Dende rubbed his chin. "Well, some of the Jonin will probably take a few of us to make contact with Suna and offer them a deal for extra support in these trying times. They should get a good deal and we might even get some trickle-down after the Village's take is sent home."
"Huh, I'm surprised by that. It seems a bit mercantile," I said.
The others snorted. "It's called being realistic. If you're doing something, make sure you're getting something for it; otherwise, it's a waste of time and, more importantly, Village resources," said Hito.
"If you're good at something, never do it for free," I conclude, quoting a madman. This got a round of approving nods.
"Precisely," Hanzo said.
"How will we get Lord Gengetsu to sign off on things? I imagine he wouldn't be happy with a bad deal," I said.
Hanzo snorted. "Wano, for all that he grunts and gripes, is one of the Elite Jonin around; he also has certain rights, such as contract negotiation. Messengers will be sent, but a temporary measure can be worked out for now, with the specifics being worked out. It's one of the things that the Elite supposedly get briefed on before they're deployed. Jonin, like Akiko, would have all gotten the same meeting about what they could and could not do for Kirigakure."
Hanzo grinned. "And if they get a situation that isn't handled in their briefing and blows up in their faces?" Hito and Dende slashed their thumbs across their faces while Suzi mimed blowing up.
Hanzo kicked up his feet. "If things go south, don't worry; we're not expected to have to deal with that sort of problem."
I merely hummed and dealt out the next hand.
The desert… was a boring place. I felt my eyes dry out from staring too long into the shimmering sands. Patrolling the Land of Wind, it turned out, came in two varieties.
You stood guard during the day for anyone running across the sands, or you were actively patrolling at night.
Night was the most risky, due to being on the move and it being the known best time to get around the desert. This led to us having to evade a number of Suna patrols.
A few days ago, Jonin Wano and a few other Shinobi had headed out to make contact with Suna, but until they returned with confirmation, we were all on full alert.
We performed circuitous patrols around the hidden base during the night, running from dune to dune while keeping aware of our surroundings. Hito ended up teaching me a bit of desert craft, including how to read the dunes for any passage of people even hours after they'd been in the area, allowing us to track caravans and discreetly review them.
"Remember, you don't want to steal from them too much if you need to. Stolen goods with no sign of who stole them result in a lot of people thinking shinobi, especially with the war on," Hito said.
I hummed. "I would have thought they'd go for the easiest option, of a fellow caravaner?" I said, watching the men setting up camp for the coming morning.
"They used to, but then too many shinobi started doing it. So the civies got wise. They'll report any stolen goods that they can't track at the nearest town, and that will allow Suna or other Shinobi to track down our base if we're careless," Hito said.
I merely nodded; it made a certain amount of sense. We continued to track the caravan for a while, and Hito even had me slip in to steal some water from them—not much, just a few litres here and there. Enough for our patrol and little else.
When we made it back to base to report our findings, we found that Wano had returned and agreed to a tentative non-aggression agreement with Suna for the sum of a ton of gold, with more to be negotiated for later.
Wano left the gold in the centre of the cavern, allowing others and myself to openly gape at the huge mass of gold.
Wano smiled. "There will be more where this came from, men! With Suna in dire straights, we'll be able to bring home a huge haul! Shamon, the Second Kazekage spends money like a fool in a brothel!"
This brought a cheer from everyone, and I followed along.
Internally, I couldn't help but wonder if Shamon had access to someone like Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, a known manipulator of Gold sand. If he had that, then he'd be throwing away pennies, in truth. For us, it was a good deal, but that didn't mean it wasn't also good for Shamon.
Wano gestured around at all of us. "We are going to be patrolling larger stretches of the desert and freeing up some of the Suna nin. If we encounter any shinobi from Konoha, we are to engage and destroy them!" Wano said proudly.
I once again joined in as everyone cheered. Again, I had to frown. Wano seemed a touch too caught up with his success. Shamon might be selling us down the river here. What if he had us facing off against Sakumo or someone like him?
Gold wouldn't mean anything if we were all dead.
I made sure not to voice such thoughts, however, and instead doubled down on whatever training I could, working on the shark-scenting jutsu and continuing to weave my Self-puppetting jutsu.
Invariably, Hito and the others caught me working at it during our downtime. All of them had their own thoughts for better names.
"Call it the string symphony jutsu!" said Hanzo.
"The Chakra String, limb control jutsu!" Hito countered.
"No no no! He needs something bold! Grand even! Call it…Ransōtengai," said Dende with a wave of his hand.
We all paused to consider the name.
"Sounds pretentious," Hito said.
They all grinned. "It's perfect!" They said as one.
I huffed but decided to adopt the new name, much to Suzi's disappointment. "Death strings jutsu," she murmured to herself, only to be ignored by how used to her we were.
When we next went out on patrol, we found ourselves sweeping through new land far to the north of the hidden base and close to the Land of Rivers on the border.
Hito consulted a map and hummed. "So, we're basically going to sweep west to east and cross paths with two other patrol groups; if we encounter anything too strong, we'll retreat, alright?" he said.
Hanzo shot Hito a grin. "And of course, we'll know right away if they're too strong?"
Hito huffed. "Just be on the lookout for a tall, white-haired shinobi from Konoha, him we're giving a wide berth to," Hito said. This got a round of nods from all of us.
Dende rubbed his chin. "If anything, we'd be doing our duty and reporting that such a powerful Shinobi was present once more!" he said with a serious nod.
We all copied him, more than happy to flee at the sight of Sakumo taking to the field. Also, if they mistook Jiraiya for him? That was just as good a person to flee from, although chances were he was much further north right now with the whole Land of Rain saga the Sannin were supposed to go through.
Heck, for all I knew, they were currently being named 'the Sannin', by Hanzo the Salamander.
Or they were all dead through some twist of fate due to canon being different now.
I had no idea, and I'd just have to keep my ear to the ground. You learned a lot doing just that within a Shinobi camp, with rumours and gossip constantly being traded back and forth. The trick was shifting through the lies, or misinformation that sometimes got spread around.
For the next four days, we moved east and then west.
Once we even passed close enough to a fellow Kiri patrol that we got to trade information with the other.
Nothing happened, and neither I nor anyone else detected anything out of place for the entire duration of the patrol.
Sadly, we only got two days of rest back at base before we were sent out again; this time we were positioned further to the east, close to the coastline.
I wish I could say that something clued me in that this patrol was going to be different. That some instinct twinged or that the hair stood up on my neck.
Nothing like that happened, and we patrolled along the border, keeping our eyes peeled and our senses as sharp as they would go. When we caught sight of the other kiri patrol that was supposed to be out here with us, we relaxed and approached at a steady pace.
It wasn't until we got within a hundred metres of them that something felt off to me.
The clothing choice was right; the stances, the way they moved—all of it spoke of Shinobi.
But not Shinobi from Kirigakure.
The others were just as aware, and we all slid to a halt.
Dende, the leader of our group, made a sign. "Ocean waves six two!" he called, only for the patrol group to accelerate towards us instead of giving the answer to the challenge.
"Shit! Ambush!" Dende bellowed as he flung kunai at the approaching shinobi.
Suzi threw another brace, only for the Shinobi to bat the flying blades aside with their hands. The contact with metal made their transformation drop, however, and a team of four Konoha nin bore down on us.
Two of them had pale eyes with thick, ugly-looking veins on the sides of their heads; another had a bland, flat appearance; while the fourth snarled like a feral beast.
"Hyuga and an Inuzuka!" Suzi cried out, stepping back. "Watch for the ninken!" she screamed, only for something to launch itself out of the sands from downwind of us.
The Inuzuka grinned as he threw himself into close combat against Suzi. "Heh! That'll teach posers like you to think you can get by with such weak noses!" he said as he kicked out.
Suzi scrambled back and kicked up sand into his face while Hito tangled with the ninken.
The Hyuga went after Hanzo and Dende, both had kunai in hand and were playing keep away, but it was immediately clear they were outmatched.
The bland-faced man drew a sword and tried to run me through, only for me to dart back. He grunted as he took me in but said nothing else.
"Care to go easy on a kid?" I said, with an innocent smile, trying to disarm him with some charm.
The man didn't react beyond raising up his blade and sweeping it wide. I ducked low under the blade and found a kunai waiting for me.
I exploded the chakra through my legs and licked back, launching sand into the Konoha nin's face and giving myself room.
With a quick flick of my hands, I hurled some kunai about me giving others some breathing room and forcing my foe back.
The ninken took a kunai to the shoulder and ignored it to sink its teeth into Hito's shoulder.
Hito screamed in pain as the large ninken crushed his arm in its fangs, only to be thrown about like a child. He went limp quickly and was hurled into the dunes, where he lay still.
"Hito!" screamed Suzi, trying to fight her way through the Inuzuka, only for nothing to seem to stick.
"Heh! One down! That's one for me, Princess!" crowed the Inuzka shinobi.
One of the Hyga scoffed. "That was your dog, not you, Ganto." She then burst forward even quicker, his hands flashing out and breaking through Hanzo's defence. "Besides, I prefer to play with my food," she said with an all too wide smile.
Hanzo staggered back with a curse and an unresponsive left arm, his right waved a kunai to get some room.
The Inuzuka sent his ninken to circle us as he grinned at Suzi. "Want to surrender? We'll be nice," he teased.
Suzi's eyes were like pinpricks darting back and forth, and she seemed locked in the idea she was about to be captured again. "Matsu! Retreat out of here!" barked Dende as he tangled with the other Hyuga.
I dodged another strike from the bland-faced nin only to scowl as he kept up the pressure.
I could see the way things were shaping up, and I wanted no part of that.
"Fuck that," I said, flexing my chakra just so. Suddenly, my defence became a lot more solid as I reinforced myself with my chakra strings. Blows that rocked me as I parried with a kunai suddenly were dismissed allowing me to counterattack.
The man grunted but merely grit his teeth. I scowled. I wasn't confident in my ability to use the chakra strings to their full potential, but I had another card to play.
I reached within my chakra network and opened the first gate. I didn't announce it verbally, not needing the mnemonic. That didn't stop both Hyuga from stopping still and whirling towards me in shock.
"Watch for the child!" the man said.
"Kill him!" barked the woman.
With more chakra flowing through me, I suddenly saw the world in much greater clarity. I saw the sweat glistening on my foe's forehead. I saw the glint of the sun in his blade. I heard the way his breath hitched as with the next exchange of blows, I traded and swiped a blade across his ribs, drawing blood for the first time.
His eyes widened in shock, only for him to start moving faster. His face tightened, only for my grin to grow as I held my own for a few exchanges.
He'd gotten serious and was fighting harder. I could match that.
So I did, flexing my chakra again and opening the second gate.
Chakra exploded out of me, my skin turning redder by the moment as blood rushed around my body and tried to expel the heat that coursed through me. It had been easier to handle in Kiri, but in the desert, I felt like I'd unleashed an inferno in my core.
The man staggered back in shock. I swept one hand forward while the other grabbed at his hand.
I tore free his sword even as his head flew back, spinning end over end upon itself.
I raised up his sword and sighted the ninken that was boxing in Suzi.
Alright, it could shrug off kunai, eh? Let's try this on for size.
I hurled the blade like it was a javelin. The Inuzuka went from grinning as he swiped a hand at Suzi to gasping in shock as he spotted my target. "Gomaru! Dod—"
The sword speared through the air and the ninken could only twitch in fear before the blade punched through its chest, knocking it into the sands.
It lay pinned and bleeding; it barely got off a whine before its head hit the ground limply.
I felt a strange conflict take place as the part of me that saw dogs as only good and friendly warred with the practical side of me. In the end, I decided to classify that dog as feral and to move on.
Unaware of my inner turmoil over putting down his dog, the Inuzuka Shinobi whirled about on me, roaring in rage.
He spun, about becoming a one-man tornado with his claws extended. "I'm gonna kill you!" he screamed.
I leapt to the side, only for the sands to explode when he hit, causing a huge cloud of dust to blanket the region.
I staggered back, only to throw myself to the side as the Inuzuka made another pass at me.
"I can smell you! You're not getting away, you fucking murderer!" he snarled as he swept past me, his claws raking my body.
I staggered and scowled. "That's a bit hypocritical," I said, my eyes darting about. With the dust obscuring my sight, and his nose being far sharper, I did not like my chances.
Thankfully, I had other senses to rely on. I didn't do anything as cliche as shut my eyes; I merely focused on the chakra signatures around me. Most of them were hunkering down in the wake of the dust storm that we'd found ourselves in.
But not Suzi.
She was steadily working herself closer, through trial and error, to Hito.
I felt Ganto Inuzuka sweep in for me, and this time I was able to move back half a step, and just as he passed me by I launched a rib-shattering kick into his midriff.
He buckled around my leg, only to then be launched up and away.
I put my foot back down only to growl as pain from where the Inuzuka's jutsu at cut into my leg. I put a hand to it and stemmed the bleeding with a quick application of the Mystic Palm.
The dust storm slowly died down, and the Hyuga stared at me in shock. I noted where the Inuzuka man landed. He twitched and rose despite the kick to his ribs only to buckle to his knees as he vomited blood.
Suzi hurled a kunai that took him in the head and he collapsed to the ground, dead.
"My Lady, we need to escape!" said the man as he realised there were still four of us in the fight, while only two of their team were still standing.
The woman gained a pinched expression as she took in the field. Dende and Hanzo both backed off, their hands hanging limply as they regrouped. Suzi leaned over Hito, blood dripping from her legs where the Inuzuka and his dog had attacked her, trying to wear her down.
The Hyuga kunoichi scowled. "No, we're not running away like dogs with our tails between our legs. This child has barked loudly, and you're scared. I am not, however."
She raised her hands, palm facing out. "None are stronger than the Hyuga when it comes to Taijutsu!" she proclaimed before bursting forward in a shunshin. She appeared right in front of me with her arm cocked back.
I lurched to the side, finding myself having to retreat in the face of her aggression. I felt each strike cause a thump of wind before she retracted her arm. She was perfectly in control of herself, not overextending or letting me have any say in the fight.
I could barely keep away from her strikes.
She grinned as I found myself pushed back into the slope of a sand dune, only to stumble as my footing gave out underneath me.
The next strike buried itself in my stomach, and I was hurled backwards.
I heaved and tried to clench my stomach, attempting to stop the sickening, rising feeling that swept through me. I clamped my jaw shut, only for blood to drip between my teeth.
Fuck, she'd ruptured something with that hit.
I eyed her stance as she grinned amicably at me. "Thought Hyuga used their fingertips?" I said, trying to buy myself time.
"We do when we want to merely subdue our foes," she said, giving me a look at her face, and I could only shudder. I'd seen sickos like her hire girls at the Okiya.
I always had to heal up the girls for bruises and scrapes the next morning. This Hyuga was a sadist, and she wasn't going to let us simply retreat. She wanted us broken and at her feet before she killed us.
I raised my fists as Suzi rejoined Dende and Hanzo to fight off the other Hyuga. The woman scoffed when she saw the man struggling. "I see that I need to do everything," she said, vanishing from her position to land next to Hanzo.
Hanzo fell with a cry as her hand slammed into his ribs. A moment later, blood erupted from his mouth, and I gritted my teeth.
I needed to put this woman down.
Now.
I reached into myself and flexed my chakra once again.
"Third Gate!" I announced, causing both Hyuga to whip around.
This time, Chakra exploded out of me. I felt something rip in my stomach, and I knew I had to make the most of this power-up.
The Hyuga woman scoffed. "Power without technique is nothing!" she proclaimed. She slid her feet into a circle. I knew what she was trying to do, she was begging me to challenge her.
My speed from opening the third gate versus her revolving heavens jutsu.
I narrowed my eyes, pushed away the pain, and went from standing to sprinting in an instant.
The kunoichi spun, her smile growing wider with each step I took. Chakra formed around her in a dome, and I continued straight at her.
Right before I slammed into her spinning dome of chakra, I jumped, soaring over the whirling dome of death.
I couldn't see her face, but I imagine she was gaping in shock.
I wasn't going to play to her strengths.
I ignored her and instead threw myself at her retainer, sliding like a professional football player of my past life to kick his feet out from under him. "Guh!" he said, only for his hands to flash out twice and nail two of my tenketsu.
Suzi tackled him out of the air and buried a kunai into his shoulder before grabbing his other arm and stomping her feet into his back, forcing him to the ground.
She wrenched his arm back, and a snap echoed off the dune as she broke his arm.
"Argh!" he screamed in pain, only for Suzi to push harder.
I whirled about and locked eyes with a furious Hyuga kunoichi. She glared at me before shifting her focus to that of the male Hyuga.
"You let him take you by surprise? Why am I not surprised? This is what a Branch member is worth," she said haughtily.
"My apologies, my lady! He was faster than I expected! I thought you had drawn him in masterfully!" said the man, half his face buried in the sand.
The woman sniffed and formed a seal. "No matter, your death will cleanse you of your sins," she said. I felt the chakra form and pulse from her in a specific manner, only for the man to howl in pain. A moment later, something began to burn, and I smelled pork cooking.
Suzi leapt back from the man who started to twitch and smoke.
"Kami!" screamed Hanzo.
"Yo, what the fuck?!" screamed Dende.
I frowned. "You weren't willing to let him fall into our hands?" I said.
The woman laughed. "Ohohoho! I see you are deaf, as you are clueless about how the world works! Ah, but no matter, you are fated to die," she said with a shake of her head.
An outside observer would almost think that she was kindly educating a child.
Except for her smile. There was too much glee there. She'd wanted to punish that man. Just as I knew that if she was allowed to, she wouldn't kill us quickly. Everything about her was just an excuse to cause pain.
"— and this battle is going to result in your defeat," she said, looking down on us.
Suzi bared her teeth. "What gives you that idea?"
The Hyuga woman turned an imperious gaze upon all of us. "You, girl, are all that is left fully capable of fighting. Poorly, from what I've seen," said the kunoichi with a sneer.
I blinked. Holy shit, she's monologuing. My hand crept to my stomach.
She then turned her gaze to the others. "One of your members is nearly dead, while the others cannot use their arms due to their tenketsu being blocked." She flicked her hair again. "While I am untouched."
"Kami, you do like to hear yourself talk," I said as I continued to heal my stomach. While she'd been talking, I'd flooded myself with healing chakra, and I could feel things knitting back together.
She frowned at me, only to realise what I was doing. She made to talk, but I was done listening.
I rolled my shoulders and flexed my chakra for a fourth time. "The Fourth Gate!" I announced.
This time, the chakra that radiated off me resulted in sandblasting out in visible waves. My closed chakra nodes reopened forcefully, and I snarled through the pain.
I cocked my fist back and dove into a low-to-the-ground dash.
She faltered for a moment, only to sneer as she adjusted herself. With her gaze locked on me, I knew I needed to make this next strike count.
She swept her hand at me and she would have gotten me despite the speed if I hadn't replaced myself with the body of her dead comrade. The dead body was blown clear and she had a moment to realise her mistake before I was on her from behind.
Despite even this, she whirled about, her hand lashing out semi-blindly. A flash of fear took over her features.
I'd made sure to position her so the body was behind her. And just like I'd done against her fellow Hyuga, I leapt, aiming for the first vertebrae.
She lashed out with her fist, but I was fast enough to catch it.
"What?!" she said, her eyes widening in shock. Her other hand shot forward, only for me to catch it.
She then kicked up, and I tried to leap over her, dragging her arms with me only for her to leap up with me, her head rearing back for a headbutt.
I dropped my knee into her face and felt something crunch as we clammed together. She rolled, her hands still trapped, only for it to become a wrestling match where her greater size gave her the advantage.
"Mangy mongrel!" she screamed, her nose gushing blood as she hammered once again and slammed her head into me.
I felt the air rush out of me, and I gasped as something broke in my ribs.
In response, I flooded my chakra into her with the Coma Jutsu. Her eyes blinked blearily before widening. "No… not like this," she murmured.
Her chakra spiked once to try and break out of a genjutsu, but my medical jutsu was no illusion.
She fell asleep, and I rolled off her. My lungs heaved and my body ached from the intense fight to the death I'd found myself in.
I then slowly guided my chakra back into its normal flow. With normal function returning, I felt aches and pains I'd been ignoring become prominent.
My arm felt sore and numb, while my ribs sent a painful lance through my chest with every breath I took.
Dende hobbled over to me and stared at me, and then at the downed Hyuga. "You never said you could fucking open the Gates," he said.
I wheezed up at him. "Never, said I couldn't either," I said. I tilted my head. "How's Hito?"
Dende glanced over and hummed. "Might need some help… we're going to have to abort our patrol to get him back to the medics," he said.
I nodded. "Yeah, we probably want to get out of here fast. I would have sent up a lot of chakra using the gates like I did."
"Ah, yeah, that's true," he said, glancing about the horizon. He chewed his lip. "Can you stand?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I should be able to patch us up. Just help me sit up," I said.
Dende did just that. "Oi! You two lift Hito and bring him over here!" he called.
I set about healing some of the aches and pains throughout my body, not enough that I was in perfect shape, just enough to move out. I then spent some time healing up Hito to stabilise him before Dende waved me off, citing the need to get moving.
Both Dende and Hanzo hissed as I slowly unlocked their tenketsu with a soft teasing touch of chakra. Their responses made me revisit my own chakra nodes, only to find them swollen and extremely sore.
"Huh, turns out forcing them open isn't such a great idea," I said to myself. I felt a wave of fatigue run through me, and I let loose a huge yawn.
The others barked a laugh at this, only to twitch when the Hyuga woman snorted.
"Fucking hell! She's still alive!" Dende barked, a kunai in his hand, only for Hanzo to stop him from stabbing it into the woman's head.
"Woah, no, don't do that! She's important! We'll be able to present her to Wano!" he said.
Something about that made my stomach twist in apprehension, even through the haze of fatigue.
I glanced over at the woman, only for a wave of nausea to run through me. I started to tumble to the side only for Suzi to catch me.
She held me and looked me over. "You don't look so good Matsu… here' I'll carry you back to base, like you did for me."
"Guess you won't owe me one then?" I said mirthlessly.
Suzi shook her head. "After today? I don't think it's worth keeping count," she said. I nodded, shutting my eyes and letting her lift me up.
Asleep, I no longer had to feel the pain.
I awoke a few hours later.
"Huh?" I said dumbly as I was jostled. I winced as I felt my ribs grate. The inflammation in my chakra nodes had vanished, but I was still extremely sore in other parts of my body.
I glanced aorund and found Dende carrying Hito, while Hanzo had another person trussed up over his shoulders.
It took me a minute of staring to recall who it was.
Dark hair, pale skin, and eyes that were open and staring daggers into me.
"Oh, we're taking her back to base?" I said aloud.
Suzi slowed to look over her shoulder at me and our prisoner. "Yeah, she… has a bit of value to her."
"Ah," I said. I searched for something else to say but couldn't find it within me. I had half an idea what fate would await her. I wasn't even sure we were going to try for negotiations with Konoha. I swallowed. This… this hadn't happened in the story.
It had been alluded to and attempted but never achieved. Then again, it may have, but it was something that was never spoken about.
This woman, and indeed the rest of us might suddenly find ourselves being swamred by ANBU hellbent on denying us an asset. I stretched my chakra sense as far as it would go and began searching the horizon.
"How close to base are we?" I asked.
"Another hour," Suzi replied. "Think you can run the rest of the way?" she asked.
I nodded, and she deposited me on the sand. I made to take a step only for something to give in my knee. "Fuck!" I swore loudly, caught off guard by the pain as I tumbled to the ground.
I grimaced and looked up to find the others watching me in surprise. The Hyuga woman radiated a grim satisfaction.
I glanced up at Suzi, with her hands outstretched but too late to stop my fall. "I think I might need to heal this up first; she had a harder head than I realised," I said.
Suzi nodded. "Can you do it while I carry you?"
I nodded and resumed our run. For the next hour, I probed at the various points of my body and trickled what chakra I had into the wounds, knitting them to heal. My knee, as far as I could tell, had torn ligaments.
I did what I could, and by the time we reached the base, I could stand and hobble on the leg, enough to walk into the hidden base. We received more than a few looks when we walked in, bedraggled, torn, and had obviously been in a fight.
Wano emerged from further back and looked us over. His eyes lingered on the trussed-up Konoha nin. "You captured a Konoha nin?" he barked.
Dende nodded. "Sir! Leaf Nin ambushed us and we had to fight them off! We sustained serious injuries but were able to beat them! We killed all but this one. She's a Hyuga sir!"
This announcement caused a wave of shock to ripple through the audience. Wano hissed in surprise and stalked up to us. He grabbed the Huga by her hair and dragged her head up. She glared back with her white eyes before spitting at him.
Wano ignored the spit and instead grinned. "She is!' he said. He then backhanded her to the ground and rose in one motion. "Get me another runner to head back to Kiri! I need an escort for our… Princess," he said with a derisive tone. "We're going to make sure she finds accommodations befitting her."
He then glanced around and realised how many people were witnessing this. "No one is to breathe a word of this! Patrols are to increase from five to ten men per group! Konoha is going to be pissed!"
He spared our group another look. "Excellent work, all of you." He half turned away before pausing and looking us over. "Who took her down? None of you are well known for being Taijutsu experts."
"Matsu did sir," Dende said.
Wano blinked at that before barking out a laugh. "Ha! I should have known! The rookie troublemaker is causing trouble again!" He looked me over. "Looks like you didn't have it easy, lad," he said affably.
I nodded. "No sir! She broke my ribs, knee, and sealed a few of my tenktesu!"
He raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked me up and down. His question was unspoken but obvious.
"I got better, sir!" I said.
He laughed at this. "Ha! So you did. Next time, do better. Don't let yourself get injured! My scouts reported you being carried in! Next time, you might not have the luxury! Toughen up so you can take as good as you can give it out!"
I nodded at that. It wasn't a bad idea. I'd need to be tougher with all the foes I would no doubt have to face.
Wano waved us off to get treated and we marched off to the medical bay where En could poke and prod us. I was surprised to find the room itself was full. When I'd departed a few days ago, there had only been two beds full. Now a full thirty shinobi lay, recovering from various injuries and poisons.
En glowered at us. "What's your story?" he said snidely.
Dende grinned. "Can't share, sir. Wano wants it kept hush-hush!" he said with wink. "He's very happy though," he added pointedly.
I almost chuckled as En scowled at us. He wouldn't hear it from us, but I had no doubt that news of our success would spread.
Now all I needed to see was if I had just changed something major, and consigned a… frankly horrible woman to a terrible fate.
Or would we find ourselves swimming with sharks too big to handle with Konoha's inevitable response?
I set myself down to fix myself up properly before turning my attention to others. It wasn't obvious at first glance, but opening the fourth gate had caused a ton of microfractures throughout my body.
Wano was right; I needed to get stronger. The idea of toughening myself up had serious merit. I clenched my fist, pondering how hard I would be able to hit if I could reinforce my skeleton.
Hmmm, but why stop there?
I stared into a nearby mirror and spiked my hair up. What if I could harden my entire body?
I added it to the list of things I wanted to learn and practise.
If I wanted to be able to throw around jutsu like the Rasengan, I better be able to back it up.
This wasn't the Academy, where I'd been able to overwhelm my opponents.
I needed to get stronger, in a lot of different ways, very quickly.