"Really? You wake up after sleeping for days from a battle in the middle of a village, surrounded by a barrier formidable enough to hold off the strongest ninja and one not even the best Village Protection ninja can crack through and you're dead-silent?" Lord Sixth wondered. The man took a couple of more bites off of whatever he was sustaining himself with, further accentuating his rush of finishing his lunch.
"Is my dad okay?" Mana's voice was husky, it did not require further clarification that the magician had not spoken for a couple of days and had been through a lot lately.
"Still comatose." The man shrugged after finishing his lunch, dusting off his hands and then locking them over his chest, ready to devote all of his attention to Mana.
That meant that mother did not pull anything radical and had him unplugged from life support. His further life may have been pointless but as someone who was adamant, often even to the point of obsession, to keeping things alive, Mana would have liked to have her father live on until it would be impossible for him to do so. She felt a bit of relief in the ocean of apathy that her mother felt the same way.
"That's it? You don't want to know how your fight ended? Nothing that interests you at all?" Lord Sixth in his new body and face wondered.
"No." Mana closed her eyes and put her body back onto the pillow. It felt about as hazy now as it did back in the heat of the battle and now there was no burning need for her to power through that dizziness. There was no point for her to do anything at all, may as well have spent the rest of her life in this bed.
"I feel like you're not appreciating our efforts to keep everyone wanting to see you away from your ward? The local urban myth is that you're sort of a big-time hero. We're doing what we can to quash that, it's a long story, it's why I came here to talk to you, in fact." The man pointed out after placing one of his hands over his hat and fixing it to sit tighter atop of his head.
"Lord Sixth…" Mana spoke up to try and get the man who never even really got onboard with her follow his own advice and leave her alone but his raised hand silenced her. It was not that hard to do, given how Mana had to power through her gloom to speak.
"I'd appreciate if you called me Overcoat in this disguise. I did not go through all this effort to reapply for my old job with a public face to have myself be identified by the commoners, thank you very much." The Hokage who lost his seat after a tremendous crisis of villager trust at some point during the three-year break between Mana's departure and her return explained.
"Whatever… Overcoat…" Mana sighed.
"Sorry to cut in line again but… It just seems to me like you're not behaving much like a team player and for what is to follow I will very much need you to be quite the team player so I'm just going to go ahead and explain to you what the situation is, in exchange for that, we'd like to hear about what had happened inside the barrier…" Overcoat shrugged while gesticulating with his arms in a way that Mana had never seen Lord Sixth do.
It was remarkable, this transformation that the man once called the Sixth Hokage had undergone. If his words were true, he was now back on his spying ways, or whatever Black Ops handiwork he was doing before emerging to the surface as the Sixth Hokage. He not only has completely changed his face, his voice, and his build but also the way he moved, his speech mannerisms and patterns. Everything about him except his chakra signature suggested that Overcoat was a new man in his entirety to the man once known as the Sixth.
"There's nothing to tell you, the man once known as Guru Ayushi had gone insane and tried to seal the chakra of a bunch of people he had kidnapped as well as my own souls into a biological weapon known as Honda." Mana halted to see if the Sixth had any betraying reactions to the name of the monster that inadvertently caused his downfall as Hokage but there was none. It only further added to the impressive work that Overcoat had accomplished with reinventing himself.
"You have a Summoning Contract with the Ninja Rabbits, you could have had them reverse-summon you from there at any moment. Yet you fought one of the most powerful ninja in recorded history alone, why?" Overcoat wondered.
"Is this a debriefing?" Mana struggled in her bed, feeling her eyes getting wet. She was not even entirely sure why. Then again, if she ever needed an excuse – there were plenty and most of them laid in the recent memory, not a day older than one month.
"For it to be a mission debriefing, there first had to be a mission. Don't worry, I have absolutely no relation to the Hokage. Please continue…" Overcoat assured and pulled out a candy that he promptly stuffed in his mouth and let his tongue throw it about like a pitiful raft in a stormy sea.
"To answer your question, I had too many reasons to fight Ayushi-san to even consider all the options for escaping. The drugs he and his cult have made hurt my father, I wanted him to pay for that. He went mad after I was on bodyguard duty once, I felt personally responsible for everything going on inside that red cube… I've been preparing for three whole years to put a stop to him and prevent another Honda incident. None of these heroes are the reasons why heroes fight, maybe you and your men are right to quash those talks around the village." Mana explained. Talking was difficult, she had to stop and take a deep breath after every sentence because the weeping that kept interrupting her made it difficult to breathe right for talking.
"I see…" Overcoat looked down and away through Mana's ward window. "You know, back in the day everything I am doing here would have made me feel all sorts of rotten inside."
"You said you weren't associated with the Hokage, how's that possible? Are you here to assassinate me or something?" Mana said with a dull tone. To anyone hearing her speak it would have only been possible to tell that she was inquiring because of the content of the words spoken and not her tone.
"If I was, I'd have killed you while you were sleeping. This is where I cannot be entirely honest with you. I am no longer the head of my employers meaning I've got people above me to answer to. I'm still Black Ops, just not the kind of Black Ops they print out happy posters out of or the kind kids impersonate when they're playing ninja. Let's leave it at that." Overcoat advised.
What did he mean? The only Black Ops organization operating in Konohagakure was the ANBU, they were loyal to the Hokage without exception. They responded to nobody else and acknowledged no other authority, neither the village Civilian nor the Ninja Council had any sway over that organization. Could this have meant that there not only was another Black Ops organization functioning in Konoha, one so secretive that nobody except select few have even heard of it and even those have not heard it being addressed by its name, also, one that did not respond to the Hokage entirely?
Whose authority then did Overcoat's employers acknowledge? Mana sighed. All these questions made her head hurt, given the collective weight resting on her chest from the back couple of months, she just felt apathetic toward the mind explosion that Overcoat subjected her to.
"What I meant before was… Just so you know, we have made sure to secure your ward, both to fend off the people praising your involvement and those that would wish you harm for hurting Ayushi. He was, after all, once a world-known, beloved Guru of the people. We've also kept your mother at bay from your ward, probably the more pain-invoking endeavor right there." Overcoat said.
Poor mother. Just how crushed should she have been? Her own daughter, one that had a detestable tendency to run off for days, weeks, sometimes even months returned with a nasty poison that nearly killed her, then, her own husband fell into a coma because of his own demonic obsession with off the counter pain management medication, mere moments later, her daughter nearly got her soul sucked out of her and found her way back to the hospital. And mother was not even allowed to see Mana this whole time…
"Okay, so now that I know what you're not here to do, how about you tell me why you and your shadowy employers did go through all this effort?" Mana asked.
"You don't sound very interested." Overcoat raised an eyebrow.
"I am, it's just that… It won't matter in the end. After Ayushi it's just…" Mana sighed.
"Yeah, I've been there. You keep on letting it burn you from the inside, the thought that something's gonna kill you to the point where you can almost feel the death wrapping its cold fingers around you despite the mission not having even started. Then, when by a miracle you do survive, everything to follow just feels kind of… Empty and pointless." Overcoat perfectly described Mana's inner state. Who knew? He may truly have been through this.
Mana did not reply, she just kept on staring back at the man with a dull pair of emerald eyes that have lost not a bit of the luster of their shine, even if everything around them seemed tired and dying.
"But Mana… What I'm about to ask you is a long-term engagement. We cannot afford you to take the deal now and then back out when you get over this. You must understand the full weight of what we're about to talk about, know that the organization I'm working for will not allow you to threaten its secrecy in any way. The only reason you know what you know, which is bare bones, is that it is absolutely necessary. So are you in or out?" Overcoat raised an eyebrow back at Mana.
"I don't care." Mana shrugged before resting her back and wrapping herself in the hospital cover. She didn't like the clean and fresh feel of her hospital gown. It felt strict enough to just be recently washed but given enough time and wear it will likely feel more pleasant for her skin to rub against.
"The very fate of Konohagakure and its political stability hangs on the balance." Overcoat cut in with an immediate declaration.
"I don't care about anything political," Mana spoke without showing her face from under her covers.
"Anything political has a nasty tendency to sprinkle down on the heads of people that neither know nor care about political things. Innocent people, like the ones that died during Honda's rampage and like those that Ayushi had kidnapped and very nearly drained of chakra." Overcoat read his moral, utilizing the full sharpness of his politician's tongue.
With a bothered and irritated wriggle, Mana rose back up and rested against her pillow. "Where is Honda?" she asked as if that was the only reason why she rose up.
"Detained in the same place he was being detained before. Being studied for everything Ayushi did to him. The Village Protection tightened the security around him but it isn't really necessary – Ayushi was the only person strong and crafty enough to get Honda to begin with." Overcoat shrugged. "So are you in or out?"
"It would be easier to say if I knew what I was in for…" Mana grumbled.
"No can do. The information is only available to those that are in. If I told you and you decided to back out, I would truly have to make you disappear." Overcoat tightened the collar of his coat around the lower areas of his new face.
Mana groaned and shrugged.
"Fine, I don't care about much of what happens from this point on. Might as well…" she mumbled.
"Very well…" Overcoat nodded before pulling out a cigarette, unwrapping its other end and then placing it in his mouth. The man pulled it out to show it to Mana as if she even cared if he messed up her lungs by smoking indoors of her ward. "It's chocolate…" he excused himself.
Mana rolled her eyes.
"What you've done is remarkable. You as well have saved the world in that barrier, nobody is protesting that. Well… We are protesting that when it's the villagers spreading talks of it but… You know. The point is that my organization has been aware of Ayushi's madness and his activities beyond the border. We've had spies and agents of foreign nations trying to do some course correction but… Some of them were in the pile of people you've breathed the life back into." Overcoat thanked Mana for her work in his own way.
What Overcoat brought up may have been interesting once. While the village barely flicked a finger beyond arresting anyone affiliated with Ayushi but not the man himself, some mysterious shadowy organization, loyal to nobody knew whom, was working against him. That must have been terrible. Without the ideological restraints that helped Mana survive the number of times that she did get in Ayushi's way, anyone the maddened Guru found bothersome would have suffered a most dreadful fate.
"For the record, everyone who knows what happened inside that barrier is happy with the outcome. Your victory against Ayushi surprised us greatly and removed a sky-reaching wall of thorns out of our way and we will not forget that. For the longest time, the few of our members that bothered to look into your personality and work thought you a danger for the village and what it stood for." Overcoat went on explaining.
"I do have a knack for favoring the right thing over the village interests," Mana admitted.
"There is one little bit though. Not that many people know about what had happened between you and Ayushi. We've shown our best effort on course correction and a little nudge of the information spreading, trying to keep it neutral until we know what to do next." Overcoat said.
"You're treading around something. I'm tired and I want to see my mom. Get on with your business." Mana grumbled while rubbing her eyes. She's been out for so long that she was not entirely sure if she was tired or had too much sleep.
"Fair enough, I'm not sure if you know but after the resolution of the conflict between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, Konoha became the top power in the world in terms of its military. It was an investment, Kumogakure chose a sparkle of economic advantage with the monopoly over the coltan industry over military supremacy." Overcoat nodded and went on.
"Probably smart. Military supremacy has too many of its advantages chained and muffled by peace treaties. What's good of the strongest military if to wage war you have to navigate around columns of bureaucracy?" Mana shrugged.
"That remains to be seen. Both the Hokage and my superiors would rather see Konoha maintain this status quo until it is no longer useful. That's where your heroic labor comes in. Guru Ayushi was the icon of this world. A peaceful sage that traveled the entire world and allied with no single country, advised countries in how to avoid war and inspired people and inspiration does a great deal for civilian morale. And then, right after visiting Konoha, he disappeared a handful of years ago. Missed out on all of his planned visits…" Overcoat let his description of the international situation linger for a moment and simmer in Mana's perception.
Mana's heard a bit about that. Every once in a while the meaningless accusations of other villages pointing fingers at Konoha for having a part to play in Ayushi's disappearance rose up. Rumors of all volumes and contents sprouted up, some claimed that Konoha had kidnapped Ayushi and brainwashed him to spread their propaganda but the job was not yet complete. Those would have mounted noble rescue efforts. Some of them went the simpler path and declared that Konoha had the man killed, having somehow found the way to do the deed that stacking piles of dozens of decades could not accomplish.
"It won't matter how many times you reason with them. Those talks will always remain. The only reason nobody did anything concrete about it was that nobody wanted to disturb the sensitive military balance while having nothing specific for proof of Konoha's involvement. We can tell the world that Ayushi had gone mad and how we saved the world but…" Overcoat once again cut his thought off early just as a test of Mana's interest and the sharpness of her perception.
"It will be about as effective as telling misguided, grieving parents their child died in an accident…" Mana surmised.
"Exactly. About as many people will buy it as many really care about what the truth is compared to what they stand to gain from lies." Overcoat finished his chocolate cigarette and licked his brown lips to wipe all the smudges off of them. "While it is fortunate you've left Ayushi alive and in a vegetative state, instead of killing him outright, a narrative where we can shift the fault away from Konoha would be more favorable. Instead of trying to push through the truth nobody will buy, my superiors wish to employ a lie that will result in the least catastrophic outcome. You must understand, we're talking about fending off a war between Konoha and every other country that would stand something to gain from Konoha burned down, that's to say everyone that has use for miles of untapped forest real estate, loads of Ryo and boundless glory."
"You want me to take the blame." Mana put the pin on the map on a place Overcoat was desperately detouring around.
"Please understand, this is the only way that Konoha avoids a black mark of being a backstabbing den of vipers it may very well be. Also, the villagers avoid becoming victims of an unjust war based on lies, serving as an excuse to bloodthirsty warlords to do what they do best." Overcoat's body language became defensive. He anticipated a huge fallout from this and tried to defuse it before it came up. "If we act that Ayushi's madness had never existed, as if you attacked him out of pure spite and caught him by surprise… You will take all the negative attention off of Konoha. Seeing how Ayushi is alive, there will be no need for severe punishment. We will fake a Ninja Tribunal to be as soft as possible for you, Ayushi will be remembered as a martyr, a great spiritual figure, a man that's sworn the oath of non-violent resistance, taken out by an overzealous youth who should have known better."
"Sure. Brats pick on old people all the time…" Mana sighed.
"You must admit, you fit the narrative of a misguided young lady perfectly. You've always been a bit… Quirky." Overcoat spoke while restraining his words, as if he had known them to be sharp but also as necessary to be told.
"Tell everyone whatever you like." Mana laid back down and stared at a remote point of the pristine white ceiling.
"I'm not sure you're evaluating all of the underlying consequences. That is important for the organization to have faith in your ability to stay devoted to the deal's conditions. You must know everything you're signing up for. Your prison sentence will be symbolic, maybe but… People will outright hate your guts. All around the world. I don't see you being able to have a career in entertainment with everyone seeing you as the person that's taken away Guru Ayushi from them. You must realize that, no matter the sentence, people will see your sentence as too short, they'll claim you deserved to serve for life or have your life taken altogether for what you've supposedly done. What if every friend you've ever had turns away from you? Can you keep your word then?"
"My father is in coma, my mother is probably angry at me for lying to her and not giving a damn about my own life, I've lied to my family and my friends that I'd stop chasing unknown responsibilities and mysteries by going off and chasing the very embodiment of what I've promised to avoid. I never planned on surviving my battle with Ayushi, the very fact that I'm alive now is a cruel twist of fate, may as well take up all the blame for it because for all I know it is my fault. I've forsaken everything I stood for by lying to my loved ones, every little ounce of hatred that people will have – I deserved all of it." Mana shouted out letting all the fumes she had to lash out. "I'll take the blame, I'll take all the hate. I don't really care about what happens now. This conversation is over."
Overcoat fixed his hat and turned toward the door, giving Mana one last staredown. "Very well. Get better soon, Mana-san. In the name of my superiors and all of Konoha, thank you, the unseen ones supporting the grand tree of Konoha from the depths of its soil will not forget this."
After Overcoat left, Mana was just the way it all started – alone.