Red Riot - Chapter 31 - Hell of a homecoming (Patreon)

Matsu:- The MC, a Kiri Chunin, with Uzumaki traits.

Jonin Akiko - Matsu’s Sensei and exasperated mentor of other children, Matsu returned her beauty to her.

Orochimaru:- One of the Three Sannin. Legendary for surviving a fight against Hanzo the Salamander. Snake Summoner and a dangerous enemy.

Ei:- Jonin of Kumogakure and future Raikage :- A.N. Yes I am sticking with ‘Ei’ rather than ‘A’ purely so I don’t go mad when proofreading. I did ‘A’ for NNT and I hated every minute of it!

Kei - Jonin of Kumogakure and the Jinchuriki of the Nibi. 

Tetsumaru:- Leader of Yugakure. Aka the Yugakage. Small time nobody suddenly regretting his life choices. Needs an adult. 

Gengetsu Hozuki:- The Mizukage and master of illusion.

Rei:- the girl that Matsu was supposed to kill to prove his loyalty to Kiri under Gengetsu’s orders. 

                                                                   __________

A pair of Kiri nin, a pair of Kumo nin, a Konoha nin, and the Yugakage walked around his village.

I worked that thought around my mind. There was potential for the start of a joke there if you worked at it. 

The only issue I had was that at this point no one had any idea who would end up as the punchline. 

I could tell from the way Tetsumaru’s— aka the Yugakage— jaw clenched and flexed that right now he was feeling like he was the but of the joke. 

I suspected he’d be something worse, merely background dressing for the actual joke. 

Which only left Orochimaru, Ei of Kumo and the current Nibi host, or Akiko and myself as potentially getting egg on our faces. 

“—be able to house up to a thousand guests when the time comes! We expect those numbers to drop off of course after the first rounds. We are confident that we will be down to at least a third of the participants after the first round of testing.”

“You’re only expecting a thousand guests?” I asked, more to keep the conversation going than to express any genuine interest. I kept an ear on what the man said just in case something eventually became pertinent. 

Most of my focus was on tracking the three shinobi who could wreck Akiko and me if they decided to abandon caution. The only solace I had in this situation was that if either of them made a move the other would pounce and destroy the other.

I switched topics partway through Yugakage’s explanation. “Where will the first test be taking place?” I asked. 

Akiko shot me a look, and I raised an eyebrow. 

Akiko’s eyes darted around us before I felt her chakra connect with mine for a voice-throwing genjutsu. “Careful Matsu, you’re just a chunin don’t go probing another nation’s leader so much. It’s cute 'cause you’re young, but he can claim offence talking with you.”

I kept my attention ahead while searching around to see if anyone was reacting to Akiko’s genjutsu. 

Orochimaru’s eyes were tracking me, but they’d been doing that since tensions with the Kumo delegation had relaxed so that didn’t mean anything.

So, I could realistically expect him to detect that something was passing between us, but there wouldn’t be a way for him to ‘intercept’ what was being said making the genjutsu a rather neat way of making any communication that passed between Akiko and I impossible to intercept or ‘listen in on’.

I matched Akiko’s genjutsu with one of my own, and she shot me with a less-than-impressed look. 

“Relax. Neither Orochimaru nor the Kumo contingent are going to call us out on this, and the security detail isn’t reacting, meaning we can trade notes like this,” I said before she could reprimand me. 

I flicked my eyes to the Yugakage. “If he can claim offence from me it might be best for you to take point. We need to work out what the first test is and find any weak points. It’s the stage where our nin will be most at risk due to how subjective the assessment levels might become.”

“Hmmm good point, but don’t get too cocky Matsu, just because they can’t right now doesn’t mean it will stay that way,” she pointed out reasonably. 

“Keep it minimal, gotcha,” I responded.  

“—the great hall will of course have no issues housing the exam takers, the proctors, and a few select nobles,” The Yugakage said as he gestured to a building we were walking past. 

I eyeballed it thoughtfully. 

It was a big enough location to be compared with most modern warehouses. I could feel lots of people scurrying about inside it, and from how they were shifting about, I wondered about their roles. 

There was also that last little addition that the Yugakage had let slip. 

Nobility? 

What were they doing in the first round? 

It made sense for them to be around for the final stages as that was when the various shinobi who’d made it through got to show off their fighting prowess, but for the first round?

The Yugakage had continued to prattle on, uncaring of the looks he was getting from everyone but Orochimaru. 

“—the second site is of course a secret that will be held close to our chests right up until the second stage with only select individuals knowing where and what it entails!” 

Everyone pointedly didn’t look at the volcano that towered over the Village Hidden in the Hotsprings. No one said a thing about how it was positively teeming with people working on various points across it.

My estimation of the Yugakage’s intelligence was dropping by the moment. I suddenly had a deep urge to find out who this man’s counsellors were. 

I suspected that he was very much a front for someone pulling the strings from behind the throne situation. 

That or a competent vizier perhaps? 

If I got the chance I was absolutely going to be asking some pointed questions around the marketplace, but sadly, doing such would have to be while Akiko hovered as I didn’t even want to think about what would happen should I be unchaperoned while Orochimaru was slinking around.

The man was the equivalent of a white van slowly rolling past a primary school. 

With how he was looking at me Stranger Danger felt very real. 

Sasuke went with this guy?

“Why are nobles going to be present during the first test?” Ei asked, and I held back a smile, glad that it wasn’t going to be just my own efforts via Akiko prodding the Yugakage. 

The Yugakage’s eyes darted about. “Ah, that is the nature of the test that will be undertaken. I shouldn’t say any more lest I reveal too much!”

I joined everyone in staring at the man in disbelief. Hmmm, that… had the potential for abuse. 

Ei stopped walking and caused everyone to stop with him as he took in a deep breath. “You’re telling me that you’re going to invite some Nobles to come sit in on the shinobi exam and you expect them to come? You’d have to make it worth their while, which would include telling them what they were coming to watch.” 

If I could, I would have stepped on Ei’s foot for pointing out that glaring issue. 

I was halfway through a plan to bribe a noble to learn ahead of time! And here he comes with his blunt approach!

“That will not occur! Lords of note will be more than happy to attend!” replied the Yugakage hastily.

I noticed Orochimaru’s lips twitch slightly and I wondered at that little slip of his. 

Or was this a master play? 

The more I looked at him, the more I realised how young he was. This wasn’t the cold calculating Orochimaru that would slip out of the Forest of Death and pimp slap Naruto while giving Sasuke a hickey. 

This was a much younger Orochimaru who wasn’t as controlled in his tells. 

The question then became if he was amused or if this was a show of annoyance. 

My time spent training with the girls back home made me suspect annoyance so something more was at play.

Ah, was that glaring hole too good to be true? It made sense that Konoha would have seen the issue, but instead of speaking up, they set some traps for enemy agents. 

I gave Ei a thoughtful look. Perhaps his rougher methods had some use after all, such as tipping over the applecart to get rid of the rotten apples along with the good ones instead of wasting time searching for a ‘good apple’. 

Still a bit heavier-handed than I would have preferred, but it’s something we could use. 

At my direction, Akiko hummed. “You won’t have enough guards to secure your village with so many VIPs sitting around,” she declared, ignoring the weak arguments that the Yugakage was trying to mount.  

“We will have more than enough!” The man drew himself up in a show of affront that did the opposite of making anyone here respect him.

I glanced around. Where was this man’s minder?

If the local buildings were any indication they were probably relaxing in an onsen plotting without a clue how badly their puppet Kage was messing things up.

I hummed. “If you’re looking to bring in the big nobility,” I said casually, “You’re looking at the Daimyos and their attendants which…” I glanced at Akiko. “How many people would follow one Daimyo around?”

“At least a retinue of a few hundred,” Akiko replied.

“Shit even the kid gets it. This is supposed to be the first international Chunin exam? Feh! So far, Konoha’s fingerprints are all over it while incompetence is showing through. I don’t see any good reasons for why I should report to my Kage that we should boycott the coming ‘Chunin’ exams,” said Ei with a sneer. 

Orochimaru merely smiled. “Go right ahead.”

I let my eyes dart between the major players, considering: Was Ei bluffing? Would he or Kumo care? Right now, I did not want them storming off, leaving us alone with Orochimaru. I needed a method to make them want to linger. 

I needed something to make them want to bite on the hook. 

I sent Akiko a suggestion and her eyebrows shot up in surprise, seemingly at the way Orochimaru and Ei were posturing but really it was at what I was proposing. 

She wet her lips and nodded minutely. “You need more support,” Akiko said with a small tilt of her head and a gracious smile. The Yugakage who had been stuck trying to calm things down shot Akiko a thankful look that quickly morphed into a spluttering denial. 

“The Village Hidden in the Hotsprings is more than ready to handle the influx of nobility and exam takers.”

I raised an eyebrow while inwardly holding in a smirk. Just like I’d thought he might say. 

Akiko tilted her head and feigned the perfect amount of credible doubt in her expression and tone as she said, “You mean to tell me that you are looking to host one of the biggest shinobi exhibitions.”

She spread her arms wide to metaphorically encompass the entire Village. “A showing of international peace and strength for all the Villages which will garner widespread interest upwards of tens if not hundreds of nobility due to how no such events have been run in almost a decade now… and you believe you have enough support for this?”

Her eyes pointedly tracked to Orochimaru before narrowing her eyes.

The Yugakage spluttered. “We will have arrangements made in time!” he denied. 

Akiko gave him a long considering look before letting her attention shift to Orochimaru once more, the message very heavily implied. “I think there is an opportunity here. One that I should think Konoha would be all too happy to accommodate.”

Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed but he remained quiet, willing to listen to what Akiko had to say. 

Akiko smiled and glanced at Ei. “To make sure that the upcoming Chunin Exams don’t just continue but excels, there needs to be more.” 

“More?” Ei asked his eyes narrowing in suspicion. 

Akiko nodded calmly. “If three of the Great Villages were to support Yugakure, I believe there would be a lot that can be done. More nobles, more attention, more prestige, more gold, and more opportunities.” Akiko splayed her hands out wide. “More,” she repeated. 

“More…” repeated the Yugakage, caught up in the idea Akiko presented. 

I held back my smile, observing how Ei gave Akiko a small nod while eyeballing Orochimaru. 

Orochimaru, if anything, looked amused. “Well it is one of my Village’s founding tenants to extend the hand of friendship, isn’t it?” he mused.

I held back a disbelieving snort. 

One hand extended in friendship while the other poured poison was more accurate for the current Konoha. 

Hashirama, according to the comics was the type to approach a situation like this with both hands extended in friendship. 

The Yugakage tilted his head. “How should this… arrangement include the other Villages? Won't they cry foul?” he said attempting to deter us from bullying him into accepting our ‘aide’.

He received so many looks of flat exasperation that he coughed and waved his hand “Forget I said that,” he said, realising how stupid such a comment was and demonstrating some awareness for the first time since meeting him.

Akiko nodded. “They’re not here; they missed out.”

I held back a snort. Seriously, fuck those other Villages. They weren’t here, so they didn’t get a say. 

“Indeed, I see no reason why they should we can extend the hand of friendship, but we only have two hands no?” Orochimaru said with a mocking smile. 

I didn’t offer up the Naruto argument for such a claim despite wishing I could. Shadow clones weren’t in my arsenal right now after all. 

However if I played my cards right, perhaps that wouldn’t be the case for much longer.

Orochimaru inclined his head to the side. “We should celebrate our union on this matter.” Orochimaru cast his gaze about looking at each of us in turn. “It would appear that we shall be… friends for this… event,” he said.

I smiled innocently, pretending like I had no clue that an event had a lot of different uses.

An event could describe a party, a social gathering, or even a natural disaster. 

“I could drink to that,” Ei said, causing my previous appreciation of his presence to plummet. 

Akiko smiled charmingly. “So could I,” she then elbowed me. “Juice for the kid though.”

“I’m a chunin,” I muttered, playing into the childish persona only to be ignored by the big players bar Orochimaru who watched me. 

“I must admit to being surprised that you are a chunin,” he said as we wandered towards the bar. “With a track record like yours,” he alluded. I had to give it to him; if you didn’t know that I’d kicked his summon away from my sensei, you might have assumed he was mocking me.

The Yugakage seemed to buy it, but Ei gave both Orochimaru and me considering looks. 

Hmmm, I suppose anyone that Orochimaru was paying attention to raised flags. 

For all that Ei was blunt, he wasn’t stupid. 

I merely shrugged at Orochimaru’s question. “Eh, you find a way.” I deliberately turned to Ei. “So, done any cool missions?” I said childishly in an attempt to avoid Orochimaru while bolstering my ‘childishness’. 

“I wouldn’t tell you if I did,” Ei replied with a smirk. 

“Tch!” I said.

Orochimaru allowed the change in conversation to continue through a round of drinks with everyone. I noted that he had the Yugakage order and poured everyone’s drinks with a silent look. It  sent clear signals as to who was in charge here. 

Right as Orochimaru raised his second saucer of sake to his lips, he paused, hovering in front of his lips. “I must admit it is rather disconcerting to see hair like yours wearing the Hitaeate of Kirigakure,” he murmured. 

I shrugged again. “No stranger than blue, black, grey, brown, or green.”

“Not that red though,” Orochimaru replied drinking steadily from his saucer. “Nor while bearing the name Uzumaki.” His golden eyes flashed with interest.

“Can’t say it was something I had any say in,” I said. 

Akiko’s eyes flashed and her chakra linked with me once again. “Careful Matsu. He’s feeling out your loyalty.” 

“More like he’s toying with his food,” I replied through our workaround genjutsu.

Orochimaru sighed. “It is poor manners to talk in front of others.” His eyes bore into mine before he turned to Akiko. “Don’t do it again.”

Akiko merely tilted her head. “Did I do such a thing?” she said but her chakra settled even as her fingers twitched spasmodically at having Orochimaru focus on her. 

Hmmm seemed like Orochimaru didn’t want her coaching me. 

Thankfully, beyond reprimanding us, Orochimaru didn't do anything else for the rest of the day, as the Yugakage showed us how the chunin exam would be run.

I had to admit to being rather amused by how, when approached by what had to be Yugakure council members, he claimed the idea of expanding the chunin exams as his own. 

So, not just an idiot but a bottom feeder. The guy better be able to fight cause otherwise I was going to start running mercury tests on the onsen.

Still, for the first day, I considered it a resounding success. We were still alive, not captured, and had even secured valuable intelligence for the upcoming Chunin Exams.

Now, we just had to survive the next few days.

That… seemed like it would be a tougher task.

                                                     __________________

I considered the document laid out before me. 

I had to admit that the Yugakage had been rather ambitious with his plans but not nearly far-sighted enough for what he had dreamed of. 

The first stage of the Chunin Exams would be a test of various shinobi skills that would be displayed in controlled ‘rooms’ that had been created in the large building we’d passed through. 

The entire set-up reminded me of something from a gameshow that I’d observed in my last life. 

Takeshi’s castle, to be exact, where competitors could face a series of challenges in the form of obstacle courses, traps, trickery, and even opponents up to Tokubetsu Jonin level in strength if they were unlucky or a single Chunin if they were lucky.

The premise was much the same, with various rooms being created, leading to other rooms. Entrants had multiple options for exits and entries each time, and each room had a theme. 

Some rooms were set up to be full of traps, or puzzles while others would see them pitted against a foe. Should two opposite teams enter the same room they would have to fight it out such that only one of them would advance.

All of it would be watchable from an open roof step-up, with stands set up above the rooms so that visiting nobles could watch on.

It had a lot of potential for both good and bad. 

I had very reasonably asked what would happen when the first fireball was thrown, and the Yugakage waffled about the rules, stating that no one could use ninjutsu while in the rooms. 

Which… was great in theory, but… most of the competitors were going to be young shinobi. I took one look at the wooden structure and then at Orochimaru before miming a ‘whoosh’ gesture, which not even the Snake Sannin could refute. 

Leaf nin liked their fire, doubly so if an Uchiha was involved.

This was probably where the most work would need to occur, either from policing or prior to the event with special lacquers being applied to make it more resistant to burning or lightning. 

Not to mention, there is a whole lot of reinforcing for the seating areas. 

The last thing anyone wanted was a bunch of dead nobles due to the pillars being cut out from under them. 

That would mean less money would be spent on Shinobi, after all. 

“So, any thoughts on how we get out of here?” I asked as I lazily rolled up the scroll with the plans written down. We’d hand this to Gengetsu and get him to assign someone who couldn’t be beaten black and blue by Orochimaru’s little finger.

That, or a squad of someone. 

“Not a single clue. Our observers are still all in position so simply slipping off isn’t going to work out so well for us.”

I grunted. 

Ostensibly, we should be able to walk out the door with the tentative agreement we’d reached with Orochimaru, Yugakage, and Ei.

But as with anything in the Elemental Nations, words were wind without the strength to back it up. If we just happened to die or be captured on the way home to Kiri? Well, that was a shame but not Orochimaru’s problem. 

So, we needed something to happen for a window to be granted while Orochimaru was tied up, and that was for us to have a headstart. We just needed… an hour or two… maybe?

“How are you going with our other mission?” Akiko asked.

I sighed. We’d walked through Yugakure, and thus I’d observed several shinobi sparring and trading jutsu with my chakra sense. I could feel them throwing around various jutsu, but sadly, they were all rather lacking. 

I’d picked up and recorded a new variation of the Shunshin, in which instead of mist, hot steam was left behind, which was scaleable from pleasantly warm to scalding hot. 

I gave it a C rank at best. 

Some attacks allowed the user to throw fire from weapons, which was extremely impractical considering the user had to drop their weapon to perform the hand seals before picking it back up. Perhaps if it was performed seal-lessly or with one hand, but otherwise, I didn’t rate it as very good. 

D rank at best. 

The best Jutsu I’d been able to ‘witness’ was in fact a Geyser of steam attack that sprayed out from the user's mouth. It was alright, but no different than a normal fireball to the face. 

C rank at best.

“I have a few check marks on that but nothing great,” I replied flopping onto my back listllessly. 

I’d been on and off trying to push my chakra sensing as far as it would go, but sadly I still hadn’t been able to pick up a hint of Orochimaru’s chakra signature. The man had to be using some ANBU tricks for that to be the case. 

It was the sole fact that I couldn’t detect Orochimaru that stopped me from doing something crazy, like getting Akiko to talk to the Yugakage and entourage by herself while I ‘wandered’ around. 

It wasn’t going to happen though. Far too many points of failure. 

But I did dream of being able to trick Orochimaru into using a Shadow Clone jutsu where I could sense his chakra movements.

With that jutsu… Oh with that jutsu so very many things would suddenly become possible.

Sadly, I didn’t even know how much of an advantage it would be for me until I got my hands on the jutsu and used it for the first time.

So far, my ‘unit of comparison’ at its best was the Kumo kunoichi by the name of Kei. The more time I spent around her, the more I knew that she had to be a Jinchuriki. The sheer potency of her chakra was on a different level.

If I considered my current amount of chakra to be a swimming pool, she would be a lake. 

If Naruto was held on the same scale, how much could he have having grown up with the Nine tails as part of his chakra coils?

An Ocean?

It was the sort of question that kept me up at night when it was my shift. 

Where would I measure? Surely I had enough for at least two or three shadow clones, right? I kind of hoped I’d have around ten but again; these were merely pipe dreams until I learned the damn jutsu which was very much a kinjutsu according to the second Hokage.

I knew according to Canon it would eventually spread around the Elemental nations, but no one would use it to the same degree that Naruto could. 

“It’s enough,” Akiko declared, breaking me from my thoughts on the unfairness of the world. “So we’re very much done with our mission and now just need to make an exit for ourselves.”

I hummed, pondering how to achieve that. I tilted my head. Konoha very much wasn’t our friend, as much as they were pretending while others were around. 

The same was true of us but also of the Kumo delegate. 

I narrowed my eyes as a wicked thought occurred to me. 

“You’ve thought of something, haven't you?” Akiko asked, pausing to brush her hair to eye me carefully. “How much trouble is it going to cause.”

“Ah, you know me too well,” I said, not bothering to deny it.

She gave me an unimpressed look at my attempt to drag things out. I glanced pointedly at where the nearest shinobi was stationed, listening to our conversation. 

Akiko raised an eyebrow but nodded slowly, trusting I knew what I was doing. 

“How much chakra is considered normal at the Jonin level?” I asked, ensuring I projected my voice while keeping the volume down.

Akiko considered my question carefully. When she answered, she did so slowly and deliberately: “In Kiri, it’s more about skill and achievement, but having a large chakra pool is certainly helpful. I’d say enough chakra to launch at least ten to fifteen Water bullets in a row.” 

I held back from pointing out I could do way, way more from that. In this case, Akiko probably low-balled the number, so our listeners couldn’t get an accurate measure of Kiri Jonin. 

I hummed. “So someone who could do it thousands of times would be odd?” I asked. 

Akiko stared at me. “Who? Orochimaru?” she asked carefully. 

I shook my head. “No, for all that I think he’s the most dangerous in our talks… he isn’t the most powerful. The kunoichi from Kumo. Kei. From what I could feel, she had more chakra than everyone. It was extremely distracting being so close to her… how can that be?” I asked.

Akiko’s eyes widened. “Shit, she’s a Jinchuriki,” she said. 

“A what?” I said playing at ignorance. 

Akiko snorted. “Fucking Academy not teaching the important stuff. I’ll tell you later,” she said. 

The shinobi listening in vanished as they threw themselves into a shunshin to report this new information. 

Akiko sniffed. “Amateur couldn’t even hold their position. So they know enough to know who the real threat is but are lacking in discipline. If that isn’t typical small village training, I don’t know what it is,” she said dismissively. 

With a flick of her hand, she packed her bag and tucked it in the small part of her back while I rose. “Let’s get out of here Matsu,” she said, and we casually hopped out the window.

When we reached the street, we turned into another street and adopted henges to make things a touch harder for the Hotsprings Shinobi when they remembered their actual duty.

As we walked, I glanced at Akiko. “So, are you going to grow your hair out, or are you sticking with the haved side style now that the scars are cleared up?”

“I kind of got used to it, and I rather like it. I can hide it easily enough by laying my hair to the side or just letting it hang. It’s light and breezy, so I rather enjoy it,” she replied. 

“Hmmm I think longer hair would suit you,” I said, pausing near a street vendor to buy some food and for the shinobi racing overhead to pass over us. 

One of the best ways to not raise interest was to be boring. I began haggling with the man before shaking my head in disgust and waking off, ignoring his shouted plea to lower his prices. I just shook my head and kept walking, playing into my adopted henge of being a merchant. 

“Since when have you cared for fashion?” Akiko asked.

“Please, I’m a pretty stylish guy. I’ve just held off as it would have been too soon to be all negative on you after only healing you a few months ago. You might have had a fragile ego,” I said candidly as we walked right past a pair of patrolling shinobi. 

I nodded amicably only for one of them to hold up a hand. “Sir, can you show us your papers?”

I was half a heartbeat away from knocking them out when a large pulse of chakra rippled across the Village. 

Everyone around us stopped and turned to look in the direction the pulse had originated from. 

I made a show of shivering and tucking my cloak closer to my frame. “Did it just get colder?” I said. 

The shinobi waved me off, their eyes now locked in the direction of where the Kumo delegation was. No fighting seemed to be occurring, but as a threat display I had to give it to Kei, it worked.

Akiko and I shared a look and began walking to the gates. 

Amusingly enough, more than a few others were also making their way out of the Village. It seemed like the civilians had good noses for being aware of when things might potentially go very badly and were getting clear now.

Akiko picked up the conversation where we’d left off. “Stylish? You wear Kiri's armour and nothing actually fancy. You’re bland as rations,” she said.

“I’ll have you know I keep my sterling for when I’m at home,” I replied. “Anyway, you’re not one to talk would it kill you to wear lipstick?” I teased. 

Akiko nudged me, just firm enough to let me know she wasn’t amused but also not hard enough to break the henge.

We flowed out of the gates amidst the other civilians who made a beeline for a small hill outside the village while we continued on our way. We stepped behind a tree, broke line of sight and then accelerated into a full on sprint.

“Need to open the gates?” I asked, cycling my chakra to get a hint if there was anyone in pursuit. I felt a touch of unease at the thought of encountering Orochimaru out here. If I even so much as saw a hint of him I was activating the gates and getting the hell out of here. 

“Think Ei will realise we sicked the Hotsprings nin onto him and his companion?” I asked.

“Eh, he might, but he’ll be busy. They’re too big for Steam to be able to handle, but I doubt Orochimaru will leave them be.”

I nodded, and we continued to run, our senses peeled for any sign that we were being pursued or about to be intercepted. 

No signs presented themselves, which didn’t help me relax at all. If anything I grew more worried.

In an attempt to relax, I spoke with Akiko as we ran. “So? Jinchuriki?” I asked. 

Akiko sighed and began to ‘teach’ me all about the Jinchuriki. “Jinchuriki is a title granted to those that are used as vessels to contain an ancient evil. Specifically one of the nine great demons. Each demon has a specific set of tails and thanks to previous intel gathering we know that most Villages have two, or at least that’s the case for the big five. No one’s precisely sure which Village is missing one.”

I nodded, interested in this ‘Kiri’ version of the story. 

I could see how it wouldn’t be spread around that Hashirama Senju had been strong enough to capture all nine of the beasts on his own. Nor that each ‘Demon’ had a name. 

“We know that Suna has the one-tail, Kumo has the two and the eight-tailed demons, Kiri has the three and the six-tailed, Iwa has the four and five-tailed beast, and Konoha is thought to have the final two.”

I tilted my head. “Thought to?” I asked, knowing that the Seven Tails was actually in the Village Hidden in the Waterfalls. 

“We have confirmed reports of various shinobi wielding insane levels of chakra for each of the Villages, but it’s a closely guarded secret. Having Kei outed like that… it’s quite the intel coup for us. You’ll be rewarded,” she said with a firm nod. 

“Hmmm, who are our Jinhcuriki?” I said, slowly sounding out the word like it was unfamiliar to me. 

“No idea,” Akiko replied. “People like to bandy about that it might be Gengetsu due to his strength, while others think it has to either be one of the Hozuki or the Terumi which is how those two clans hold such prominence.” 

I nodded slowly. That would make a lot of sense. For the next hour, I alternated between sweeping our surrounding area and toying with the idea of which of the two clans had which tailed beast. 

When we stopped for our first break a few hours later, we continued to survey our surroundings carefully even while sipping our water.

“Have to give you points for coming up with the idea of letting slip that information,” Akiko said. “Worked a treat. Bit colder than what I’m used to from you though.” she eyed me, waiting for my response.

I merely shrugged a cold certainty cutting outwards from my core as I spoke. “Yeah, it was. But Kumo aren’t our allies, and even then, they’re not us,” I said firmly.

Akiko smiled. “Good to hear, and a good approach. Keep that in mind going forward, and you’ll do well.”

“Hmmm, whoever takes over this arrangement we have with Yugakure will need to be smart and strong with the people that are going to be coming.” I frowned. “Say, saite my curiosity, how true is the rumour that Gengetsu has a feud with Iwa’s Tsuchikage?” 

Akiko snorted. “Feud? Well, that’s putting it far too lightly.” She shot me a very serious look. “Gengetsu and Mu despise each other on an instinctive level. I’m not sure what caused it; only a few people are, and they’re not going to say what caused it, but it is well known and observed that they will constantly attack each other.”

I hummed in thought, tucking away my water bottle. “So, an event where they were forced to be in each other's presence would probably end explosively, wouldn’t it?” 

Akiko grimaced. “What’s going through that mind of yours?” she said pointedly. 

I glanced around. “I think we should do some surveying. Check to see how accurate our maps are compared to what we have, and report that along with why we’re doing so. Might get another pat on the head,” I said idly. 

It might also result in Gengetsu and Mu committing double suicide by each other. 

Akiko worked her jaw back and forth, only to nod tightly. “It has merit; we’ll keep running but angle towards some high ground before making some cross-references for significant areas. We’ll also flag it as a future objective,” she said only to raise a hand. “If we see a snake though, we’re out.”

I agreed readily at that. 

As it stood, this adventure had already had far too many close calls for my liking and not anywhere near enough compensation. 

With the Chunin exams, I also had an unprecedented level of opportunity. Surely, someone in the Konoha contingent would let slip the Shadow clone jutsu if I paid enough attention to them.

I vowed to doub— No. I planned to triple the training I did with my chakra sensory abilities. 

I wanted that jutsu. 

Funnily enough, Kiri was the perfect location to train my sensory abilities.

                                                      _________________

Getting on a ship was starting to become a worrying point of relaxation for me. 

I knew intellectually that it was a bad idea to ever relax fully. Still, I couldn’t help it after all the situations where I’d been fighting for my life either during the war or deep in the Land of Wind only for a ship ride to signal the end of my mission and for better things ahead.

Thankfully, Akiko solved that situation by randomly attacking me, forcing me to keep my senses peeled lest she knock me off the ship and force me to run laps around the ship. 

After the scares we’d had during our latest trip, it was precisely what I needed. Each day, I bled from my nose, ears, and eyes as I pushed myself to the brink of what I could achieve, forcing myself to become more sensitive to my surroundings. 

The trip from The Land of Hotsprings to the Land of Water was only two days on a ship, so I couldn’t make huge gains, but I felt more in control as we stepped off the gangplank and onto solid ground in the Kiri port.

A flicker of chakra heralded a masked shinobi appearing before Akiko and I. He loomed over us and inspected us slowly. When he spoke up his voice was deep and resonated oddly. “The Mizukage wishes to talk about your recent mission.”

Akiko and I both nodded, not about to dismiss the summons of our Kage. Part of me was almost looking forward to seeing how much closer I’d come to being able to see through Gengetsu’s illusions. Another worried about what new game he would play.

I had a few things ready to present that I knew would put him in a good mood. 

The completed list of missions was one thing, but the successful use of his Chakra Ghost jutsu to counter a Byakugan would hopefully get him in a good mood. 

Our adaptation of our mission to infiltrate The Village Hidden in the Steam was going to be a bit more touch and go. 

That part of our discussion was probably going to be more up in the air.

When we reached the Mizukage tower, I was surprised when, instead of being asked to wait, we were led directly into the Mizukage’s office. 

Gengetsu was sitting behind his desk with his fingers laced in front of his face, a dark glimmer that seemed to devour the light like twin black holes. 

Gengetsu turned his head slowly to look directly at me. 

“Hello Chunin Uzumaki, Jonin Akiko,” he said causing me to mentally frown. 

Why had he acknowledged me first?

“Make your reports,” he said casually, all the while radiating an intensity that made me want to search the room for the trap even though I knew where the trap was. 

It was Gengetsu, and something had been done to piss him off. 

I licked my lips as Akiko started to give a summary of how things went down only for Gengetsu to raise a single finger. “Chunin Matsu can perform the report I believe,” he prompted.

It almost sounded like a suggestion, but we all knew it was an order. 

I coughed. “The trip to the Land of Hot Springs began with our early arrival and linking up with an asset that had been undergoing a long-term mission.” 

I ran through the entire trip, from arrival in Hotsprings to our departure, not holding back anything, including our decision to scout out the area leading towards Yugakure itself.

I didn’t give him reasons for doing so, but he tilted his head slightly as he considered us anew.

“You encountered a shinobi that has been… elevated to S rank? And you did so not once but twice on this little adventure then? Impressive. Orochimaru is one that many in our intelligence department believe to be tipped to be the next Hokage.” 

He tilted his head. “Well, him or Tsunade Senju. Those Leaf shinobi can’t get enough of Senju’s telling them what to do after all.”

Gengetsu dropped his hands in front of his face to place them on the table, and a smile appeared on his face. “I must admit that I’m impressed. You have completed all of your missions while achieving additional objectives. The ratification of the ghost chakra jutsu, along with the identification of the current Nibi host is excellent work. You will be awarded additional mission pay equivalent to an A rank, and an S rank mission.”

I blinked in surprise. “An S rank?” I queried. 

B to A rank missions were treading into five figures. S rank meant at minimum six figures. 

Gengetsu smiled, and the longer he continued to smile at me the more warnings flashed through my mind. What was his game? What was going on here? Was he being too nice?

Where was the trap?

“In recognition of  your unblemished mission completion record and all that you do for Kirigakure, I recognise you Matsu Uzumaki and promote you to the rank of Jonin.” 

He rose and drew out a flak vest with specific markings on it that indicated to those who knew where to look what my rank was. Word would pass around soon enough, and most people would know who I was within Kiri.

I licked my lips as Gengetsu draped the Jonin vest over me, a gentle, dare I say it, fatherly smile on his face as he did so?  

“You're going to have to grow into it some,” he commented with an odd tone to his words that I couldn’t quite place.

“I hope I get the chance to fill it out properly,” I replied.

He nodded. “I have no doubts that you will Jonin Uzumaki.” 

He looked to Akiko. “You have done well raising such a promising star. Don’t give up on him just yet,” he said nodding at Akiko. 

He moved around behind his desk, leaving Akiko and me to glance at each other quickly. This was wrong. This wasn’t how Gengetsu conducted himself. 

I wasn’t sure what to do about it, though. Should I tell someone? The problem with being so eccentric was that ig Gengetsu had a large shift in personality. Then how would you tell?

I swallowed back a feeling of dread. What if this was it? The sign that Madara had gotten to Gengetsu? No, that wasn’t how it was supposed to play out. Madara wasn’t supposed to ensnare the Mizukage until the third or fourth.

So what was going on here?

Had Gengetsu had a stroke?

Could miracles have occurred?

Somehow, I highly doubted I’d ever get that lucky. 

Gengetsu sat down and continued to smile his dead fish smile that was all sorts of wrong at us. “Welcome back to Kiri. Now, with the new intelligence and lines of engaging with the… Yugakage,” a flicker of disgust worked its way onto Gengetsu’s face, and I almost breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a mask he was showing us. The usual two-faced Gengetsu, who was still in there, was plotting something. 

I prepared myself for the other shoe to come rushing down. 

“Matsu,” he said gently causing chills to run down my spine. 

This was it. Whatever I was about to say would give me a hint. 

“I’m sorry to inform you that a week ago your home was targetted and the structure burned down due to the antics of a few select individuals.” 

I gasped. 

Oh shit.

My mind began to race, and I prepared to feel something cold and metallic on my neck. 

He had to know, right?

Gengetsu nodded, and no cool touch of metal announced itself for the moment. “I understand this is a shock to you and I’m sorry for not informing you sooner, but there was nothing you could have done. The Okiya… and several of the women within perished. One of which was the Madam, to which I am informed. Others suffered burns and have been moved to a building they can be cared for by the few that remain whole and hearty.”

My heart clenched, but despite that I kept my cool.

Rei! He had to know! Surely?

For a moment I dared to hope even as part of me mourned the loss of the woman who’d supported me from my birth. She was caustic and abrasive, but she’d sheltered me when I was an infant and shown me love as I grew up.

That had to count for something.

I clenched my fists and my knuckles popped. 

“You’re mad, good. I, too, am mad,” Gengetsu said, his tone carefully controlled. 

What was his game? I suddenly felt liek a dog on a leash only the leash was chaffing my leg as I strained to escape it and run free.

Sadly, I couldn’t do that.

I instead frowned. “You are Lord Mizukage?” I said, mindful of my manners to a man who could still flip his emotions on a whim.

Gengetsu inclined his head in a slight nod. “That Okiya had my favour.” 

Simple words that somehow filled the room with implication. 

He smiled slightly. “I had never stepped foot into it, nor had I ever known any of the people that called it home, but they had my favour nonetheless. Do you know why Matsu?” he said with a small tilt of his head.

“I can’t say I do,” I replied. 

“Because they somehow did something considered impossible. They seduced and bore into Kirigakure ranks an Uzumaki, completing a honeypot mission that not even the Village’s most captivating kunoichi had ever achieved.” Gengetsu let that realisation sink in for a moment before speaking again. “They did that. A small Okiya in our red light district.”

Gengetsu raised his hands and gave a slow, echoing round of applause. His claps were like gunshots going off to my frayed nerves and I almost flinched with each clap.

Oddly, the almost mocking applause was a show of sincerity from the man. They had his favour. Perhaps that was why we’d never been investigated, and Rei had never been found.

Yukari had mentioned she’d be favoured for securing a bloodline, but I’d never considered it in relation to myself and what that meant for the women who raised me. 

Still, the question lingered in my mind. Had he noticed Rei?

“If it is alright with you Lord Mizukage, I would like to go to them to tend to their wounds,” I said gesturing to the door, testing my ability to walk free.

Gengetsu considered me for a long drawn-out moment. “I had the perpetrators caught,” he said in the way of response.

That made me ditch any thoughts of going to the ladies as a new sensation bubbled up within me. “Oh?” I said letting my intent to hurt someone leak into my tone. The single noise of acknowledgment positively dripped with the urge to maim. 

I clenched my feet, and now my gaze bore into that of the Mizukage.

Rather than be worried or annoyed at my shift in body language, his smile morphed, changing from the polite false mask to the ghastly grin he was known for sometimes showing.

“That’s much better!” he cooed. “Yes, I have the perpetrators captured in another room.” He rose and beckoned me to follow. 

“Come,” he commanded, beckoning with one hand as he walked out of the office. We were led to another nondescript room with nothing to distinguish it from the others around it. 

Before I even stepped a foot into the room it became apparent what this room’s purpose was. 

The first thing that jumped out at me was the trio of kneeling men who were tied down, so they couldn’t even consider twitching their hands. Each of them was shirtless and heavily bruised with their heads hanging limply forward. 

The floor they were kneeling on was metallic, with a grill around the side that would funnel any liquids into a drain. There was a table at the back of the room with what looked like a meticulously maintained set of torture implements. 

I felt a wave of dread enter me before I stepped into the room. 

For some reason, I was getting flashbacks of a movie I’d once watched. 

The context was different, but right now all I could think was what was the best way to get someone into a torture chamber?

You ask them.

Gengetsu turned, facing me from the centre of the room. “Come here,” he invited.

I forced my body to move, knowing that at any moment I could find myself kneeling next to the trio of men.

As I got closer, I recognised each of them.

They’d been on the Terumi ship we’d dropped Yukari off at before recovering from our first mission. 

These were the men who had glared at me when Yukari kissed me in thanks.

“I know you,” I said, looking into each of their eyes and watching a glint of defiance and even smugness enter their eyes.

I wanted to laugh at its absurdity. I’d been so worried about ANBU or Gengetsu learning about my defiance, only for my home to be burned down by some envious men?

How petty. How… small.

I didn’t need to hear the words to know they were going to gloat about what they had done as they opened their mouths. 

 Gengetsu waved his hand and nothing came out but a rasp. “None of that now. I didn’t come here to listen to them prattle.”

He kept his focus on me, and his eyes bore into mine. “I have brought you here Matsu to administer justice. These men have been caught damaging Kirigakure interests. What do you think their punishment should be?” His smile remained perfectly in place as he spoke.

I suspected I knew the answer he wanted. I pointedly didn’t look to the tools at the back of the room and instead focused on the now horrified Terumi men. 

I flicked my kunai, coating the blade with wind chakra as I extended the blade as far as I could. 

Three swings of my wrist were met by three heavy thumps as their heads hit the ground. 

Blood gushed out and splattered over my feet while flecks of blood splashed onto my new vest.

I looked up from their bodies, casting these small-minded men from my mind for the moment as I  locked eyes with Gengetsu. 

He’d wanted an answer, hadn’t he? “Death,” I stated coldly. “Their punishment is death.” 

Gengetsu nodded, his damnable smile still firmly set in place. 

I forced myself to breathe, waiting for him to ask me to kneel so I might join them, but he made no move or called for me to do such. 

Instead, he zipped up the much too-large Jonin vest. “You’re growing into it wonderfully Matsu. Continue to not disappoint me and I see a very bright future ahead of you. We’ll talk again soon.”

 He waved a dismissive hand at the door. “Go. See to those close to you.” 

I turned and marched out of the room knowing that everything I’d had set up had just shifted in an instant. 

I couldn’t spare any more thoughts about that as I honed my senses as far as they would go to try and feel the attack that had to be coming for me any moment now!

For a moment I pushed further than I ever had with my chakra, making it thrum in slow internal pulses that sent my senses into overdrive. 

I felt a flicker of chakra around me, and the world solidified. The only difference was that Gengetsu wasn’t watching me leave but rather tracing patterns in the blood pouring at his feet with childlike joy. 

Was this another illusion?

I forced my self to continue walking without any shift in pace or gait even as my instincts demanded I flee. 

I made it out the door and down the hall before I took off into a sprint.

I needed to know just how bad things had gotten, thanks to petty men. 

I tore across Kiri faster than I ever had and I barely pulled myself up short of the sliding door where my family and friends were recovering. 

I resisted the urge to rip the door off its hinges and instead knocked before sliding the door open. 

I entered, scared at what I’d find and my heart lurched as I found the room was covered in futons with women in various states of health. Bandages were wrapped around most of them.

The Okiya had housed twenty working women at a time along with fifteen ‘apprentices’ who were learning the craft along with the Madam. 

The first response I got was a murmur of fear as people saw a shinobi standing in the doorway watching them. Then relief swept through the room. 

“Matsu’s back!” cried one of the apprentices. 

Nodoka, one of the working women sat up from the closest futon. “Matsu? Thank goodness you’re back. I’m sorry to tell you we had some rough custom—”

“They’re dead now,” I said with an eerie calm settling over me. I heard what happened and was able to take care of it with the Mizukage,” I said, making sure to project my voice so that any of the shinobi listening in from outside knew what had happened. 

I stepped in. “I’m here now. Let me help you,” I said.

Nodoka sighed as I began healing the bruises on her form. “Ah, you’re a peach, Matsu. Thank you,” she said, moving to hide her eyes with the back of her hand. I just smiled, feeling like a phoney. They were only in this situation because of housing me. 

I ignored any tears the various women I healed shed, knowing they were tears of relief and releasing tension. 

I swept through the room, cataloguing and healing injuries as mostly bruises, muscle tears that reportedly came from the women’s flight from the burning building, and a few burns.

The worst of which was a now unfamiliar face. “Hey you,” I said kneeling at Rei’s side.

Much like Akiko, she’d been horrifically scared after taking what looked like a flame to the face. I suspected it was actually Terumi’s fabled steam Kekkei Genkai, but the result was the same at the end of the day. 

Only worse as she hadn’t taken a glancing blow.

“Matsu?” said the now blind girl. “What you do? Try and play the big damned heroine?” I asked sarcastically only for Rei to nod. I stared at her. 

Rei, who flinched away from most forms of fighting, had tried to fight the Terumi shinobi?

“Got your ass handed to you?” I asked quietly as I traced my hands around the edge of her eyes, or what used to be her eyes. They’d sunken in on themselves due to the injury, likely melting due to the attack. She really must have taken it face first.

“Tried to save the Madam,” Rei said before sobs wracked her form. I wrapped an arm around her as she tried and failed to cry. 

“Thank you for trying,” I said glancing up. “You might not have saved… granny,” I said firmly, “but you probably helped save many of these women. You know that right?” I said as I rubbed circles around her back.

“Y-yeah, thanks Matsu you know the right thing to say… Oh, I couldn’t save your fuinjutsu notes!” she whispered. 

I grimaced, knowing that was actually a pretty big loss on my behalf. I’d left them with Rei as she was able to get more from reviewing them than I could until I got an actual teacher. That decision was coming to bite me in the backside now.

“It’s alright,” I said honestly. “I’m just glad you’re alive.”

“I won’t be any help anymore… Sorry, Matsu,” Rei said.

I cupped her and looked right into her sunken eye sockets. “Hey, don’t lose hope. I have a plan.”

That got a grin from her, and I began revising what I knew I would have to do to help Rei. 

It wouldn’t be a perfect fit as I only had one eye in storage, but it would be better than no eyes.

New plans began to swim through my mind. I had a lot to do, and once more I was going to be risking a lot, but at the same time I was not going to ditch any of my friends or family.

Kiri could be a terrible place that brought the worst in people but I resolved with myself then and there to drag it into a better version of itself. 

If I had to do that while it kicked and screamed? Well, I’d just have to make sure the people deserving of my ire got what was coming to them.

                                                          _____________

A.N. Thanks go to my Patreons for your continued support!

I didn’t think I was going to end on such a downer, but the wrap-up of the Land of Hotsprings came faster than I anticipated, and I wasn’t going to leave everyone hanging with who made it out. 

RIP Granny you were a golden tsundere while in the story. Also, RIP Rei’s eyes for attempting to stand up to three Terumi chunin. 

You can fill in the blanks on what Matsu plans to do from here. 

I can assure you that Matsu is now more motivated than ever to become strong and prevent this and other events from repeating themselves. Will he be successful? Who can say at this point? 

Love it? Hate it? Flick me a comment with your thoughts!

Next time on Red Riot!:- Matsu confronts the Terumi clan head! Much drama! Tension! Rawr!