In Retsu's hand was Chubs II. She was a dark brown furry little monster with bite mark scars all along her side. In a way, this meeting was an ironic twist of fate.
When Retsu had finished his training, and went in search of a rat to contract summon, he came across a pile of rat bones. Chubs II had cannibalized her siblings. It was fitting that a rat from a Kiri vessel was adopted by a Blood Mist shinobi.
Fortunately, Retsu had learned the summoning contract from Iguru. All he had to do was ask about how he met his penguin summon, Skipper. After suffering a thousand tall tales, Retsu finally escaped back to the underbelly of the ship, and created a contract.
Over the next week since they left Seven Herbs Island, Retsu largely spent his time sequestered down below perfecting his chakra control, and training Chubs II. He took extra precautions to hide Chubs II from the others.
Retsu wanted his rat summons to be a surprise that he used for scouting and assassination. In the event that he ever had to go rouge, or his teammates turned on him, Chubs II could be his hidden trump card in a conflict.
All things considered, Chubs II was stupidly smart. It made Retsu question how ethical meat eating was when chakra infused animals could be just as intelligent as humans. But, Retsu decided it'd be best not to think about it.
"Okay Chub II, copy me one more time. Ox. Hare. Boar. Dragon. Horse. Monkey. Bird. Snake. Tiger. Ram." Retsu slowly and seriously showed Chubs II how to perform hand signs.
"No, no, you perform the boar sign like this." Retsu corrected Chubs II by repeating the correct hand sign.
Chubs II frowned, her whiskers were covered in sweat, and she looked cross eyed from all the practice.
"Well, that's good enough for now. Eat some of this." Retsu fed Chubs II some of the herbs Mangetsu had brought back.
When Retsu was speaking with Iguru about raising a summoning animal, feeding meat or plants rich in chakra naturally came up. Retsu couldn't help but shake his head at that particular memory. According to Iguru, he had scaled the rocky mountains near Kumogakure to steal some Thunderhawk eggs for Skipper. That place always had a squad of Jonin standing guard! Talk about a high end diet!
"All hands on deck, merchant ship spotted 2 o'clock!" Ao's chakra enhanced voice echoed throughout the hull and lower decks.
"You know what to do. Leave no evidence." Retsu handed a poisoned bone senbon to Chubs II.
"Y-essss." Chubs worked her mouth, and spat out one of the few words Retsu had taught her how to speak.
Chubs II scurried off, the unpoisoned side of the senbon in her mouth.
Retsu marveled at her intelligence. The only explanation for her fast learning was a combination of talent, and chakra bullshit.
Making his way to the deck, Retsu passed by Gengo. The typically well manicured man had let his beard grow slightly unruly. Likewise, he had a paler complexion that usual.
Retsu did his best to withhold a smirk, and presented his back to the genjutsu expert as soon as he could. Retsu learned from conversation that Gengo was also the team interrogator. A small tell on Retsu's face may be all Gengo needed to confirm his suspicions.
"Alright lads, raise the Kiri colors!" Iguru gave the command.
"Aye!" Mangetsu replied.
Mangetsu hoisted up a white flag. There was a blue octagon outlined in black in the middle of the flag. Inside the octagon was the kanji for "Water." Surrounding the octagon was the standard four wavy lines often associated with Kirigakure.
"They're trying to make a run for it Captain! They're using wind ninjutsu to speed up! Orders?" Ao shouted.
"Pursue! Full power Kajika! Mangetsu, join him as well!" Iguru's voice was laced with calm authority.
"Let's do a big one, Mangetsu!" Kajika said, then began to rapidly caste hand signs.
"Okay!" Mangetsu barely got out, before he to started to rapidly perform handsigns.
"They're getting away!" "My money!" Gozu and Meizu complained.
Retsu moved behind the duo, and roughly knocked their heads together.
"Don't distract those casting jutsu dumbasses." Retsu whispered murder in their ears.
Iguru at the helm looked down and graced Retsu with a savage grin in acknowledgement.
"Water Style: Dual Spiral Ejection!" Mangetsu and Kojika finally performed upwards of 80 hand signs.
Two swirling jets shot out of the back of the Monday Typhoon. The speed at which they traveled during casual cruising was more than tripled. The ship moved so fast, more than 80% of the vessel stuck out of the water.
For more than two minutes, the Monday Typhoon plowed through open ocean towards her quarry.
"Okay, okay, okay! Easy. Easy. Cut the power!" Iguru directed Mangetsu and Kajika.
"Hah hah hah, damn that's rough." Kajika leaned back in exhaustion after spending almost half of his chakra.
For his part, Mangetsu uncorked a canteen of water mixed with herbs, and dumped it over himself. His energy reserves began to markedly increase with each passing second.
"Bullshit water constitution." Retsu muttered to himself.
Mangetsu must've heard Retsu, or sensed his intentions, because he cheekily waved at him from the bridge.
"Tch." Retsu spat to the side.
The Monday Typhoon pulled up next to the merchant ship.
"Roar, Hiramekarei!" Iguru unstrapped his legendary sword from his back, and swung it at the other vessel.
A lions head just as big as the other ship made of blue chakra launched from the tip of Iguru's sword. The lion's head made of chakra opened its jaws wide, and demolished the enemy ship's sails, leaving them dead in the water.
"This wouldn't have happened if you just gave up when you saw our colors." Ao shouted at the merchants.
"And give up to shinobi of the Blood Mist? We know you sell every captive into serfdom, or kill those who don't comply. It was no choice really!" An angry, defeated voice replied from the other side.
"Hah~ I miss the good ol days when we could raid a ship, and let them go. Lord Third just isn't the same as Hozuki-"
"Not now Captain." Ao gave a stern rebuke.
"Tsk." Iguru clucked his tongue.
"Give us your possessions, and you're free to go." Iguru commanded.
"Step one foot on this ship, and I'm setting off explosive seals! We will not be serfs, or serve as target practice for your youth!" The same man from earlier proclaimed.
"Damnit Ao, are we really teaching our kids like this?" Iguru pressed.
"I understand Captain, but we have to resolve this first." Ao pushed back in a steadying voice.
"Hahh. Fine." Iguru relaxed his shoulders. Then, in an instant, he became a blur.
Retsu blinked, and he almost missed it. In the psan of five seconds, Retsu witnessed the deck of the merchant vessel covered in crimson. What was once over a dozen guys was now a gory mess of limbs, and bisected bodies.
"You guys take the loot, I'll be in my quarters." Iguru briskly walked past the stunned crew, and disappeared from view.
"I can see why he's your sensei." Retsu idly commented to Mangetsu.
"Don't think walking to the bridge and engaging me in conversation will absolve you of your responsibilities." Mangetsu smiled that all to familiar Cheshire grin of his.
"I have no clue what you're talking about. Besides, how do you have enough energy to talk when you spent so much chakra in the chase earlier?"
"Retsu, you've had your fun, now go onto the other ship and start collecting their valuables." Ao barked.
Retsu took a quick look at Ao. This was the first time he heard real, true anger in his voice. The guy was usually cool and collected.
"I'll be talking with the Captain while you guys take care of this mess. Mei, you're in charge of this operation." Ao nodded at the hot red head before following after Iguru.
"You heard him, Bonehead. I want you to gather every piece of value you can scrounge from this wreck. Any piece missing, I'll be docking from your pay." Mei haughtily placed her hands on her hip, and ordered Retsu around.
Retsu snorted. Mei reminded him of his bitchy manager when he worked at Dollar Junior. A woman with attitude, she was one of the best lays he had ever had.
"Swipe that perverted look off your face, and get to work." Mei placed her hands under her breasts, and coldly addressed Retsu.
"If you pop a bone while on the job, you know what to do." Mangetsu snickered from the bridge.
Retsu jumped over to the other ship. He covered his feet in a layer of bone sandals so the sticky entrails couldn't make contact with his skin.
"So gross." Retsu grimaced at the smell.
To Retsu's surprise, he heard the squelch squelch of footsteps next to him.
It was chibi Zabuza. With no hesitation, the boy began to rifle through the torn clothes of the dead sailors.
Looking back at the Monday Typhoon, Retsu saw the "demon" brothers were knocked out cold, Gengo was barfing over the rail, Mangetsu and Kajika were recuperating, and Mei was standing there looking hot.
'It could be worse.' Retsu shrugged his shoulders, and began to scoop through the slurry of remains.
After hours of searching, the sun had set, and the merchant vessel was now a flaming wreck, slowly sinking into the ocean.
The burning embers set Retsu in some kind of mood. People like Iguru were running around, and there was nothing he could do to stop his impending demise if one of them wanted him gone. He could be depressed or mope around, but Retsu saw those feelings as a waste. If he wanted to forgo the shinobi life, he could've become a shopkeeper somewhere far away long ago.
His goal was to become a legend, one even bigger than Hashirama. Someone who would be remembered thousands of years later, like the Sage of Six Paths. Retsu's determination to live the life of a super powered shinobi intensified tenfold that day.
Introspection over, Retsu began to catalogue what he had done during his first real pirate excursion.
During Retsu's quest for valuables, he tore up planks searching for hidden cubbies, pulled twelve gold teeth and laboriously cleaned the blood off some sealing scrolls. He also found a huge scroll similar in size to Jiraiya's sitting inside a booby trapped chest.
All in all, the haul was of average quality. Ten katanas worth 25,000 Ryo each, a set of winter cloaks totaling 12,500 Ryo, a 250lb's of iron bars which could theoretically make 100~ swords was the best haul, estimated worth of 1,400,000 Ryo.
1.4 million Ryo was a staggering price, something like that was within the price range of an S-rank mission! It was no wonder Kiri ninja turned to piracy when it was such a lucrative occupation!
"But since we're ninja from the Hidden Mist, you can expect those prices to be 30% to 50% cheaper than if they were sold through official channels." Ao explained to Retsu.
"Yeah, but can't we just henge as those dead guys, and sell this stuff?" Retsu questioned.
"It has been done before." Ao nodded.
"So-"
"However, never use the same tactic on a ninja twice and expect it to work. Ninja are the ones guarding the money, and when you hurt their money, why, they take that personally. There are many secret codes, blood samples, chakra signatures and a hundred other ways to bypass the henge. It would take one of us days if not weeks to decode all of this info through torture. By that point, it just isn't worth our time." Ao lit up his pipe, and stared into the calm, dark water.
"Makes sense. But what about that big fancy scroll? It was in a chest with a booby trap that shot a fireball at me! Why don't we open it, and see what's inside?"
"As if an Uzumaki scroll was so easy to open up. Seriously, I thought you attended the academy?" Mei rolled her eyes, and taunted Retsu.
"Uzumaki scroll?" Retsu ignored Mei, and looked questioningly at Ao.
"The redheads have a lock on international trade. They hand out scrolls like this for free to any reputable merchant. Not only is it an S-rank storage scroll, but it contains an A-rank ninjutsu. Whoever improperly opens it will destroy the contents, and also suffer a serious attack." Mei looked at her nails, and blew a minute amount of lava on them, hardening them like diamonds.
"When I say my family's rich, that means nothing in the face of an Uzumaki's wealth." Mangetsu chimed in.
"And only an Uzumaki can open an Uzumaki scroll. That's how they make their fortune, and vast connections. An Uzumaki is posted in every major capitol, and the merchants come crawling to their feet for this level of security." Ao closed his eyes, and took an extra long drag on his pipe.
Retsu's good mood at a huge haul slightly plummeted. He thought that they had made it. When all along, the most valuable cargo was in the Uzumaki scroll all along! Kame knew just how much money was resting inside that tiny piece of paper.
"Kusogakure still trades with us. We'll make port in the Land of Tea, then sail to Kuso." Iguru quietly chimed in while everyone else was reflecting upon the economic might of the Uzumaki.
In Iguru's hand, he held a knife, and was cutting wooden figurines. He didn't look up from his task, but when he spoke, a hushed silence covered the ship.
"H-HOOT!" Meizu began to cough up his booze a minute later.
After everyone laughed at his expense, the vibe returned to normal. That was all it took to break the ice, and everyone was back to laughing, bragging, and whispering to one another.
It was at this point that Retsu felt a small nudge on his back. Holding out his hand, he grasped the bone senbon he had lent to Chubs II. Taking out a small piece of jerky, Retsu placed the meat into the shadow cast by his backside.
"Euh huh huh huh huh." Retsu chuckled.
Chubs II had done well. The senbon had trace remains of blood. Retsu then crushed the senbon, erasing all evidence.
"Well that's an evil laugh if I've ever heard one." Mangetsu rolled his eyes.
"Focus on the game Hozuki, and don't say you lost because your bony friend distracted you!" Kajika growled. His red facial tattoos looked particularly fierce in the soft glow of the ship's torchlight.
Performing hand seals, the two water specialists were having a mini duel. Mangetsu had his hands in a tiger seal, and directing a fist sized ball of water. The malleable water took on the shape of a heavy armor soldier. For Kajika's part, he had formed a cyclops.
Every time the small forms of water would move to strike one another, Mangetsu or Kajika would alter their hand signs. In a way, it was like inputting the controls on an arcade cabinet to make your character move.
Mei sat with the crowd, occasionally blowing steam rings out into the night with her Boil Release. Sometimes they would take on the shape of faces, or coil like an octopus's tentacle.
Zabuza meanwhile had a file in his hand, and was sharpening his teeth into pointy daggers.
In the lower decks of the ship, Gengo balled his fists in rage. The kunoichi he had gone to great length to capture alive was dead. A small, pinprick wound had pierced her neck.
"Blargh!" Gengo barfed all over the corpse.
"It couldn't be that idiot Kaguya who did this. Kajika and I have an understanding, and Iguru or Ao wouldn't give a damn. Mei would burn me to a crisp. It must be that demon boy Zabuza, testing his limits. Or the Hozuki. The way he sticks to the Kaguya's side is suspicious. This offense will not go unpunished! As soon as I find the killer, I'm going to BLARGH!"
AN: And here's some seeds as to why the Uzumaki would be destroyed. EVENTUALLY we'll get to the Uzumaki massacre. For now, still doing some side quests to explore the world, and get stronger.
I thought about Rat Summons when listening to this one song, Ghost Ship of Cannibal Rats.
You know, the Hiramekarei is kind of like a sword from Bleach come to think of it.
Thanks again for the suggestions on how to fight Minato!
How would you make an existing character stronger?/Which character was powerful, but got nerfed by dumb decisions/plot?