Kuromaru P.O.V.

You know, I should do this more often. I thought, as I walked through the clan hallways, the crowds parting in front of me. I was looking for a very specific office at the end of this civilian sector, curious onlookers gossiping about what I was doing here.

You see, it is not I, but me in Human Beast Transformation as Tsume! And it's great! No one even recognizes it's me. I could probably get away with anything right now. Ooh I bet they're all in awe of my presence!

"Isn't that Tsume-sama? What's she doing here? I thought she got married off." "I heard she went off to war!" "I heard her mother was Separated." "I for one think its good the Heads finally show an interest in our facilities. It's about time!" "Ooh. Yes honey. Keep walking like you...mmm…."

Ok. So maybe not. I made a mental note to memorize the scent of that last one as I arrived at the door. And promptly kicked it open. It seemed to be the appropriate thing to do.

"Sup, Rika-oba."

The single occupant in the room lifted her eyes lazily from her desk. "Close the door."

I did. With my foot, naturally. She stood up and activated a privacy seal on the wall, then sat back down.

"What do you want, Kuromaru? I'm busy." Rika-oba asked. And I could tell. An extra dark ring around her eyes was added to the usual three. It's not easy basically running the entire civilian sector on your own, especially now with it so close to harvest season and a war that needs restructuring around. No other ninja wants to do it, and we can't have the civvies in charge of our stuff now, can we.

I undid the transformation and took a seat in the elevated dog chair in front of her desk. Seems her partner was out for the moment. "We need your help convincing Nobuyuki to change the rules of this year's Hunt." Her eyes almost imperceptibly sharpened.

You see, Rika-oba is known for never playing any of the political games the elder council is so in love with. No alliances and no back stabbings and no nonsense. She only votes in favor of policies that would benefit her department. Nothing else. I know, novel concept. It doesn't exactly make her popular, but it also means she has few enemies. It comes in handy when she has to play Regent for a while when her brother Hisao's away on a mission or something.

What it also means is that she won't move against Nobuyuki until it's too late. Something I came to fix. "We have reason to believe he may conspire against the Head."

She put her eyes on the clock to the wall, and then to her desk. "Unless you want to read through 80 pages of legalese in under an hour and report all the inconsistencies and errors for me? I suggest you get to the point." Oof. Alright.

"Hanako didn't just die randomly on a mission or something. She was murdered. By Nobuyuki." Now I had her attention.

"Motive?" She looked at me skeptically.

Can't divulge that. Would not help me right about now. "That doesn't matter. If he has the gall to try a hit on the Head's family, who else would he deign to get rid of in his lust for power?"

She moved her jaw. Left. Then right. "Certainly. It's extreme. But that's oversimplifying things a bit, isn't it?"

I suppressed a growl. "What do you mean?" If she was insinuating what I think she was…

"There's a reason he has so much support. Look around. The clan's a mess. I know it. You know it. The elders know it, hell the children in the kennels know it." She said, almost monotone. There was no passion in it, despite her words. "The clan has stagnated. We're losing the position we fought over four decades to pull out of the ground. I've seen the numbers. Eleven Inuzuka in strictly combat oriented roles? That's including the ninken. It's pathetic." She droned.

I frowned. "So they're throwing a hissy fit cause they're not top dog anymore? Heh. Sounds like their problem. They just need to get good. Power is earned, not given."

Her eyes showed the first bit of emotion I'd seen from her yet. "How exactly? When they haven't even been introduced to the concepts of their birthright? How can a wolf grow strong when it feeds on nothing?"

"It hunts."

"As a cub?"

"That's what the kennels are for."

"Exactly." What? "The kennels are there to nurture and socialize young cubs. Teach them to survive and train them to fight."

"Yes.." Where is she going with this?

"Except they didn't do that. Not until Nobuyuki was made Head Caretaker did they actually teach anything."

"That's bullshit. I went through the kennels myself. I learned everything there."

"Did you? Were you taught how to speak there? Were you taught how to transform?"

"I— no," And I wasn't. I was taught how to speak and transform by Aomaru. "But that doesn't prove anything."

"No? Then who was Tsume trained by?" Hisao. Shit.

"Alright. What are you getting at?"

She turned her head back to her desk, and started writing something on one of the many forms. "The clan was too focused on their individual families to care much about each other. Strange how a clan so deep in the pack mentality divided each other like that."

"And you're saying it would be better if we were all some sorta kumbaya homogenous community?"

"Nobuyuki seems to think so." She stacked a few of the papers together. "Now, is there anything else you want from me?"

"Are you going to help us?"

She looked at me again. "If Nobuyuki really did have a hand in Hanako's death, maybe you do deserve a response."

She would still—"Ha. I knew you'd come around Rika-oba. Alright, so here's the plan…"

Arata P.O.V.

"Focus your attentions on this map." Chizuru-sensei said. She unrolled a folded down map over the giant chalkboard the sensei had unsealed just for this lecture. Still outside for some reason.

She got a pointer out from.. somewhere and started pointing at the massive map. "This is a topographical map of the Elemental Nations. Do you notice anything peculiar?"

The kids stayed silent. I took the opportunity and looked around a bit. Not many sensei were here today. Unlike us, they actually had the opportunity to come and go from the training ground whenever they wanted, lucky bastards..

"Umm. There's lots of green? In the middle." A wiry boy in the back said.

There not being many sensei here was a good thing. If this is what I suspect it might be, there's not an entirely impossible chance they have eyes and ears here too. I made surreptitious eye-contact with Ayame and Torune. This was gonna have to be the day.

"Well surmised. The Land of Fire, contrary to most other countries, is primarily made up of deciduous forests, on fertile land. Most of these forests contain massive trees, larger than any you can find anywhere else. Why?"

I nudged Anko, who was seated behind me, and she shoved me back. I hope she got the message. Anko and I mostly don't quarrel anymore, although she hasn't completely warmed up to me yet, she tolerates me around nowadays. The only reason she's listening to me right now is because she's more worried about Tomoe silently imploding on herself than me calling the shots. Still, she wasn't happy when I told her I had to talk to her alone.

There was only so much involvement I could have the rest of the kids engage in, treading on dangerous grounds. They wouldn't silence this big of a group all at once, but it never hurt to be cautious.

"Because of the First Hokage right? And his Hashirama Trees?" Some girl to the side of me peeped out.

However we would corner her, we would have to do it quickly. Curfew didn't fall far behind dismissal at these kinds of lectures.

"Good. Although considered by some to be invasive species', the special brand of flora the Ichidaime has planted around the region of Fire resulted in larger than average specimens growing quickly around the surrounding landmass, outcompeting other species and by a miraculous feat of ingenuity, adding more nutrients to the soil."

I bet Chizuru-sensei noticed us fidgeting around like the suspicious weirdos that we are. Not that she much cared.

"This makes the Land of Fire and the land surrounding it highly desirable to would-be conquerors. This is the reason for the start of the First Great Ninja War. And it is also partly responsible for the current conflict."

Mmmm. And the Second? Something about this story didn't click right.

"But this is not a weakness. The trees were purposefully made to be big enough for ninja to fit through the branches, enabling travel through the trees. It is the reason for our namesake. Shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Since birth you have been conditioned to traverse this type of terrain, and in these Training Grounds you have been trained to dominate them."

My eyes widened. So that was the reason for the daily monster chase sessions! They didn't give us time to think about how we were supposed to move, we just had to do it. It had to be instinctual. Genius, in a way that disregards basic safety standards that only ninja could really offer.

"As foolish at it is to fight Mist ninja on the water, teach our enemies that fighting Leaf ninja in the trees is just as ill-advised. Your graduation is days away. Make sure you do not squander what you have gained here."

And with that impassioned bit of rhetoric, Chizuru-sensei dismissed us. Usually during this time you'd go wash up to go to bed, but I had other, very overdue plans.

As soon as the markedly smaller group of children than we started out with made their way over to the barracks, with a sneaky Tomoe at the edges, I raised my arms as if I were stretching. The signal was received, as Anko came from behind me and started blabbering at Tomoe animatedly. She was slowly but gradually leading her away from the main group. And just as she realized they were veering off the main path, Ayame and Torune snatched her up and away.

Chizuru-sensei watched the whole thing happen. I looked at her as if to say 'Problem?'

She didn't lower her glasses. "Curfew is in 20 minutes." And she walked away. Thought so.

I made my way over to the pre-assigned area a little further away from the clearing.

"Hey! Hayama! Get me out of here! Help me!" But Hayama, with a very troubled look on his face, managed to resist and cuffed her rudimentary restraints against a tree.

"Thanks guys. I think that'll do it." I dismissed them.

"You better hope you know what you're doing." Anko said as she passed me by.

I nodded at each of them. They left. Well. Not everyone. "Kouta, I can smell you. I'm still an Inuzuka you know?"

A chakra suppressed bundle leapt out of the bushes. "Sorry Arata. Had to try." He said sheepishly, then Shunshined away..

"So. It's just you and me now." Tomoe looked at me obstinately.

"Thought so. Don't worry, I came prepared." I took a seal out of my jacket pocket, and activated it on the ground. It's rough, but it should be good enough for a privacy seal. I had gotten it from one of Asuma's cronies we beat up, and on the condition we'd finally leave him alone he made it for me. Turns out making enemies is sometimes a good thing.

"So. Nobuyuki. Root. Talk." I debated on going the compassionate route. Hoped to get her to open up to me, but. Well. She's chained to a tree. I'm not. Wasn't gonna get very far.

"I ain't sayin' nothing." She sneered.

"Tomoe, the whole clan could be at risk. I'm just looking out for everyone."

"You don't care about the clan! You just care about yourself! And stealing all my friends from me!"

"What? I didn't steal your friends from you."

"They tied me to a tree because you told them to!" She tried to wriggle free, but Hayama was very extensive in his work. She wouldn't be getting out of there without any help.

"You're tied to a tree because they're worried about you. Whatever's going on between you and Nobuyuki's not good for you. They want you to be happy."

"Well I'm not happy stuck to a tree!" Ugh. I was getting nowhere with this.

"Tomoe, why do you hate me so much?"

"Because! Because…" Her face turned pensive. "Well, you're one of us. But you don't care about the clan at all! You're always so rude to everyone there and you're never there anyway. You're the son of Hisao-sama and you don't even want to be an Inuzuka!"

I.. something spiked in me. "Of course I don't care about the clan! They don't care about me! They threw me away and forgot about me. No one there wanted to be my friend!" And it sounded so childish, but it was true. I hated every second there. They hated and scorned me. Why should I bleed for them? I'm almost a little grateful Tomoe wanted me to do the Hunt so soon. It means I could get out faster.

"What are you talking about? That's not how I saw it! You were always the loner who didn't want anything to do with anyone!"

"You never saw any of it? They jumped me! They stole and destroyed my clothes! Threw mud at me! That's not even mentioning the caretakers! You never noticed how my bowl was always skipped at lunchtime?! Sometimes they conveniently "forgot" to feed me for the entire day! When I was injured from training, only Shizuka came to my help. The rest left me there to suffer! When I tried to tell people what was going on they all ignored me! What the hell do you mean that's not how you saw it?!"

Her eyes were wide. My heart pumped quickly in my chest, and I could feel the sweat on me. I needed to calm down. I needed answers, not a screaming match.

She didn't seem too fazed by what I just told her. So she did know. She was just trying to rile me up like I was a- "You don't remember." What? "When I tried to be your friend."

Four years earlier…

"Oof, I'm full!" I put my bowl down. It clanked nicely on the dirt ground. Mmmmmm. Dirt.

"Oi Tomoe! Nobuyuki-sama's calling us all together!" Masato said from where everyone else was.

"Okay!" I caught up with him, running on four legs. It's so easy now! I can do it faster than everyone else!

"Why did he ask us to come?" I asked.

"I don't know. He didn't say." Weeiiiirrdd. Usually Masato always knows something.

We joined the others already around Nobuyuki-sama. There was so much noise! I shoved my way through to the center. "Ow! Watch it Tomoe!" Someone said from behind me. I blew a raspberry at him. I wanted to hear what he would say!

"Quiet down, children. Quiet down. We have a lot to get through." Immediately all of them stopped talking. Everyone here loved Nobuyuki-sama. He would always sneakily bury extra meat in our feed when it was his turn to cook. Or help us when we didn't get something in our books. Or tell us stories about the war when we were bored. Or—"..so that means some of you get to see your parents again!" Crap! I didn't hear what he had to say! "Now I know this is exciting for a lot of you, but do keep in mind I don't want to have to clean up anymore pee than I have to, so.." Still! I get to see my parents! Ooh I wonder what they've been doing all this time! Kicking some Suna butt! Or. Or maybe—they're secretly invading castles and stealing all the intel in Hot Springs! Oooh I wonder what they're like!"

I looked around the large room. I was supposed to see them here! They should have met me already! Everyone else already met with theirs!

Masato had already met his dad. He had a big smile on his face, riding on his shoulders as he ran around the room.

Yuki had curled up with the rest of her siblings around her mother, tail wagging furiously.

Suzuko had both of her parents teaching her to tie ninja wire to kunai.

Everyone was so happy. But there was no one here for me!

I clenched my fists. Tears are not gonna come out, dangit! I was gonna be a ninja no matter what. And ninja don't cry. No they don't..

I could smell Nobuyuki coming in from behind me. "I'm so sorry child. I only got the news just now." He picked me up, and held me close. His heartbeat was fast. "I'm still here, understand? Your parents may be gone, but I'm still here, alright? And there's no way I'll leave any niece of mine out in the cold." He squeezed. "I'm sorry." I wasn't gonna cry! No I wasn't! I wasn't a baby anymore.

He slowly brought me back out to the kennels, just off of some kids whose parents were still fighting. Or didn't have parents anymore. Didn't have parents anymore….

Nobuyuki turned me to face him. His face was a tad bit red, the only sign of emotion I could see on him. "Every monday after dinner from now on I want you to meet me in the bathrooms, alright? I'm bringing you to my secret training grounds. I'll train you. You're not going to fall behind because of this, alright? And I'll tell you everything. Everything you could possibly want to know about your parents." I nodded numbly. "Good. Don't be late. And remember, I'll always be here. No matter what." He let go, and went back to the meeting room with one last smile in my direction.

I sat there for a while. Watching everyone playing in the field. Some ball game with their feet. I'd want to play too, but.

I wanna do something. But I don't wanna play.

I grabbed a stick next to me. I smacked a leaf with it. Not very fun. I looked around. Even though none of their parents were here all the other kids were having fun, playing and laughing. Except for one.

There was a kid, over there. He looked just as sad as I felt, his face drooping. I made my mind up and walked over to him.

"Hey I'm Tomoe. You look sad."

He drew his eyebrows together. "Why, you're a charmer. You seem notably downtrodden as well." He said, then turned away from me.

"Your hair is really flat for an Inuzuka." He turned to look back at me again, a surprised look on his face. "Do you wash it? I can show you how." He opened his mouth slightly, then closed it again. What a weird kid. Is his face broken?

"Is there a reason you're still talking to me?" Wow. He's so rude. Does he even have friends?

"Yeah. You look sad. What's your name?" I sat down in front of him.

"Arata. Is this conversation done now? I'd like to get back to my 3 to 4 P.M. brooding."

"No, stupid." I lightly hit him with my stick. He flinched horribly. "Why are you sitting here being sad? Everyone else is playing."

He rubbed his head as if I had given him a bruise. "Are you new around here?"

Talking to this kid is hard. How did Nobuyuki-sama say it? Like pulling teeth. "No. I've lived here all my life. I've played everywhere here! I even peed right where you're sitting!" I said with pride.

He quickly jumped away from the spot as if there were ants biting his butt. "Why in the—Okay. Look. Whatever you want from me I suggest you make it quick. My patience is limited." He crossed his arms.

I stood up, and crossed my arms too. It looked like I should. "You looked sad. I wanna know why."

"I'm sad because there's nothing to do here. I just stare into the horizon waiting for training to start."

"Why don't you play with the other kids?" I asked. The answer was so obvious. This kid is so weird.

He rubbed his arm. Strange. His clothes are ripped there. "Why aren't you?"

Uuhhhh… "Because. I'm waiting for my parents!" Nobuyuki-sama told me they're just gone! That just means I have to wait for them to come back. It's just taking a while.

"Aren't you supposed to be doing that in the meeting room over there?" He pointed at the exit to the kennels.

"No they're not here yet! Nobuyuki-sama said they're gone! So that means I have to wait for them to come back! Duhh. Are you keeping up?" I shouted loudly.

He made a weird sound with his tongue. "Cheh. Keep waiting then."

"I will!" I said. I was angry now. He was being such a jerk! "I'll wait so much your parents will show up too!"

"Heh. Yeah, you can keep them then."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He turned away, a nasty expression coming on his face. I decided I didn't like it. "I haven't seen my parents' faces in two and a half years. Not a word, not a letter. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Threw me out here to suffer in this hellhole while they get to murder people. For Konoha and all that. Yeeeh, dying for a dictatorial state in a war to fuel some feudal lord's bank account. Count it the height of honor."

"How could you say that?!" I have actually no idea what he said, but it sounded super disrespectful! "You're really awful you know! You totally deserve to be alone!" I said with a huff.

He actually looked hurt. I didn't know someone so awful could even have feelings. "Yeah, good luck with those parents of yours. Don't be surprised when you find them dead in a ditch somewhere."

…..

Anger. Anger and only ANGER! "I'm gonna kill you! Don't talk about my parents! You don't know anything about them! Raaaaahh!" I flew at him, claws out. He tried to run, but I caught him! I clawed and clawed and clawed!

Voices came from behind me, and I was torn off of him. No! No! "Don't you ever say anything like that again!" I was gonna get him! I wrestled and wrestled. He just ran away like a coward!

I was lifted up and taken away, but I couldn't take my eyes off of him running for the opposite side of the kennel. He was gonna get it!

Arata P.O.V.

"How do you not remember all of that?" She stared at me accusingly.

"I.. well, like I said it was far from the first time I was jumped and—"

"You told me my parents would be dead in a ditch." I flinched.

Younger me wasn't exactly happy about his situation, and made it vocally known very often. Saying I was in a darker place would probably be an understatement. Thrown into the body of a child, then undergoing never ending hazing, which at one point just turned into constant abuse and harassment? Yeah. Life felt meaningless and horrible, and I took it out on people who maybe didn't deserve it.

I thought back to my previous conduct to Shizuka and grimaced. I wasn't like that now. I had friends, and a family I didn't know loved me.

"I thought my parents hated me, back then. It wasn't until Shizuka told me about them and then when I actually met them that I started to change. I'm not that person anymore."

She sneered. "Yeah right. You still hate the clan. You still hate what you're supposed to be."

I couldn't refute that. Not really, but then. "Why would you tell me all that? The whole backstory? And about Nobuyuki?"

"I told you so that you'd see that Nobuyuki-sama is actually a great person! He used to be super nice until recently..."

"What happened then?"

She double checked the privacy seal, then tugged at her restraints. Oh alright, alright. I walked over and cut her restraints. She scooted back against the tree to get more comfortable, but made no move to flee.

"I don't know. These masked people started showing up all of a sudden, and it's like he would shut off ya know? And then he started becoming colder and colder and training would get harsher until he pulled out the whip and—" I hugged her. "The people in masks started threatening me, saying they would kill me if I said anything about them and now that I've told you I—"

"Sssshhh. You're going to be fine." Wow. Can't believe I'm here in the middle of a forest comforting Tomoe of all people. Life takes you strange places I guess.

Still. Nobuyuki in cahoots with Root? And it could only be Root. If they were legitimate ANBU they'd be working through the Head, not Nobuyuki. My head was circling (read, panicking) with the new information.

Okay. Focus. Distressed child in your arms is probably the priority.

After a while, her breathing evened out and she wiggled a bit away from me. I took the hint and let go. "Look Tomoe. Those guys in masks? They're the bad guys. And Nobuyuki's put the entire clan in danger associating with them. I need you to tell me everything you can about the situation alright? No secrets." Which was a bit ironic coming from me, the guy with all the secrets.

"Okay." She sniffed. "I don't know everything, but they did say they had to speed up the plans for whatever reason. They want me to win against you in the Hunt thing. But I don't know why. They just told me to win."

What? That makes no sense. What possible correlation is there in that? I'm gonna have to talk with Tsume about all this. None of this is making sense.

"Thank you for telling me all this, Tomoe. You've been very brave."

She pouted. "Yeah whatever. I'm still gonna beat you in the Hunt! I don't care what everyone else says, I still wanna beat you anyway!"

"You know it's never been a competition right? We're not actually directly competing." Oh these ninja and their obsession with rankings.

She jumped up and pointed at me. "I don't care! You better be ready, Arata! You're gonna get schooled!" She shouted, but it lacked the usual animosity.

"I'm looking forward to it then." I smiled.

Tsume P.O.V.

I arrived at the building twenty minutes before the Monthly was supposed to start, Kuromaru in tow. The things he told me about his conversation with Rika-oba weren't exactly encouraging, even if not surprising.

It took me a while to get out of my own head and see the clan for what it actually is, and I could say with honesty that dad had not handled it well.

He tried to hold onto power as much as he could, concentrating as many resources as possible into the Head's family, only doing anything for anyone that would suck up to him. It didn't make him popular at all. Guess I should have seen that earlier, the hints were all there. Well, in his defense, I could say he never really wanted to be Head anyway.

Well that sucks for these fuckers, because I do.

I kicked the door open a bit forcefully. Beside me Kuromaru began quietly giggling.

As I expected, the majority of the council was already there, chatting their ears off amongst each other, Haimaru and Nobuyuki in the middle, before they quieted down upon my entrance. It was obvious they had been there a while and already held a sort of informal meeting between themselves based on the papers that were strewn about between them, covered in writing.

A bold power play, but they're late game, so I'm not surprised. You could say that's my mood for today.

Unfazed, and ready to do some fucking damage.

'That's right.' Kuromaru beside me proclaimed. I grinned.

I sat down on a cushion just outside the circle, giving them looks. They were clearly very happy to see me here.

About fifteen minutes went by of tense silence only interrupted by another person here or there entering the room every so often.

At exactly the starting time, Rika-oba came in and sat down on the largest cushion in the room. She wasted no time.

"The Council of the Inuzuka Clan of Konohagakure, on the third month of fall, 42 CT, will now begin their first half of sessions." The scribe next to her, whose name I should really be remembering by now, started writing.

"First topic on the floor, regarding our general stance on the voting in the next Clan Conference.." She went on.

Not yet, not yet. Can't burst in on just the first minutes taken, that would just be rude to the scribe. I waited for her to finish talking. Haimaru raised some concerns he had with our approach, which he made known to the council with one of his very long and very boring speeches. Oh right. Wasn't he supposed to be the official spearhead of this new council or whatever? Can't believe they chose him. Figured he would croak early probably. I mean look at him! His whiskers look like they'd be falling off any second now. I could feel the ache to stir something up getting worse.

"And so therefore, I believe allocating more resources to the training of combat-ready medical nin could be harmful to our overa—" Alright. THAT'S IT!

"Look. Can we all just stop pretending to go along with this farce?" I interrupted. Haimaru looked incredibly offended I had saved everyone from another thirty minute long droning session. "We all know where this is headed, and frankly, If someone's gonna attempt to oust me somehow, I'd like to do this with a bang!"

"Rika-sama, this behavior is highly inappropriate! Please ask her to kindly leave the premises!" Seki, being her usually slimy self, just had to retort.

"She is within the realm of her powers in this." Rika-oba said, almost bored. Her expression gave away nothing.

"Heh. All I'm saying is that I know where most of you stand. I know where I stand, and I know that's not where you want me standing. SO! I'm giving you all a proposition." I kept my eye contact solely on Nobuyuki. He would know this was personal. From the heated glare I got back, I figured he already did.

"And what makes you think we would listen to anything you say, child?" Haimaru barked out with the most aggression I'd ever seen from him, which wasn't saying much. Heck, I could do better right now.

"Because you're going to. Now shut up." Indignant arguments covered the room. Apparently everyone had something to say about that. I waited for it to stop.

...It's not stopping.

"QUIET!" Rika-oba shouted, her expression furious. Everyone froze. No one had seen her mad before, let alone that heated. The room instantly silenced, her face turned back to its usual impassiveness. "Tsume, continue. And please refrain from insulting the elders you are consulting with."

"R-Right. As I was saying. Proposition." I took a breath. "No one's happy with the way the clan has been run this past decade and a half, and I think the resentment boiled over a bit. Now you all think you can run the damn clan on your own, and you don't need the Head family. I, naturally, think you're wrong." I smiled. Time to get to the good part. "But me just burying your concerns in a swamp isn't gonna stop the valid anger you feel at the current way of doing things. So I propose a challenge."

I produced a scroll from my jounin vest. I unrolled it and held the side with writing out to the council. "It's very simple. On the next Hunt, your product of community-raised child will go up against my individual-raised child and whoever gets bigger marks gets headship. See, it's all symbolic and stuff cause it's the culmination of our values and efforts directly going against each other to see which approach is best. Great right? To be honest, spending months fighting a war and trying to take over my position at the same time will take way too long, so I'm offering you this. How's it sound, Nobuyuki." I made sure to single out. I wasn't going along with the Haimaru bullshit, and anyone worth their salt in this so-called "council" didn't either.

It was very clear the elders wanted to start an uproar again, but they were all wary of another of Rika-oba's outbursts.

Nobuyuki gave me a long and quiet glare. I didn't relent and glared right back, adding some Killing Intent for the hell of it. He reciprocated.

"...I figured it would come to this. Your hubris would not allow for anything else. Very well. My representative from this year's crop will be Tomoe."

I grinned inside. "Mine will be Arata. See you in the field of battle, bitch." I immediately Body-Flickered out. Cause I could. Kuromaru followed me.

"Fuck that was so badass. Nice going, Tsume. Think he'll fall for it?" Kuromaru asked once we were in the forest outside.

"Right? Absolutely. It's just how far will I catch him slipping?"

"...Do you think Arata's gonna be mad at us roping him into this shit?"

Oh yes. "Probably."

Nobuyuki P.O.V.

"That was all she said, Danzou-sama. She didn't go into any more detail."

Danzou turned around, lightly hitting my shoulder with his stick, indicating I rise from my seiza position. "It is clearly a trap. But one you well prepared for. I expect no overt issues."

"Thank you Danzou-sama." I bowed again. Oh, what I wouldn't do to be rid of this man already. Aside from the funds he has been more of a hindrance than a help in my dealings so far.

"That said, I will be assigning Boar and Jin to make sure the plan proceeds with no further complications. They will be assisting you in your intervention. They are non-negotiable. Am I making myself clear, Nobuyuki?"

I grit my teeth, "Of course, Danzou-sama. I am in your debt."

"Good. You're dismissed."

Fucking finally. I Body-Flickered away as fast as possible.

Tomoe you had better not disappoint me now. Your father and mother's legacy will not go to waste because of this.

A/N. Wow! Almost close to the end of the arc. Look at that! What, two years on and 66,000 words deep and not a single arc done yet.. If anything it speaks to how long I actually plan for this to be. Hope y'all are as excited as I am for this! Be seeing you soon, probably.

Revised 12/6/2021. (finally.) As opposed to other chapters this one really needed work.