"They got away?" Meiko clapped her eyelids a pair of times. Her confusion at that moment was greater than her hotheadedness and the foolish desire to bang her head against an impenetrable wall.

"Why, they were winning?" Kiyomi stroke her chin, she was similarly confused as to why their opponents would withdraw shortly before establishing their advantage so clearly. It was especially odd given that the pair of rogues were the ones to attack them, to begin with.

"This bio-material, I've seen it before," Waiso explained. He walked up to the grey puddle and plunged two of his fingers into the goop. "This is what happens when you expose a very decomposed corpse to impressive amounts of chakra."

"I could have done it. I was being pushed like never before, I was right on the edge. Just one moment later I could have ignited my sword." Meiko pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. Anger and obsession of this nature was not really something that would normally be attributed to her. Kiyomi turned her attention from talk of bio-material of decomposed corpses back on her treasured teammate.

"You mean they used the Dead Soul Technique." Hanasaku pondered. It would be very unlike Chestnut Hanasaku to identify techniques and skills like this had they not been so closely related to the medical ninjutsu specter of techniques, something that the woman knew quite well in theory but not execution.

"Probably, we've seen that talisman-user give a simple command to living bodies on Kiyomi, it is highly probable that such a jutsu is more commonly used on corpses reanimated through Dead Soul Technique." Waiso pondered as he kept rubbing one of his goop-covered fingers against the others.

"This location does seem suspicious," Kiyomi admitted. "The only reason it would be so open is if there was once a massive battlefield here and everything was simply demolished."

"That means they used the Dead Soul Technique to create corpses out of the remains found in the soil, using tremendous amounts of chakra to both make them work and transform them into their own likeness. Then, when Hanasaku-sensei attacked, the enemy replaced themselves with the corpses and let the corpses get destroyed while they made their escape." Waiso finally put things together out of the details all around him.

"That still leaves the question why." Kiyomi raised an eyebrow and stroke through her hair that was falling over her face to move them away. Her tidy hairdo was all messed up by the explosion she took head-on. "They were winning. Such a setup and a complicated method of escape would have cost chakra and time. Why invest in such a complicated escape method just to make sure you had an out of a winning battle?"

"They must have overheard me and Hanasaku-sensei talking." Waiso guessed.

"I heard you talking. What of it?" Meiko crouched to the putrid pile of grey biologic waste on the grass.

"I said sensei's name out loud. If I had to guess – they did not know she would be here and after they did hear – they got the hell out of here. They even went as far as to leave Meiko and Kiyomi alive if they had the option to kill them because it would have made an escape from a furious Sannin impossible. With Chestnut Hanasaku confused and taking sweet time to figure things out like we are doing now – there's little hope of catching up to them." Waiso theorized.

"So then they were just some lowly rogues, looking to behead some ninja for the black market meeting? Make something more of what they already had for it?" Meiko gruffed. It was hard for her to believe that the person who not only mastered what she could not but also beat her clean was some lousy rogue ninja looking for a cheap head to sell.

"Maybe, maybe not. You two are just genin. Your heads can't be worth more than the explosives they spent trying to claim them." Waiso remained unconvinced.

"Either way, if we are to find out and if Meiko and Kiyomi are to get some payback for this clash, we need to keep moving towards the Fire Temple." Hanasaku decided. "You can patch yourselves up a little on the way. We'll have the monks take a look at your wounds there, given how we're staying there for the night, you'll even have some time to train there. Don't waste it."

"Yes, ma'am," both girls yelled out almost simultaneously. This new mentor-mode of the woman they both knew that was beginning to break out resembled Hanasaku as she was during her time as Lady Fifth more and more. For a short while after losing the big hat and the fancy chair, Hanasaku returned to her carefree and immature ways but now she was slowly beginning to return to her former gravitas.

Whether that was a good thing or bad, given how the woman's most lethal ability depended on the woman being ignorant towards her own abilities remained yet to be seen.


The area surrounding the Fire Temple was walled off with ancient trees. Oaks and maples mostly, but also some rows of birches here and there. The rings of different kinds of trees flashed and blurred past the rushing ninja. Waiso may not have been the mightiest of combatants but he appeared to be able to keep up with Team Hokage's pace without a problem. Once Kiyomi and Meiko patched up their most troublesome wounds with some basic medical supplies they carried in their ninja pouches, their pace was quick to pick up.

Travelling at their pace, scaling and racing across the treetops, it was difficult to notice that the team was traveling uphill. The Fire Temple was located on the northern side of a massive hill that was very shallow in its elevation, surrounded by mountains from all sides but one – where its entrance was. One was very unlikely to notice just how much higher they have elevated above the sea level upon reaching the place, compared to where they were before beginning to scale the shallow hills of the Fire Country.

The entire country had five of these shallow but tall hills with the Konoha being founded on where their bottoms met on an even plain, right beside a pointy and mountainous peak of one of the sacred five hills. It was atop of that mountainous peak of the sacred hill that the Hokage Monument, the faces of all the Hokage who have taken reigns of the village, was carved onto.

A good pair of hours after they have left their short scuffle with rogue ninja behind, Team Hokage landed in front of a wide and tall staircase. It lead up to an impressive gate that was guarded by two statues of mythical beings that were undoubtedly a part of the belief system fostered by the monks who stayed and trained here.

"Will these guys let us in?" Meiko wondered, appearing quite skeptical and laid back about approaching the Fire Temple.

"They will. They are guarded by Konoha, built and maintained by the Feudal Lord." Hanasaku nodded firmly. Her eyes showed an odd amount of warmth and longing for these walls. She looked around at the trees that reached across the stairs, the carefully washed snow off the steps and even the mythological statues with an odd feeling of nostalgia glaring off from her eyes.

"Did you not know that they are the closest thing to our colleagues?" Waiso raised an eyebrow, looking almost appalled by Meiko's lack of trust towards the ninja monks.

"Oh yeah? Do they leave on missions too?" Meiko wondered, there were no ill feelings or intentions in her voice, just innocent desire to know.

"Well… No. But they do often help the Konoha ninja when they get the chance. Their only duty is to abide by their own internal laws and rules and serve to further their spiritual quest for knowledge, devotion, and servitude." Waiso explained.

"He's right. Don't offend these people, Meiko. Act respectfully." Hanasaku instructed with a very unlike her amount of maturity and strictness.

"What's her deal?" Meiko wondered, turning to Kiyomi but the blonde just shrugged. She was not aware of any history that her mentor may have had with the ninja temple and that in itself was intriguing, given how long she was working with the woman.

Shortly after approaching the gate, it opened and a trio of monks stepped out. Two of the monks wore the simple white robe, with a dark tanned top covering the right side of their bodies whereas the third one wore an orange one that covered the left side as well, making an impressive outfit comprised of three robes covering his shoulders. All of the men were bald, although the two behind the central monk did have quite profound and fabulous facial hair.

"They knew we were here," Meiko whispered to Kiyomi's ear. "We did not even need to knock, they just left out here to welcome us in. That's so cool."

"We would not want Chestnut Hanasaku knocking on the sacred Sealed Iron Walls. She is one of the very few beings in this world who can actually destroy them if she wanted to." The monk in the center smiled with a strange amount of fondness in his look whenever he turned at Hanasaku. "Please, come inside. You are welcome to take sanctuary here, train and rest with our monks."

Meiko looked around in total awe. It would have been a bit foolish to focus on the fact that she had never been inside a ninja temple. The sheer harmony of awesome and ancient architecture, the overwhelming campaign of natural oils and sap taking her by surprise and highly disciplined training regiments of the ninja monks did the deed of taking the breath from her lungs all by itself.

The hallways were long and dark, illuminated only by torches placed conveniently in the necessary distance to illuminate the dark purple walls and give out the basic information about what was present in each room but far enough to have the rooms be sunken in gloom and darkness necessary for spiritual concentration and self-reflective experiences. The only bright and eye-catching detail that distracted Meiko from the classic-spiritual gloom of the place was the bright red columns or the occasional statue of a mythological figure.

"I assume you are hungry and weary. These two girls appear to be battle-worn as well. Allow the trainees to check their injuries." The monk in the center who appeared to be the head of the group suggested. Despite the fact that his voice had strength and authority in its tone, he was speaking in a more suggestive manner than giving out orders.

"Only if it is not too much trouble." Hanasaku nodded her head, looking at her students with a relaxed and strangely cozy look. The woman let the trio know that they were free to wander around and find themselves an activity, eat where they find people eating and train where they see people training.

"Quite the contrary." The monk to the left of the head monk spoke up. "The trainees are looking forward to improving their standing through tending to someone's wounds or training with ninja."

"If you three do not object, your sensei and I have some catching up to do. Perhaps Hidaru and Mige can show you around?" the head monk suggested, looking at both of his companions, then back at Hanasaku and her students.

Given their synchronized agreement to the proposal, Hanasaku walked off the with head monk, disappearing into the wide and numerous ninja temple corridors. While they wandered around the place and the two companion monks showed the place around to the genin and the Sin Eater, the trio noticed Hanasaku talking to the head monk in a very relaxed and even slightly alluring pose in one of the fancy porches suggesting some sort of warm platonic relationship between the two.

After the basic tour was finished, Hidaru and Mige nodded in acknowledgment of that fact and wondered what the team of ninja would like to do next.

"Man, I have so much on my mind… Probably literally everything. My wounds need some attention from someone who knows what they are doing, I am starving and I can't wait to train with some of you guys!" Meiko crouched up in excitement just to jump off the ground unable to contain it with a simple gesture.

"Wow, you certainly have a lot of energy. Most people would tire only trying to look ahead to all of that activity." Waiso sighed.

"I do agree though. I do not absolutely need to eat though…" Kiyomi shrugged. "I'd rather skip the meal and go right to training. I'd imagine the Fire Temple monks have plenty of valuable experience to share."

"I see, well, you know exactly where you can satisfy those needs. Please allow us to take you to the trainees. They should be just about done with their evening prayers and looking for some action, they will be overjoyed to assist you with your wounds." Mige smiled.

Despite Kiyomi's genuine doubt about the devotion of the younger monks to this lifestyle and the claim that they would be overjoyed to treat the wounds of some Konoha ninja, this very much appeared to be the case. It looked like there was some strange spirituality system between the trainees where they "ranked up" based on certain pre-approved spiritual activities that they performed on their spare time, in addition to their usual routine, which consisted of tending to the temple's needs, praying and meditating in solitude in the empty and spacious rooms of the temple.

Kiyomi expected some of the monks to be skilled in medical ninjutsu but that did not appear to be the case. They gave her some ointments, teas and other medication, bandaged Meiko's cuts and left them to heal naturally.

"Do you have no medical ninja here?" she voiced her ponderings.

"Oh, we do not use ninjutsu as you know it here." One of the trainee ninja monks shook his head politely, never dropping the gentle smile. "We here acquire a very different type of chakra called "Gift of the Hermits" to perform Hermit Arts, a similar but slightly different concept to your own Ninja Arts, or ninjutsu."

"Gift of the Hermits?" Meiko asked for some clarification on the concept. She, of all people, had all the time in the world. That was to say before her multiple cuts were examined, re-sutured and bandaged.

"Indeed. I don't think you've heard the story of how Gift of the Hermits chakra came to be. It's a transformation of one's chakra, of sorts. It is called that way because those mythological creatures the statues of whom you've seen all around, those we call Hermits, taught it to people." One of the monks explained. He could see it from Meiko's face that the blacksmith wished to be spared from an overly detailed and prolonged story.

"But I thought the First People gave people chakra… Were these Hermits some of the First People too?" Kiyomi wondered, given her choice of friends she managed to absorb one or two facts about the history of the ninja world and she was quite a distinguished student in the Academy as well.

"Indeed the First People created us and eventually came to pass down to us the gift of manipulating chakra, albeit not to the absolute mastery of creation and destruction they could have used it for. However, the specific branch of chakra transformation into the Gift of Hermits and Sage Techniques were taught by the Hermits who were chakra entities wandering the world back in the days of the First People, similar to the Lesser Demons or the Tailed Beasts." Another trainee explained where the first one required some time to recall the full story.

"Just as their name implies, the Hermits were very secluded from any society or chakra constructs. It is impossible to tell if they are even alive to this day, given their lonely nature. Even if they are, they reside in some of the world's most out of reach locations with the most inhospitable for life conditions so even if they would not kill or elude any seeking soul on meeting them, finding them would be quite troublesome." Another trainee laughed out after answering Kiyomi's question before she even came to speak it. That question must have been just that common along the ninja who resided within these walls for any time and engaged the ninja monks in a conversation.

"So basically, you transform your chakra into a different kind of chakra to use your different kind of techniques?" Meiko squinted her eyes. "Sounds like kind of a hassle… Aren't there any Hermit Art healing techniques?"

"There may very well be. However, the Hermit Arts are very limited. Any scripture speaking of a new Hermit Art is a valued piece of literary and religious text. There is just a single Hermit Art scripture in our entire temple. They are just that rare," a trainee looking after Meiko's injuries said.

"How would you even train such a thing?" Kiyomi wondered out loud.

"Just like Seishiri-san taught Chestnut Hanasaku about the Sage Techniques – through years of practice and discipline." The monk looking after her blunt force trauma and handing her different ointments for Kiyomi to rub over her wounds smiled.

"Huh, you mean that head monk guy taught Hanasaku-sensei about some of those weird jutsu?" Meiko yelled out in shock.

"Well… Not quite about the Gift of the Hermits or Hermit Arts but about the Sage Arts and Natural Chakra. Chestnut Hanasaku has a long history with this temple but I feel like it would be better suited if she told you about it herself." One of the monks replied.

"If you are still interested in the Gift of the Hermits and Hermit Arts, we could show you some basic principles and how to mold it during training," one of the trainees suggested.

"That would be very interesting!" Kiyomi nodded.

"But not before food!" Meiko objected.

"Certainly. We train after the evening meal." The trainee monk tending to Meiko's cuts smiled in acknowledgment of the passion of the young woman and admiration of its intensity.