate.
She felt her ears grow red. "This is no time to be laughing!" she snapped.
"Aww, Mio, your ears are red!" Takuto pointed out.
Things worsened.
Only Hashirama and Takuto would find something to laugh at while a war was raging below. A part of her was envious, another was furious and wanted to help Tobirama throw them into the black river.
"Hisano is going to kill you," Hashirama blurted, staring at his brother.
Mio stared at the dark-haired Senju oddly. "Why would she kill him?" she asked. "I feel she would be angrier at me, I'd be too impure to marry her nephew."
Hashirama continued to laugh. "Consider it a preview for the future!"
Tobirama pinched the bridge of his nose, impatiently waiting for his brother to quiet down.
She grasped the immediate meaning to that. "You both are Hisano's nephews?" She nodded dumbly. "I'm promised to Tobirama, I understand."
"This is your fault," Tobirama accused.
"This is not my fault," she said defensively.
"You should always wear a towel in the springs, there's no excuse—"
"Hashirama—" Tobirama started, but turned, finally meeting her gaze "—and you, you are the one walking into the springs without being certain they are empty."
"She has absolutely no regard for these things," Takuto said in excuse.
"Stay out of this Takuto," she said, raising her hand to silence him.
"It is true," Takuto continued. "It's like you're—"
"This is between myself and your ill-mannered princess," Tobirama interrupted.
Mio grew livid. "Perhaps, you should tear a page out of the proper hot spring etiquette book and remind yourself not to exit a spring without wrapping a towel around your waist—nobody cares if you're naked now or later or whenever."
Tobirama was about to snap.
"And what about you?" Mio continued, her voice growing louder. "You are talking about my lack of manners, but I first met you half naked."
"I was dressing your wounds," Tobirama argued. "If I hadn't provided proper aid, they would have likely become infected and possibly life threatening, compromising the mission objective, which was your safety."
Hashirama stopped laughing, looking from his brother to Mio. "Who was half-naked?"
"She was."
"I was."
They answered simultaneously.
"What half?" asked Hashirama.
Tobirama and Mio glared at him in response and he responded by slithering to the floor and into the fetal position. "I'm sorry for existing."
"You required immediate attention," Takuto chipped in. "If he hadn't cleaned your wounds, it is likely you would have contracted a terrible infection. Konoe was not keeping you in the best conditions during your imprisonment."
She stared at the Kuronuma medic flabbergasted, but he simply shrugged. Tobirama looked smug and she rounded on him a last time. "That does not explain why he stared at my chest longer than he should of, and right in front of me."
"Why would you stare at her chest like that?" asked Hashirama, disheartened. "You were raised better than that."
"You are one to talk, Hashirama, remember the—"
"See, he does not deny it," Mio interrupted. "I hope you enjoyed yourself. It will be the final time you see the view."
Tobirama finally turned back to her, staring her down. "To make a proper threat, you must be sure the person you are threatening will feel loss by what it is you are threatening."
Mio huffed. She ran out of counterarguments. She never faced a situation like this before and she did not like the way it felt to lose to Senju Tobirama. She didn't feel like herself.
The two glared at one another for several minutes in a silent battle of wits that transcended the argument that had finished taking place.
"A part of me wants to defend Mio's honor," she heard Hashirama mutter.
"You don't ever want Mio to know you're defending her, she'll get irrationally angry and won't talk to you for a week—a month, longer if she wants," Takuto responded.
A disturbance in the air caught her attention at the same time Tobirama had sensed it and drawn his blade in response. She dragged her grandfather's dagger from her belt and cut straight across the gauze on her palms. Measuring the distance between the army of Senju and the velocity of the wind, as well as the instruments hidden in the howl of it, she drew a line on the snow, smothered in sizzling blood.
In an instant a perfect line of dark, spiraling towers of tar-like water sprouted from the earth several meters away covering the exact width of distance she desired upon activating the technique that successfully withstood the brunt of the Fūton hurled in their direction by the Mikazuki shinobi. Molding the right amount of both chakra and black water exhausted her, but it was suffering the consequences of defending against such a strong technique that hurt the most. Up her forearms, she felt tiny cuts tearing open as if she had been sliced by a sharp wind.
She removed her hand from the ground and the towers fell away into the cracks they created on the surface. The hardest part was over. She tested her ability to mold enough for another strong attack.
"Do you plan to exhaust yourself?" Takuto asked in warning. "That technique takes a heavy toll on chakra and I know you don't have much."
"It is the only technique I learned naturally," Mio admitted, touching the tiny black orb hanging off her earring to activate the artifact. "The technique they used would have killed many."
"Enemy approaching!" Tobirama announced, jumping off to join his men in the battlefield. His orders were brief, but his followers were plenty.
"Takuto, with me," Mio ordered, stepping forward. "Leave the Uchiha to us."
"Are you sure?" asked Hashirama.
"Just clear a path for us to get out."
"Tobirama!" Hashirama went after his brother, shouting. "Redirect our shinobi to attack only the Mikazuki. Takuto and Ohime-sama will take care of the Uchiha!"
Mio led the way towards oncoming Uchiha, sensing Takuto behind her, and for an instant, crossed Tobirama's path. She turned her dagger, holding it with a better grip, and swung horizontally at the first enemy to appear before her. The shinobi deflected her attack with a kunai, forcing her arm away in the hopes of leaving her open for a counter attack, but she turned fully, lifting her leg to kick him across the face the next time she saw his face. The force of the hit sent him crashing into another horde of enemies, cutting them off their path.
Quickly, she dove as a blade sliced through the air above her and cut at the shinobi's legs before pushing off the ice floor and shoved him back. He stumbled, but found his balance and her face. Recognition lit his harsh features and his mouth formed the shape that spoke her name.
"Mio."
And it echoed back in her head.
"She's here!" he shouted. "Mio is-"
And she silenced him. One quick but hard elbow to his face had done the trick. However, his voice had carried and it had reached the ears of the dozen Uchiha in her surroundings...and it was bedlam.
Shinobi came at her in large quantities as she attempt to slip out of view, but she did not succeed as on Uchiha caught her off-guard. The man grabbed her by the ankle on her way up a small hill and dragged her down. She yelped and struggled as she was forced on her back. The Time Sphere had fallen from inside her robe, hanging loose against her neck. She saw the Uchiha ready his sword to stab her in the hopes of immobilizing her while others reached her.
The blade came down, but something deflected it. The sword snapped in half. She watched a glassy barrier start to disappear and she scampered out of harm's way as a Senju appeared to attack the Uchiha.
Mio pushed past the Senju and Kuronuma defensive line. She saw Tobirama make a beeline to her and reached for her pale cloak. She caught on quickly and tugged it free handing it to him as Hashirama appeared to take it.
Hashirama pulled it on, hood too. "I'll lead them away."
"Takuto!" she called, searching behind her for the Kuronuma medic. He appeared seconds later pushing through the crowd of Kuronuma.
She had an idea, one that would convince the enemy to follow Hashirama in her white cloak, but the technique in question would be tricky. She had not yet perfected it and she had been advised against using it because of its consequences, but she had the support of the Black Sphere that hung from her ears. On any normal individual without the ability or physical condition to learn the Kuronuma's techniques, the sphere acted as a replacement for the criteria, making it easy to pick up a move and use it with reduced consequences to none. However, the technique would not be as strong as the original. But, if a Kuronuma used the sphere, he or she could use it to power their jutsu (as her grandfather had) or to perfect an imperfect move (like she planned to do in a moment).
"I'll give you a signal," she said, stopping Hashirama by the arm. She looked at Takuto. "I'm going to need a transfusion. After, you go with Hashirama while I find a way off the mountain."
Takuto shook his head in refusal. "Alone after a transfusion? No, that can be dangerous, and if you're going to drown everyone here, you might cause yourself an imbalance. I'm going with you."
She couldn't refuse him. She didn't want to leave him on the mountain. She knew she would need a companion like Takuto down the road.
"Tobirama, you take Mio and Takuto as far as the Iron Country," Hashirama said, as one Senju appeared to tell them the Mikazuki were pushing through their defenses with ease. He nodded and asked them to persist a moment longer for the sake of her safety. He returned his attention to them once more. "I can take care of everything here. I'll keep your shinobi safe."
He spoke that last line with a particular emphasis. She believed he would do everything in his power to keep that promise to her.
She nodded, and quickly reached into her bag, unbuttoning it to fish out one of her great-grandfather's artifacts—no, her artifacts. She held the crystal necklace out to him because somehow she knew it belonged with him and that it would keep him safe from death. That's what the artifacts did. They kept their guardian safe.
"What are you doing with that?" Takuto demanded. He then pulled her bag open to reveal the rest. His face changed, eyes narrowed as he probably considered she had stolen the artifacts from Musashi rather than having inherited them. "What are you doing with all of those? Those are the Shugosha-sama's artifacts!"
Mio dug through her bag a second time, procuring Okimi's artifact. It did not feel right leaving the mountain without one, especially for Okimi, who needed the extra protection to keep her family safe. "You need to return this to Okimi," she told him. 'Ask her to keep watch over me."
Takuto took it, pushing it into his small satchel of medical supplies, and nodded.
"Now, go with Hashirama."
Time ran out for conversations and Mio was protected from a volley of weapons by Tobirama, who rushed her to the opposite side of the battlefield while Hashirama disappeared in a swarm of enemies. Takuto caught up with them, drawing a needle and a thin hose from his bag.
"I'm ready when you are," he said, pushing the needle into one of the veins of his inner forearm. She saw the blood starting to slide through the hose, but he pinched it, forcing it to stop. "Tobirama, cover for us."
Tobirama went off to do as asked to clear a path for Mio to use her technique.
– "Mio." –
Mio turned abruptly. She heard her grandfather call her.
– "Mio!" –
Again, she redirected her gaze, searching all around her for her grandfather, whose voice she heard calling and presence sensed right beside her.
"Mio, concentrate," snapped Takuto.
Mio put her hands together, forming the first of the necessary hand gestures, when she noticed an Uchiha shinobi attempting to copy her technique with his Sharingan. He didn't get far before the strain of it overcame him and he turned white as a sheet before passing out.
She pressed her hand to the cold snow, activating the Blood Swamp technique. She felt the blood drain from her veins. The vertigo hit her hard and immediately. She saw three of everything and her head was spinning.
The ground shook many meters ahead where the Mikazuki-Uchiha encampment stood and crumbled away into a gaping red, boiling swamp that swallowed many whole. It continued to break apart at the edges, drowning all it dragged under the surface.
The mountain rang with bloodcurdling screams as Mio sank to the floor completely, wracked with weakness. Takuto quickly inserted the other end of the needle into one of her veins, beginning the transfusion.
"It was a distraction!" A booming voice reached her ears, drowning out the sound of her grandfather's call. "She is heading off the mountain!"
Tobirama reappeared before them.
Mio was struggling to hold onto consciousness, peering up at the sight of the Senju through heavy lids. Takuto held her head pressed in the nook of his neck, carrying her weight to keep her upright.
"She won't be able to travel in this condition." He shook his head, looking down at her. "You overdid it with the artifact. You can't control it yet."
"I'll carry her as far as the Iron Country," said Tobirama. "She will be safe there. I will stay until you can meet her."
Takuto finished the transfusion and wrapped gauze around her forearm. He helped her up as Tobirama crouched down for her to climb onto his back. She could not find her way until Takuto guided her and she wrapped her arms around Tobirama's neck, easing her weight on him.
The Senju shinobi rose, arms holding her legs.
"I'll leave her in your care," said Takuto, to the Kuronuma present, he ordered for them to distract any remaining enemies to ensure their exit from Kurata.
Takuto left in search of Hashirama. Wherever he was, the others would certainly be fooled she would be with him and that would buy them enough time to get away.
– "Mio." –
Her grandfather was calling again, but she couldn't see him, only sensed him near.
Mio's eyelids fell as Tobirama started to move through the battlefield. With the air wiping across her face, she slowly succumbed to the exhaustion. In the darkness, she saw visions of the pine forest, trees sprinkled with frost and snow, and the gaping chasm her technique had created. She sensed Hashirama and Takuto…she sensed them through the artifacts.
The feeling settled. She understood.
I am Shugosha now.
And she was terrified.
EDIT: I want to apologize for a mistake I made. I mentioned Mio had 9 of 10 artifacts at one point, but I was lying, she's only carrying eight. 'Cause: Ayuka = Fate Sphere and Madara = Nature Sphere. I fixed it. If I still make a mention of 9, please tell me because I won't know otherwise.
xl: Welcome to Redesign Month! We are kicking off the month with the first part to the "A Path of Ways" arc! I have basically spent 30 chapters building up to these chapters and I hope you will enjoy them (starting with this one obviously).
I want to thank these lovely people for reviewing: angrypixels, Inanari, Loteva, and the anonymous reviewer (you will have your answer to your question soon, and you are so sweet).
Things to expect in Ch 32:
- Tobirama and Mio arrive at the Iron Country, stuff happens. Terrible stuff goes down.
- A proper explanation to the Kuronuma techniques and why they shouldn't be used.
- Mio discovers something about the Time Sphere.
- A Taiga appearance.
Okay, thank you for reading everyone!
I'll be posting a preview as soon as I'm done writing the scene I want to use. So, soon.