"So, this is the final step?" Naruto asked the two sages on either side of him as they surrounded the stasis pool in the temple, illuminated by its vibrant, sapphire glow.
"Not the final step, but it is the last hurdle to the heights of your training," Seidai answered.
"This will jumpstart your ascension to sage-hood, assuming that you are successful in this trial," Kodai added.
"Right…" Naruto muttered, peering into the depths of the blue ether. "How does this work, exactly?"
"The core tenet of Salamander senjutsu is control," Kodai began. "The Toads of Mt. Myoboku weaponize the natural energy around them into extensions of their bodies, while the Snakes of Ryuchi Cave breathe life into inorganic matter and bend it to their whims. We Salamanders focus on using senjutsu internally to achieve total command of our faculties and beyond."
"It's how we convert our chakra into poison," Seidai added.
"I thought you guys naturally produced poison," Naruto remarked, turning to Seidai in confusion.
"We do, but not nearly enough to weaponize it the way we do," Seidai clarified. "We're able to supplement it by producing greater quantities of poison directly from our chakra, simultaneously enhancing the potency of the poison we naturally produce. It's akin to converting raw chakra into nature releases."
Naruto whistled. "I thought only the best medics could do something like that."
"Chakra is capable of a great many things when you truly know how to manipulate it," Kodai sagely responded.
"Oh, I'm aware…" Naruto muttered, thinking back to Kurama eating Orochimaru's soul and the strange racket that went on in the mindscape every so often.
"Now, how this relates to the stasis pool is your capacity to properly manage the natural energy that will be pouring into you," Kodai continued. "You must gain a perfect grasp over the natural energy and mold it within to create senjutsu chakra. Only then will you be able to exit the pool on your own power."
"But won't I be basically frozen in time?" Naruto questioned. "Or am I just misunderstanding what stasis means?"
"If you're a dumbass that falls in, sure," Seidai bluntly responded. "The naked jackoff you threw in there remained in stasis because he was neither a sage, nor did he go in on his own volition. You, on the other hand, are already intimately familiar with natural energy through your training. For a very brief window, you'll maintain the wherewithal to begin molding senjutsu chakra and enter Sage Mode for the first time."
"Do keep in mind that a single lapse in concentration will torpedo the process, and you'll be stuck in perpetuity," Kodai warned.
"…You'll pull me out if that happens, right??" Naruto worriedly questioned.
"How would that give you any incentive to remain in control?" Seidai deadpanned, and then he yelped when his brother's tail whipped across his head.
"We have the greatest faith in you, Naruto," Kodai amended, shooting a glare at Seidai. "You must have faith in yourself."
Naruto sighed. He supposed he didn't really have a choice. His mind briefly traveled to Karin immersing herself in advanced Salamander arts and Kushina no doubt assisting Tayuya in her kusarigama training with the other Salamanders. They were hard at work and growing exponentially all the while, and the blue, phantasmal pool in front of him was his way of upholding his end of their collective bargain when this training trip began.
"Alright, let's do this," Naruto said before stepping up onto the rim of the pool and slowly lowering himself inside.
When his hair disappeared beneath the surface, Kodai turned towards his brother. "How long should we give him?"
Seidai kept his amphibious gaze on the shining sapphire containing their chief summoner as he took a long moment to reply. "This shouldn't last more than a few minutes."
"Oh?" Kodai perked up, placing both hands on his cane. "I never got the impression that you had this much faith in the eft."
"He's long since grown out of the eft stage," Seidai continued staring at the pool. "The fact that he even got to this point means that he's more than capable of surmounting this particular mountain."
Kodai hummed in agreement, but any further dialogue was halted when a hand emerged from the surface and gripped the wall of the pool. While still pale and fleshy, it was slightly webbed, and the fingers were digging into the wall with such strength that cracks formed in the senjutsu-reinforced stone. The hand was soon followed by a wild, spiky mane of gold and its emerging owner. Naruto's eyes were closed, showcasing black markings that enveloped his eyelids and each had a thin, blade-like protrusion extending down either cheekbone just above his whiskers. When he opened his eyes, gone were the cerulean they were familiar with, and in its place were black, dilated pupils sitting atop yellow sclera.
"Did I do it?" Naruto asked the two sages.
Kodai hummed, and faster than lightning, his cane swung at Naruto's head. Just as fast, however, Naruto snatched it without diverting his gaze whatsoever.
"I'll say," Kodai noted with a pleased smile.
"Eh, it's not total mastery, but it's the closest any of our summoners have ever gotten," Seidai shrugged. "In any event, get the hell out of that pool before your upper body ages faster than your legs. We can finally finish up your training now."
"Awesome," Naruto grinned, leaping out of the pool and landing on the ground with an unintentionally massive thud. "I'm gonna have to get used to that."
"Glad that you're already in the mindset of doing so," Seidai remarked before the two sages turned to exit the chamber. "We'll get a feel for how long you can maintain it as you get better at molding senjutsu chakra."
"Got it," Naruto dutifully nodded as he followed them out of the chamber and through one of the tunnels. "What's next?"
"After getting used to the physical boosts granted from Sage Mode in combat, we can approach elemental manipulation," Kodai answered.
"Not poison first?" Naruto questioned.
"Tackling one will inevitably include the other," Kodai responded. "Remember, the name of the game for Salamander senjutsu is control. Your handle over your chakra is impeccable, so it should be a simple matter for you to begin the pinnacle of Salamander arts."
"Which is?"
"Utilizing senjutsu as a conduit to manipulate several nature transformations at once, and facilitating their fusion without the need of a kekkei genkai."
Jiraiya sighed. No matter how much of the stuff he was forced to sift through, he would never get used to the ridiculous amount of paperwork that came with this godforsaken job. Even when he spent all day at his desk mindlessly signing, stamping, filing, and vetoing away, the stacks never seemed to get any smaller. In fact, there were several instances in which he would briefly look away from the desk, and when he turned back to continue his work, he could swear that the stacks only grew in size.
The kicker to all of this was that most of the paperwork was comprised of civilian matters these days: requests for loans, business mergers, land disputes, expansion of one of the housing districts, etc. Jiraiya could only sigh and ponder about what could possibly be done to alleviate some of this paperwork. Perhaps there could be an administrative body that oversaw the smaller, day-to-day operations of the civilian populous of the village, things that would ostensibly be a misuse of the Hokage's time to handle. They could be comprised of several representatives from various sectors within, each coming together in a committee of sorts to discuss and coordinate civilian happenings. A council of civilians, one might even say…
"Have you tried shadow clones?"
Jiraiya's full attention blasted away from the paperwork and whirled behind him at the sound of that impossibly familiar voice. The space was empty, only the window showcasing the sprawling village beneath the faces of the Hokage etched into the mountain was present. His heart was racing; he knew what he heard. He knew who he heard.
"What the fuck…" he said through a weary, cautious exhale.
"Shadow clones, Sensei," the voice appeared again, this time coming from the direction of the pictures of his predecessors on the wall. When Jiraiya's gaze darted to the spot, he was struck by the impossible figure standing in front of their own picture. The same white cloak and spiky, blonde hair that he cried over nearly two decades prior was standing in his office with an empty bottle of sake in hand.
"You should also lay off the sake on the job, Sensei," he said with a playful smile. "Tsunade's a bad influence."
Then, he simply placed the bottle back into the small trash can beside him, and he was gone in a flash without another word. Jiraiya's eyes were rooted to the spot that his prized pupil had just occupied… at least, that's what it appeared as. His gaze then trailed to the trash can with the neck of the sake bottle sticking out of it just as it had been minutes earlier as if it had never been disturbed in the first place.
…Had it even been?
"Yep, I've been at this desk for way too long today," Jiraiya nodded, coming to an internal consensus that it was merely a paperwork-induced hallucination.
"You're requesting our services once again."
It was a statement rather than a question that gruffly slid out of the void that was Zetsu's black half.
"I'm requesting you actually do the job you're paid for, unlike last time with that damn box!" Ohnoki growled at the mercenary from Tsuki no Me standing in front of his desk.
"You paid for us to bring you the Box of Ultimate Bliss, not the fairy tale that supposedly lived within it," Black Zetsu dryly reminded.
"We're shinobi, not miracle workers," White Zetsu cheerfully added.
Every fiber of Ohnoki's being was screaming at him to disintegrate this impudent brat, but he swallowed his anger and weathered the snark. There were far more important matters afoot, which was why this meeting was even happening.
He allowed one deep sigh before pressing on. "I am commissioning your organization to retrieve a jinchuriki for me. I need you to locate and capture Han, the jinchuriki of the Gobi, and then return him alive to Iwa."
The white half of Zetsu blinked in surprise. "Seriously?"
Ohnoki nodded, and then his eyes narrowed at the man(?). "Will that be an issue?"
"No," Zetsu's other half quickly answered before White Zetsu could say a word. "It won't be an issue at all."
"Good," Ohnoki declared before producing a scroll. "Here's payment at the usual rate and Han's most recently reported general location. Remember, he must remain alive."
"Consider it done," Black Zetsu said before the plant-man began to sink into the floor.
As he was doing so, however, he looked up to an empty spot on the ceiling and kept his gaze there until he was gone. Ohnoki glanced to where he was looking and still saw nothing, nor did he sense anything or anyone else in his office beyond the hidden ANBU that were always there. Ultimately dismissing it, he returned to the mountain of paperwork he had been putting off with a grumble.
"Why can't Kurotsuchi grow the hell up and take this damn seat from me already," he irritably mused to himself, ignoring his ever-present back pain. "Maybe becoming the new jinchuriki will finally shape her up. It'll grant her the power she needs, at least."
What neither Ohnoki nor the hidden ANBU in the office were aware of, however, was that the spot Zetsu stared at wasn't as empty as they believed. Sticking to the ceiling was a chameleon doing an impeccable job at blending in with its surroundings by both being invisible and totally masking its chakra, and it was staring down at the Tsuchikage with a pair of Rinnegan.
A whole nation over in Ame, perpetual rain cascaded down Pain as he sat on the tongue of one of the four faces adorning his tower. While the Deva Path was not generally capable of emoting, a frown developed alongside the narrowing of his Rinnegan, nonetheless.
"It appears that Ohnoki is finally making a direct move," Pain mused. "Regardless of whether this results in success or failure, Iwa mobilization seems to be inevitable at this rate."
Pain sighed, though it came out like a foreboding growl. "How annoying. Well, no matter. They shall know pain-"
His darkening musings were halted by a paper butterfly landing on his finger.
"Konan, it is good to see that you've returned from your mission," Pain greeted, though he had already sensed her and her team's arrival via the rain.
Another butterfly flew into view and unfolded to reveal a message:
Please do not preemptively eradicate an entire hidden village.
Pain blinked. "You heard my musings?"
A brief moment of silence passed before a third butterfly appeared beside him, and it, too, unfolded to reveal her reply:
No, but my Nagato senses were blaring, and that is never good.
"Fair," Pain nodded. "Ascend the tower to my office as soon as you can. We have much to discuss."
The two messages refolded back into butterflies, and the three origami insects flew away to return to their creator. Pain then returned his gaze back to the village he presided over in thought. Utakata and Hotaru were currently on their way to Kiri to assist the Mizukage in addressing the disappearance of the Sanbi, while Pakura was still in Suna keeping a watch over Gaara in the event of another Tsuki no Me attack. He'd confer with Konan when she arrived at his office about whether he should send Naruto to lend aid to Han (or if he should simply wipe Iwagakure from the map), but the wholesale disappearance of the Sanbi was a strange and admittedly worrisome prospect.
He was under no illusions about who was responsible. He had a chameleon in the office of every Kage, so he was privy to the Raikage being informed about the Nibi jinchuriki being attacked and presumably captured. There was only one reasonable suspect for the Sanbi's chakra spiking and then vanishing entirely, but it raised an important question:
Where were they storing them if not within the Gedo Statue?
"You seriously don't have to feed me, Sakura," Kakashi bemoaned as Sakura sat at his bedside with a bento and a clump of rice in her chopsticks hovering impatiently over his covered face.
"How else am I going to see what you look like under the mask, Kakashi-sensei?" she bluntly replied with a quirked eyebrow before shoving the "offered" food closer to him. "Now, eat up."
When he continued his lethargic resistance, she huffed and yanked the blanket that had been covering everything below the bridge of his nose off of him, only to reveal another blanket occupying the same space.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Sakura groaned, momentarily throwing her head back and slamming her hand on her face in unbridled exasperation at her sensei's antics.
After a moment to breathe, she removed her hand and looked back down, and she was met with the dual-blanketed Kakashi's still-blank gaze, meanwhile, an empty bento and freshly used chopsticks were resting on the bedside table.
"You've gotta be shitting me…" Sakura said with a twitching eye.
"You'll get used to it," a voice that was unfamiliar to Sakura but entirely too familiar to Kakashi rang from the other side of the room where Kakashi's flak jacket was resting. Turning, the two were met with a smiling Yondaime casually meandering through the room to stand by the window.
While Sakura's brain short-circuited at the sight, Kakashi only sent him an eye smile. "Oh, hi, Sensei. You're early; usually, the grief-induced hallucinations don't arrive until after midnight. What brings you by so soon?"
"Oh, y'know, just hanging around," Minato shrugged. "Haven't seen the sun in a long while, so I figured I'd pop by a little sooner. You look like shit."
"I feel even worse," Kakashi sighed. "Obito's Sharingan really took a lot out of me this time."
Minato's expression suddenly hardened. "Speaking of the Sharingan…"
Nothing happened, however. Minato stood there, no doubt stretching his senses for something, but he didn't appear to find what he was looking for when he finally scrunched his face and hummed in thought. "Huh, I guess he removed it. I would've, too, even knowing I was dead."
"Removed what?" Kakashi asked.
"Hm?" Minato looked back at Kakashi before sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "Oh, nothing too important. Naruto's more than ready to take care of it."
That brought a wistful chuckle to Kakashi, as well. "He really is something special, isn't he?"
"Yeah, really is," Minato agreed with a fond smile while staring out at the village through the window. "Well, I'll leave you to it for now."
Then, he was gone again in a flash. Kakashi nodded and sighed, bringing Sakura out of her stupor and her attention squarely onto him.
"…So, are we just gonna pretend that I didn't see the Yondaime, too?" Sakura slowly asked, not sure if she wanted to break the illusion that it was merely her sensei hallucinating.
"Mhm," Kakashi confirmed, much to her surprise. "It's a lot easier on your psyche that way."
"…We really need to get you into therapy, Kakashi-sensei."
A long, perturbed groan slipped out of Suigetsu's mouth as the group steadily meandered toward a rather desolate shoreline. "Man, I'm at the end of my rope here. How much farther?"
"Not much," Yukimaru responded, motioning to a set of islands up ahead. "Umi no Kuni is straight ahead, and the hideout won't be hard to find after that."
"Did we have to go all the way across the continent, though?" Suigetsu groused. "We walked through the driest wastelands to find Jugo at the Northern Hideout just to come all the way back down to this corner of Hell to get the fish-girl."
"We took this path to inconvenience you specifically," Yukimaru said with an eye roll.
"Personally, I'm enjoying the journey," Jugo added his piece, raising his hand to allow a small bird to perch on his finger. "It's nice to not be cooped up in a dark, damp cell in perpetuity. Freedom is a truly unappreciated feeling."
"…I think you were locked up for the rest of the world's benefit rather than some kind of intentional torture," Suigetsu murmured, still a little wary of him and his sporadic bouts of violent insanity.
"Two things can be true," Jugo rebutted.
"I guess," Suigetsu shrugged, and then his attention turned to Sasuke. "So, what actually happened to Orochimaru?"
"He picked the wrong fight," Sasuke answered simply.
Suigetsu blinked. "That really it?"
Sasuke nodded, and as they finally approached the shore, Yukimaru stepped forward and created a massive, dense Water Dragon before beckoning them all to climb aboard the unorthodox vessel.
"Hard to believe someone like him finally went down," Suigetsu remarked as they each walked onto the dragon and stood on its head, meanwhile, Suigetsu liquified his ankles to firmly plant himself within the dragon for stability. "I would've paid to see it. Hell, I would've paid to be the one to do it myself."
Yukimaru snorted, and his face twisted into a disdainful frown. "You can thank the guy in person when I finally hunt him down and kill him."
When there was only silence in response, Yukimaru turned to Suigetsu, only to see that he was receiving a look so dry that he was surprised it didn't affect his Hozuki kekkei genkai. "What?"
"…You think a guy that's bad enough to take down Orochimaru will just go down that easily?" Suigetsu deadpanned.
"Everyone dies," Sasuke spoke up without turning away from the approaching archipelago. "No one is invincible."
"Orochimaru was close enough," was on the tip of Suigetsu's tongue before he was interrupted by Yukimaru agreeing with Sasuke.
"Besides, that's why we're forming this team," Yukimaru said. "We aren't coming together for no reason. Strong we may all be individually, but I doubt there's a threat we can't eliminate with all of our skills combined."
"Oh, so we're gonna Power of Friendship our way to an early grave, gotcha," Suigetsu murmured. "Whatever, so long as I get my hands on the Seven Swords."
"Look, up ahead," Jugo called out, pointing to a disturbance in the water.
Within moments, a giant, red tentacle emerged from the water and lashed out at the dragon. With a single hand seal from Yukimaru, the dragon opened its maw and fired a water bullet that sliced right through the tentacle, chopping a portion of it off and bringing an irate Kraken to the surface. The fearsome beast roared, brandishing its seven and a half tentacles threateningly and gnashing its rows of monstrous teeth over the group.
"We don't have time for this," Sasuke grunted, begrudgingly readying a Chidori to fry the gargantuan creature and be done with it.
However, in the blink of an eye, the massive, ferocious cephalopod was yanked back under the surface and into the murky depths. Yukimaru, Suigetsu, and Jugo were totally flabbergasted, and even Sasuke was taken aback by the incredibly sudden development. A few beats of silence passed before the Kraken reemerged, but it was visibly distressed and trying to bat away something unseen. Then, it was yanked right back underwater with even less fanfare.
"…I believe there's something else down there," Jugo spoke up.
Suigetsu turned and shot a dry glare his way. "Oh really? How'd you figure?"
"Let's not stick around to find out what it is," Yukimaru hesitantly suggested, and the other three boys nodded.
As the Water Dragon continued on its way to shore, the thrashing under the surface that was unsettling the ocean even further suddenly stopped entirely. Yukimaru subtly willed the dragon to move even faster in response. When they finally made it to shore, the group disembarked from their aquatic ride and was immediately halted by half of a giant tentacle crashing into their path. Turning around to greet whoever it was that lobbed a giant tentacle at them from the water, they were met with the unmistakable sight of the humanoid fish that was Isaribi's transformed state emerging from the waves. The green, scaly skin and fins galore quickly retreated, however, allowing her blue, sleeveless tunic to miraculously repair itself alongside her brown shorts and grey tabi socks. Meanwhile, a curtain of long, purple hair emerged in its place to cast an unsettling shadow over the intense, mistrustful gaze she was shooting them.
"…Did her clothes just reform out of nothing when she shut off her fish mode?" Suigetsu broke the silence before any tension could develop further.
Jugo hummed. "Our world is full of all sorts of strange and miraculous happenings. Such is the nature of shinobi."
Suigetsu couldn't help but fully turn and present Jugo with the depths of his exasperation. "Alright, dude, are you some kind of fuckin' prison philosopher or something?"
"I have been locked away for over half a decade," Jugo shrugged. "Whatever sanity I have left is all tied up in proverbs I made up."
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Yukimaru were matching Isaribi's glare. Well, matching her glare would be a tad misleading; Sasuke's expression remained as impassive as ever, whereas Yukimaru was surveying her wardrobe and silently considering Suigetsu's question. Isaribi, on the other hand, scanned her gaze over the group one by one, scrutinizing each one of them before her expression flattened when the realization finally dawned on her.
"Ah shit, the rumors are true, aren't they?" Isaribi questioned in an already exhausted tone.
Sasuke nodded. "Orochimaru is dead."
"And we're gathering allies for a hit job," Yukimaru added with a grin.
Isaribi blinked, staring at the two for a few seconds more before shrugging. "Whatever. Calamari for dinner if you're interested."
With that, she turned and walked toward the severed end of the tentacle before grabbing it with her permanently scaly left arm, hoisting the massive thing onto her shoulder with surprising strength and dragging it toward a large bolder formation. A single punt blasted the boulders every which way, exposing a crater that led to an underground set of stairs, and she descended those stairs without sparing the boys a backward glance, dragging the gigantic tentacle down behind her.
"So…" Suigetsu began as he and Jugo sidled up to Sasuke and Yukimaru. "Now what?"
Sasuke looked over at Yukimaru. "She was your pick. You take the lead."
"Are you jackasses coming or what?!" a shout echoed from the hole, prompting them to quickly follow behind the tentacle.
A chorus of grunts, brutal impacting of flesh, and a typhoon of unrelenting grit echoed through the training ground within the courtyard of the Hyuga clan head's home. Hiashi Hyuga stood by and silently observed his two daughters practically brutalize each other with mixed feelings. Neji's career-ending injury had lit a fire under Hinata the likes of which he had never imagined possible, which he would ordinarily see as an unequivocal win. Hinata felt that the clan had lost its most promising prodigy and the one destined to lead the clan to a prosperous, united future, and she also felt that she'd be doing a grievous wrong by her cousin if she continued as she was.
So, naturally, that led to her slowly but surely shedding her hesitant, tender nature in combat against her younger sister. Hanabi had always been more competent in the Gentle Fist than Hinata, but Hinata had become substantially more vicious in combat than she, Hanabi, or even Neji had ever been. Her penchant for targeting and laying waste to internal organs reminded him far too much of her late mother for his comfort.
It grew even more worrisome when they both began openly expressing excitement during their bouts. They even began experimenting with the Gentle Fist by incorporating nature releases into their strikes, which was certain to draw the ire of many of the clan's traditionalists. He was planning on stepping in and speaking to them about it on one occasion, but when he witnessed Hanabi quite literally ignite a vacuum palm into a flaming wind tunnel that was summarily blocked by Hinata performing a Palm Rotation that was crackling with lightning, Hiashi elected to remain silent.
"Let them cook," as some of the youth in the branch house would say.
Hiashi gazed upon them as Hinata unleashed what he believed to be her current magnum opus: masterful shape manipulation in the form of two roaring lions on her hands that drain the chakra of any opponent they touched. A closer look with his Byakugan spied a steady, tightly controlled stream of fire chakra funneling into the lions to increase offensive potency. To say he was impressed was an understatement, but he was afforded no time to linger on her accomplishment before Hanabi propelled herself into the air with a dual Vacuum Palm to avoid Hinata's vicious onslaught. Then, Hiashi was thrown for yet another loop when Hanabi fired her flaming variant of the Vacuum Palm at her sister, only these had bundles of lit explosive tags leading the charge because of fucking course she had to take her namesake to heart.
It was the genuine smiles they brandished all the while that both warmed his heart and unnerved him to his core. His daughters had never been closer. Hiashi had also never been more afraid of them.
Then, Hiashi turned his gaze to the left to greet the approaching figure that miraculously appeared out of thin air. His expression did not change at the sight of Minato Namikaze, only offering him a respectful nod in greeting that was graciously returned.
"You noticed me coming," Minato pointed out with a smile.
"Of course," Hiashi confirmed to his old comrade. "The Byakugan is not the greatest dojutsu in existence for nothing."
"Highly debatable," Minato chuckled.
"The Sharingan still pales in comparison and always has," Hiashi shrugged. "Scarcity does nothing to change that."
"But the Rinnegan does not," Minato casually challenged, evoking the desired response in the form of Hiashi finally disregarding his rigid countenance in favor of shock.
"A Rinnegan wielder exists??" he practically demanded, but his question was only met with a noncommittal chuckle from the Yondaime. Hiashi continued to stare at him for a proper answer, but one never came. Instead, Minato watched as Hanabi attempted to block Hinata's lions with a Palm Rotation that looked redder than usual, no doubt carrying fire chakra, as well.
"The Palm Rotation is still a sight to behold," Minato commented, changing the subject. "The Rasengan is better, though."
Hiashi only allowed a faint twitch of his eye. "Yes, I am aware. You made a habit of informing me quite frequently."
"Well, it wouldn't do for you to forget, now would it?" Minato joked, and then he straightened his coat when the two sisters finally took note of his presence and halted their spar. "Well, 'bout time for me to be hitting the ol' dusty trail. Good talk."
Hiashi just barely had enough time to nod in agreement before he was gone in a flash. His gaze scanned over his inquisitive eldest and incredulous youngest before a particular thought crossed his mind, and he hummed. "Usually, the hallucination of Minato arrives after the hallucination of Hizashi. Curious, that."
"Erm, father?" Hinata cautiously probed.
"Was that the fucking Yondaime??" Hanabi demanded with far less tact.
Hiashi leveled them with a blank stare before addressing them. "Many things in our complex shinobi existence are easier to reckon with once you stop asking frivolous questions."
"Are you done, Hidan?" Kakuzu groused while the lifeless body of Asuma Sarutobi slung over his shoulder.
"Yeah, gimme a sec," he replied before plunging his retractable spike into his chest, piercing his heart. "Oh god, that's the stuff…"
Kakuzu silently growled in irritation, but he took solace in the fact that the final Konoha shinobi went down, barring those two children who escaped. The blonde one had to practically drag the other away kicking and screaming.
He scoffed at the thought. If that pathetic boy wanted vengeance, he could come back for it when he had a bounty large enough to be worth Kakuzu's time. If his memory of Konoha's shinobi served, then those two were a Yamanaka and a Nara. Perhaps they'd actually be worth something in the future, or perhaps not. It didn't really matter; he and Hidan got what they came for plus a 30 million ryo bonus.
"Alright, I'm all done here," Hidan announced, deactivating his Curse Jutsu with a pep in his step at the carnage. "What next?"
"Cash in on Sarutobi's head, and then we keep hunting," Kakuzu answered. "We're on a roll, so let's not lose this momentum."
Hidan grumbled about Kakuzu being a heathen, but he didn't complain. "Where to, then?"
"Kiri," Kakuzu declared. "There's a lot of missing-nin out there from the last regime. Enough of them will be worth decent money."
Tsume Inuzuka was tired. Her squad had recently returned to the village empty-handed after scouring the southern portion of the nation for any signs of Tsuki no Me activity. She didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse: on the one hand, no encounters with S-ranked criminals was objectively a positive thing, but on the other hand, that simply meant that another squad was more likely to encounter them, and given the degree of monsters they were told to be on the lookout for… well, she was never high on funerals. Choza's kid's still stung.
What was really exhausting her, though, was what she came back home to: Tora, the fucking Daimyo's cat, had gotten loose again and had somehow managed to fumble her way into the bounds of the only clan compound that was 45% canine. So, naturally, the entire ninken population was in a frenzy trying to catch the runaway feline to no avail because some jackass thought it was funny to teach a cat how to tree-walk and body flicker. Never mind how the hell a regular ass cat was able to perform ninjutsu and had good enough chakra control to stand upside-down on a ceiling while dodging Tunneling Fangs from every which way; it wasn't worth thinking about.
What was, though, was the cloaked blonde that appeared from out of fucking nowhere and scooped the cat into his arms. It wasn't just any old dumbass popping into the compound either. She'd recognize that scent anywhere, but she didn't even need to since it was impossible to forget that fabulously golden head of spiky hair and the sheer aura that surrounded and followed him wherever he went.
Man, was she jealous that Kushina got to him first... or was she more jealous that Minato got to Kushina first? Maybe both? It didn't matter, as this was no time for pondering old fancies; the very much fucking dead Yondaime, her classmate, dear friend, and occasional threesome participant, was standing on the ceiling where Tora once was.
"Alright, Tora, I think you've had your fun," a somehow fucking present Minato fucking Namikaze joked to the frazzled cat before looking directly at her. "Good to see you again, Tsume."
And just as quickly as he appeared, he was gone again. Tsume, fortunately or not, was the only human to actually witness his momentary presence, as the others were busy trying to wrangle their partners and regain order in the compound. She didn't know what the hell had happened or why, but she had learned long ago the futility of questioning the ninja world.
Her son, however, hadn't yet learned that lesson as he entered the fray riding atop Akamaru. "Hey, Mom, where'd Tora go? And was someone else just here?"
She did not immediately respond, instead slowly turning to the curious expressions plastered on both the faces of her son and his partner.
"…No," she finally settled on answering. "No one else was here. Tora managed to give me the slip."
"You sure?" Kiba asked while sniffing the air. "Because I know I smell someone. It's the same smell as that thing you keep in your drawer-"
"Shut it, brat!" she hurriedly shushed with a smack to the top of his cranium.
Deidara huffed, glaring glumly at the forested landscape from atop a clay bird high in the sky. A glance downward to Takigakure below brought irritation pouring into his core, which only made the mouth on his right palm chew and mold a large clump of clay even faster. This was a wasted trip; the jinchuriki was nowhere to be found anywhere in the village, and there weren't even any tracks to follow to determine when she had even hightailed it from the village. She (or even whoever potentially took her; he wouldn't rule that out) covered her tracks beautifully, clearly not wanting to be found. It was so annoying.
The continued silence beside him only made matters worse. He really did enjoy having Sasori around. Despite his blasphemous position on what art truly was, Sasori was the only person who would (or could) challenge Deidara on anything art-related. Hell, Sasori was a surprisingly decent conversationalist in general, provided he cared about the subject matter or found the person he was speaking to engaging enough to entertain. Deidara certainly enjoyed the discourse.
Oh well. There was no use crying over spilled milk. Sasori was dead, and Deidara would flatten Suna for it in due time. Maybe he'd finally collect the Ichibi jinchuriki along the way. It couldn't hurt to have another artist around to bounce ideas off of… provided he survived Madara ripping the Ichibi out of him.
On second thought, he wouldn't keep his hopes too high.
A solid, white blob protruded from his right hand-mouth, indicating that his C3 statue was complete. Smirking, he carefully cradled it in his hands, beholding its glorious majesty before tossing it ahead of him. Within moments, the statue puffed into an enormous bomb before plunging straight toward the hidden village below. He watched it plummet with a dark smile, slowly raising his fingers in a half-ram seal.
"Katsu," he fiendishly muttered.
The statue detonated in a monstrous ball of fire that grew into a towering inferno, quickly engulfing the whole of the very wooded Takigakure. Deidara's eyes glowed with malicious joy as he watched the display with pride brimming from his soul. This was true art. The bombastic spontaneity of their fleeting existence was on full display for all to see. So many lives lost in a flash. So many structures annihilated and reduced to rubble in just a single moment. It was practically orgasmic.
"Are you getting off on this?"
Deidara's attention was wrenched away from the glorious blaze and onto the two-toned head poking out of his clay bird. The piercing, yellow dot sitting in the void that was Black Zetsu juxtaposed the curious, sharp-toothed grin coming from White Zetsu on the other side. Incredulity poured out of Deidara as he stared at Zetsu before frantically checking the undercarriage of the bird for any signs of the rest of Zetsu's body, but he saw nothing but the roaring flames of a dead village.
"What the- where the- HOW the fuck??" Deidara pressed.
"Your exploding clay is still clay, which is just soil, so we can travel through it," White Zetsu casually explained as if that answered everything.
Deidara's eye twitched at the response. "We're over 100 fucking feet up!"
"Don't think about it too hard," Black Zetsu advised. "It's not why we're here anyway."
"Madara found you a new partner," White Zetsu said before Deidara could question anything, which succeeded in diverting his train of thought. "He's back at the lair. You'll like him: he's a good boy."
Deidara just stared at the creature before him, and Zetsu merely stared back. His owlish blinking was simply met with vaguely human blankness until Deidara finally found the perfect degree of flatness to respond with.
"…I already don't like the sound of this," he deadpanned.
"What's done is done," Black Zetsu dismissed with finality. "Finish up here and return to the lair."
"What about the jinchuriki?"
"Well, she is clearly not here, and if she was, she'd be dead," Black Zetsu flatly replied, and Deidara could just feel the deadpan glare in the round, yellow dot that was his eye. "We will track her down. You get back to the Mountains' Graveyard."
Before a dismissive "whatever" could tumble past Deidara's lips, Zetsu retreated into the bird and vanished into the ether. With no sign of them in or on the bird whatsoever, Deidara could do nothing but turn around and fly back toward the Mountains' Graveyard.
Minato sat atop the stone effigy of his face with a list in hand and a satisfied smirk. It had been a very productive week; the whispers of the ghost of the Yondaime popping up at odd places for a split-second at a time had many in the village on high alert, whereas others just dismissed it as a strange case of mass hysteria. He was always faster than the ANBU, so they could never corroborate claims of his presence, and those he had seen and spoken to never commented on the matter for one reason or another. It left many in a state of paranoia as his "ghost" quickly became an urban legend of sorts, some even saying his moniker in their bathroom mirror five times with the lights off to summon him.
Thinking about the one instance where he actually popped in on someone who did that made him chuckle. He was probably enjoying this whole endeavor far more than he should've been. It was the least he could do after Naruto's near decade of isolation in the village. At least the urban legend he was becoming in Konoha wasn't as bad as the boogeyman he no doubt still was in Iwa, wherein parents would tell their children that the ghost of the Yellow Flash would appear in their room at night and spirit them away if they misbehaved.
Looking back down at the list in his hands and scratching Teuchi's name off, he only had one more person to visit: Tsunade. He initially hadn't even been aware that she was in the village, assuming that she was still working through her grief somewhere between a bar and a gambling den in the further reaches of the country. In fact, Jiraiya being the Godaime was a surprise to him, as he only reasoned from Naruto's memories that Hiruzen took the position back after that night. Regardless, they were welcome surprises, and he would have an actual conversation with Jiraiya at some point before Naruto called them back, but for now, he had a gambler to prank.
Locking onto the mark he left within the main manor of the old Senju compound from when Kushina still lived there, he flashed right into the living room, but he was completely unprepared to be met with Kushina and Tsunade laughing over a few bottles of alcohol in front of a TV.
"Kushina?" he asked, not expecting to see her there.
"Hi, honey!" Kushina greeted with a bubbly and clearly intoxicated wave.
…How did reanimations even get drunk??
"I was wondering when you'd show up," Tsunade commented with a smirk.
Minato's gaze flickered to Kushina before he shot a deadpan look to Tsunade. "Did she sell me out?"
Tsunade snorted. "Nah, I stumbled on one of Naruto's salamanders robbing her grave a while back. It wasn't hard to connect the dots. Once she showed up here, I figured you would, too."
"Besides, I'd never sell you out," Kushina added. "You're family after all, and you never sell out family. Right, Minato?"
Minato groaned and hung his head. "I said I was sorry for that."
"And you'll keep saying it for another 7 years and 51 weeks!" Kushina ordered with a smile.
Minato sighed and limply fell into an empty chair beside the couch while the two women laughed at him. He supposed he deserved this.
Tayuya, try as she might, could not pry her eyes away from the sight beside her. She was stuck watching in horrified fascination as Naruto finished his twenty-eighth bowl of ramen without a care in the world, as was every other patron of the stand save for Karin. She hadn't the slightest clue how the hell he put so much down nor where the hell he stored it all, and she had long since given up on figuring it out anytime soon.
She kept her gaze on him as a contented sigh escaped him. She wouldn't admit it, but Naruto really fascinated her. He and Orochimaru couldn't be more different; where her former master was cruel, calculating, self-serving, and clearly missing a screw or two, Naruto was generally kind, easygoing, as patient as all hell, and… well, he was also missing a screw or two, but in a much less homicidal way than Orochimaru. She admittedly didn't have much experience with ridiculously powerful handlers beyond those two (and Pain by extension), but it still felt strange to be treated like a genuine comrade rather than a disposable pawn.
Naruto could, at any point in time, tear her apart with his bare hands and then nuke the area for miles to ensure that no trace would be left of her once he was done. In fact, whenever he so chose, he could go on a killing spree the likes of which this world would have never imagined possible. The amount of power Naruto held in his left pinkie alone would strike fear into minor nations and give pause to the five major villages, and if he was ever presented with a reason to unleash the full breadth of it…
Tayuya had sparred with Naruto plenty of times in the three years they had been traveling together. She had fought alongside him plenty more. Rarely had they encountered any opponent that could make Naruto fight seriously; not even Orochimaru was capable of that, and when he pulled out his hydra form, Naruto didn't even deem it necessary to handle it himself, instead allowing the Kyubi's chakra to give him enough of a boost to end him. With that said, never before nor since their stint at Kuromizu Swamp had she been in the presence of such unfathomable power than what was on display between Kodai, Seidai, and Naruto when utilizing senjutsu. Kimimaro didn't come close to approaching it, Kabuto was woefully lacking, and even Orochimaru and his unreasonably powerful bag-of-bones sensei weren't up to par. The sheer presence exuded by a sage made her feel like a spec of stardust floating in the void, and she couldn't even be angry about it.
He was so ridiculously strong, and yet, it was like he didn't even care. He was so casual about just about everything. Maybe it was the fact that he knew that practically nothing could touch him?
"I must be pretty fucking gorgeous to have caught your eye for this long,"
The voice of the subject of her thoughts himself snapped her out of her musings, and she met his playful smile with a nasty glare when his statement processed. "Yeah? Maybe I'm into dumbass blondes that can casually wipe mountains off the map. What are you gonna do about it, huh?"
It was a weak retort, but it was a retort, nonetheless, and she wasn't going to back down from whatever sort of banter this was.
"Really?" He snorted, stacking his newly empty thirtieth bowl onto the tower of used dishes in front of him. "I didn't think I was your type. Figured you would've preferred someone who swore a lot more."
"Dicks don't need to talk," she replied with a smirk.
"I-" he began before the words died in his throat, and he floundered for a response to that amidst her victorious grin. "Alright, you've won this round; thanks for playing."
"Damn right, I did," she snickered, and then she glanced at the flaps of the ramen stand. "Four Eyes would strangle me if she heard that."
"Then maybe you should stop teasing her about it so much," he chuckled.
"Maybe she should just nut up and say something," she retorted, sending another glance to the flaps in hopes that Karin hadn't wandered her way back to the ramen stand after going off to explore the tourist trap that was this border town between Konoha and Ame territory.
"She will when she's ready," he assured, but Tayuya wasn't quite convinced.
"If you know, why haven't you said anything about it?" she pressed, and he sighed, pulling out his frog wallet (she still needed to ask him about that) and dropping a wad of cash onto the counter for the lifetime supply of ramen he had singlehandedly devoured.
"It's a delicate thing," he began, facing her with a somber glint in his eye. "I know tact is a bit of a foreign concept for you-"
"Bite me, fuckhead."
"-but it wouldn't be right or fair to press something like that out of her. She's as socially adjusted as me, which is to say 'not very.' This is both of our first real connections to a person our own age, and both of us are winging the shit out of it."
"Uh huh…" Tayuya murmured, fixing him with the most pointedly unimpressed glare her brown eyes could muster.
"Yeah, figured that wouldn't convince you," Naruto chuckled. "She also has some… complicated feelings regarding our dynamic, especially as far as her self-worth is concerned. I want her to be able to stand on her own two feet, and I know for certain that she can, but she needs to believe it too, y'know?"
"I guess," she reluctantly conceded, and then she stood up from her seat. "Well, just don't drag this out any longer than it needs to be."
"Sound like you're speaking from experience," Naruto joked with a quirked eyebrow.
Tayuya scoffed and folded her arms. "As if anyone in those grimy, shithole hideouts could even dream of being worth my time."
Naruto chuckled again, following her lead by getting up, as well. "Well, I'm honored to be the first."
"You fucking wish," she snorted before opening the flap, startling Karin who was about to do the same. "Sup, Four Eyes."
"Hi, ass-face," Karin greeted back with a twinge of exasperation at the nickname she was given.
"Come on, you can seriously do better than that," Tayuya deadpanned before her gaze landed on the stuffed bag in her grasp. "Whatcha got there?"
"None of your business, fuckwit," Karin shot back while turning to keep the contents of the bag out of view as well as her steadily reddening cheeks.
"Now THAT'S a start," Tayuya smirked.
"Alright, you two, let's get a move on," Naruto said with a smile. "Shouldn't be too much longer until we're finally back home-"
Any burgeoning hope Tayuya had about finally returning to her actual room after so long was halted when Naruto stopped mid-sentence and immediately grew serious. Tayuya wasn't used to seeing him like this, and it honestly put her on edge. Karin perking up in understanding didn't help matters, either.
"Patch them in," he said, confusing her until a deep, familiar voice rumbled in her mind.
"Karin and Tayuya are now in the link."
"Right, so, what's up?" Naruto asked, signaling for the two of them to follow before he flickered away, and they did just that.
"Ohnoki has hired Tsuki no Me to capture Han. He is desperate to regain possession of the Gobi."
Tayuya was taken aback by that. While a hidden village outsourcing dirty work to a mercenary organization was nothing new, Akatsuki was now on the other end of that equation. When she and Karin caught up with Naruto, his stern expression had grown even more serious, and he sat down on a boulder and closed his eyes, placing his hands in the ram seal that they knew was him entering the Astral Projection Jutsu. Joining him on the boulder, the two redheads did the same and were quickly transported to the dark chamber beneath Ame where the Gedo Statue was housed. Standing on each finger was every member of the organization in attendance for this meeting.
Shit, it really was serious.
"Ohnoki has signed his death warrant is what I'm hearing," Naruto growled, and Tayuya could see the colorful silhouettes of Han and Pakura nodding in agreement.
"In no uncertain terms, yes," Pain replied. "Not only has he hired Tsuki no Me to attack Akatsuki, but he is also considering sending a hefty contingent of his jonin as insurance. Apparently, his faith in that organization was shaken after a previous job, so he wants to ensure that there are no mishaps."
"Sending troops to our border would be an act of war," Utakata spoke up, and Tayuya couldn't disagree with that statement. There was no other way to slice that; had the Fence Sitter just let Tsuki no Me handle it, there would be some measure of plausible deniability if Pain wanted to press the issue. However, if he was actually planning on attaching an insurance policy, he was now technically planning an invasion of Ame territory…
"This is going to get ugly," Karin muttered beside her, unknowingly (or maybe knowingly) vocalizing her next thoughts.
"It doesn't have to," Pain replied, and the edge in his tone earned everyone's undivided attention. "An Iwa incursion and a play by Tsuki no Me can both be put down in one fell swoop."
"You'd risk leaving yourself exposed if you send the Paths out of the village, Nagato," Konan rebutted with clear worry. "This could be exactly what the masked man wants."
"I am no longer frail, Konan," Pain replied. Tayuya filed that one away for a later date.
"You don't have to be," she argued. "We succeeded last time because we had what amounted to seven Paths, hundreds of billions of paper bombs, and the element of surprise. We won't have that a second time, especially if you're spread too thin."
Pain hummed, though his discontent was clear. The room remained silent as he thought over Konan's points and considered their options. Tayuya sent a glance at Naruto, who met her gaze in his periphery. He sent her a slight nod, and she interpreted that as his way of saying that everything would be fine. Sappy little shit.
"Your reasoning is sound, Konan," Pain finally said. "Han, I'm recalling you back to the village. If our suspicions are correct that this is a play for the Rinnegan masked as a play for the Gobi, then we won't make either task any easier for them than necessary."
"If I may, Pain, I'd like to remain where I am," Han said, and Pain's head snapped in the big guy's direction in an unnatural, almost corpse-like way.
"Explain."
"Irrespective of Tsuki no Me's greater plans with this attack, Iwa will be marching to our border. Recalling me to the village will only incentivize them to push forward deeper into the nation. It would be wiser to have me stay near the outposts to keep their attention forced away from the village itself. I can take down any amount of jonin they want to throw at me."
"I have no interest in using you as bait, nor as a sacrificial lamb," Pain coolly rebutted.
"He doesn't have to be," both Naruto and Pakura said at once, causing them to catch each other's eye. Pakura, however, was faster to speak up next.
"I'll come back him up," she insisted. "My fight with Sasori revealed that Tsuki no Me operates in pairs, and they'll no doubt send a team most suited to taking Han down just like they did for Gaara. I can be up there in less than two days."
"No need," Naruto countered. "I'm closer, and Suna may still require your presence. There's no way that this isn't a multi-pronged attack, so I'd expect not only a team going after Han, but another team going after Gaara, Utakata, Killer Bee, or even myself. Maybe several of us at once. Suna still needs that protection."
"Hotaru and I are on our way to Kiri right now to aid in their investigation of the Sanbi's disappearance, so Tsuki no Me are no doubt already making headway," Utakata said, and Hotaru's silhouette nodded. "It would not surprise me if we were intercepted by an attack."
"Karin and Tayuya will rendezvous with you two, then," Naruto said, earning shocked stares from both of them. "I know you two can handle yourselves just fine, but better safe than sorry. I don't want to run the risk of you two getting the worst possible matchup in a duo like Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki without the option of reverse summoning if things become hairy."
"Valid," Utakata conceded. "I'll keep an eye out for their chakra signatures, then."
"And I take it you're heading my way?" Han asked Naruto, and he nodded.
"Yeah. Whoever is coming for you will undoubtedly also have the task of killing whatever Iwa contingent comes with to take the Gobi for themselves, so someone capable of taking you down plus slaughtering an army of earth users on their home turf. That's not something I want to chance, either."
Han nodded, but Tayuya was still stuck on the earlier proclamation.
"Then, it seems we have a plan of action," Pain moved right along. Naruto, Han, eliminate any foreign incursion with extreme prejudice. Tayuya, Karin, rendezvous with Utakata and Hotaru and go with them to Kiri. If you do run into Tsuki no Me on the way, I want their heads. Are we all clear?"
Even if the question wasn't rhetorical, no one was going to argue with him about it.
"Good. We'll meet once again after this matter is dealt with. Good luck to you all."
The jutsu dispelled, ending the connection and sending the three Uzumaki back to the boulder. Within moments, Karin was on her feet and in Naruto's face.
"What the hell do you mean that we're going to Kiri?!" she demanded with base in her voice that Tayuya didn't know she even possessed. She had to respect it.
"I mean that you two are going to Kiri," Naruto reiterated without flinching.
"But why??" Karin retorted, skipping over the subtle break in her voice. "You're going into a battle, and you know that you are! We'll be there to assist you! Why can't I- why can't we go with you??"
Naruto did not immediately respond, and Tayuya discretely took a few steps back to give them some space. Then, Naruto reached up and placed his palm on top of Karin's head, but rather than playfully ruffle it like he usually did, it was a slower, more deliberate and caring rile.
"I mean it whenever I say that you give yourself too little credit, Karin," he gently remarked, not even acknowledging Karin's face burning crimson at the gesture. "You don't need me around, you know that?"
"I…" she began, gathering a tight hold of herself before pressing on. "I don't want to lose you, too, Naruto. You're all I have…"
Naruto leaned forward while bringing her forehead to his, maintaining a caring smile all the while. "You're not going to lose me, Karin. You know that. I can take care of myself, and so can you. You have made so much amazing progress in just these few years, and that's not even to mention where you are now from where you began. You're phenomenal at so much, Karin, and you don't give yourself the credit you deserve. You don't need me. I dare say that you never did, but I'm thankful to have you regardless."
Karin was doing her damnedest to strangle any tears before they had the chance to develop. If any managed to break through, no one acknowledged it.
"But…" she weakly began before Naruto shook his head with a chuckle.
"Karin," he began, and she was silent once more. "You have grown into a top-tier medic-nin. I dare say that you are one of the best medics I have ever personally met. You are a living practitioner of Uzumaki fuinjutsu. You riffed and expanded on a taijutsu style after learning from Shizune for a grand total of a week. You can waste more chakra in one jutsu than most jonin can use before they collapse of exhaustion. The Salamanders trust you. I trust you. I know your mom up in the Pure World trusts you, too."
He deepened his cerulean gaze into her watery crimson before sealing the deal:
"Stand proud. You are strong."
Karin wrenched her eyes closed to stem the flood of tears, but it was to no avail. Still, she remained standing, clenching her fist and nodding her head as best as she could.
"I wanna hear you say it," Naruto prompted.
"I'm strong," Karin spoke, her voice weak but a flicker of conviction present.
"Mm?" Naruto hummed.
"I am strong," she repeated, her voice louder and her eyes wide open, meanwhile, that conviction was beginning to burn brightly. "I am strong. I am strong."
"You're goddamn right, you are," Naruto agreed, stepping back and allowing Karin to hold her head up high. "Besides, I don't have a signature jutsu, at least not one that I can truly call my own. You do, though. Don't think I didn't see you working on it at Kuromizu."
Karin's atomic blush returned, but she still refused to look away. "I, uh, I've been toying with some of the scrolls we collected from Uzu."
"You're gonna do something phenomenal with them," Naruto reassured. "You just have to believe that you can do it, because I already do."
Karin sighed, taking a long moment to collect herself. Naruto remained silent and allowed her to do her thing, and Tayuya remained on the sidelines to watch the whole ordeal. Then, Karin lurched forward and wrapped Naruto in a tight embrace, to which he returned.
"Please come back alive," she muttered into his chest.
"Nagato would revive me just to beat me over the head with a chakra rod if I didn't," Naruto chuckled. "I'll be back, I promise."
"You'd fucking better," Karin asserted before breaking the embrace. Turning to Tayuya, she signaled for them to get a move on in the opposite direction.
Tayuya looked to Naruto, and he sent her a questioning thumbs-up.
He received a middle finger in response.
Hopefully, her smirk answered his question before she saluted him and began her trek back eastward with Karin.
That shithead better come back alive.
I'm alive. Feeling better. Not going down until all of these stories are complete.
I updated the character list because it seemed a little absurd to not have Tayuya listed at this point lol. I'm also not sorry for the JJK joke, nor will I either confirm or deny if there will be more of them.
Thanks for reading.