Island of Houki
Land of Water
Basara POV
Breathing as evenly as I could, I made my way towards my team, keeping the old man in my field of vision. The old man was most likely a Yuki. Anyone with a bloodline limit was to be treated with utmost caution.That was simply how dangerous most of them were—capable of breaking the normal rules of what a shinobi should be able to do.
I would know best, being able to use the fabled Mokuton.
Bloodlines, in general, were essential cheats given to a fortunate few. People who possessed them had to be dealt with carefully, because you never truly knew what any one individual might be capable of. Look at the Uchiha. The Sharingan alone was absolute bullshit in its sheer versatility. The less said about the Mangekyō and its higher variants—and the unique abilities that came with them—the better.
Keeping these thoughts to myself, I pushed my senses to their limits. I did not want to be blindsided. Hyōton users should be capable of high-speed movements. Haku Yuki, after all, was able to do so with his or her Mirrors. It was possible the other could do something similar. I did not know if it was a high-speed movement technique or a bloodline-limited teleportation technique.
Techniques like that were my antithesis in movement.
Another thing to add to the growing list of skills I needed to train.
"Identify yourself," Mayumi said sternly, her hand already hovering near her kunai pouch. Any sudden move from the old man would be met with a barrage of steel. To my senses, Ryotaro was already building chakra, preparing for a possible fight. That was only sensible; one didn't last long enough to grow old in this profession by being weak.
The old man replied in a thin voice that belied whatever experience he carried.
"One should introduce themselves first. After all, you are in my home."
I looked around. There was no house in sight. He must have been from this island, then.
Mayumi's jaw tightened. She looked to be on a hair trigger. After what we had witnessed in the last village, I could hardly blame her. Kiri's cruelty was still fresh in everyone's mind.
I scrutinized the old man more carefully. No hitai-ate. That was unusual. Shinobi almost never went without one—not out of pride, but for practical reasons. In the field, a forehead protector was the fastest way for allies to identify one another at a glance, especially during war; it would be a shame to kill one of your own owing to a misunderstanding. Going without it was either arrogance or exile...
Mayumi spoke again through clenched teeth.
"We are Konoha shinobi here on a mission. I am Mayumi Uchiha. Identify yourself."
The old man gave a slight nod.
"I am Haruki Yuki. I am looking for my granddaughters. I am not here for a fight."
I stepped forward. Before I could speak, the old man scrutinized me in turn, his eyes lingering on my armor.
"That armor... and the clan mark. You must be a Senju."
"I am. My name is Basara Senju."
I kept my tone even. "Will you be willing to answer a few questions? It is not every day you see a Kiri-nin who doesn't want a fight. You are aware of the war, yes?"
He scoffed.
"More than you will ever know. And I am not a Kiri-nin. I have not, nor will I ever, join Byakuren's cursed village."
Byakuren?... Does he mean the First Mizukage? Why?
Obito snapped, baring his teeth.
"Calm down, Obito," I said, then turned back to the old man. "I find it hard to believe that Kiri would allow a Yuki to simply roam around."
"Believe what you will. Where are my granddaughters? From the way the children are reacting, you have seen them. Have you killed them?"
He was utterly calm asking such a morbid question.
"How could you ask something like that?" Obito demanded.
I could tell Riku, standing nearby, wanted to say something similar, but he kept quiet.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Yes. They're with a teammate a little while away."
The old man nodded once and started moving in the direction I had indicated, his ice cane striking the ground dully. Ryotaro flashed me the standard Konoha hand sign.
Orders?
I signed back discreetly.
Hold. Back me.
I would not let the old Yuki walk off unimpeded. I joined him, matching his pace.
"Can you tell us more about what happened here?" I asked. "Are you part of the deserted village? Where are the others?"
Ryotaro, playing up his role, added, "You'll answer now, old man."
Haruki did not even glance at him.
"I will speak once my granddaughters are with me."
I stared at him for a moment, then nodded and indicated for him to follow. The rest of the squad fanned out, keeping the Yuki in the middle as we moved. As we drew closer to Sayuri-san and the two girls, I flared my chakra in a small, controlled pulse—something even a non-sensor should pick up, letting her know there was no immediate threat.
Once the girls saw the old man, they ran to him, yelling,
"Grandpa!"
The old man remained calm as he embraced them both, who desperately hugged his legs. I stared at the scene blankly and signed to Sayuri that the man was not an immediate threat, but to work at lowering his guard.
Throughout the short run, his chakra control had been almost perfect...
"Your granddaughters are safe," I said. "I would like some answers, Yuki-san."
"What do you require?"
"Everything. Who you are. Why you are here. What happened to the small village nearby. And I meant what I said—I find it hard to believe Kirigakure would allow you to remain outside the village."
He looked over the entire squad with calm eyes.
"I have spoken only the truth. My family has never been part of Kirigakure. As for the village, that is where we lived. We moved to a safer place once the war came to this island."
Sayuri-san's voice softened. "Is your family all right?"
The old man turned to her, still patting his granddaughters' heads.
"You'll need to do better than that to get answers, girl."
Then he looked back at me. I sighed.
"We are just trying to help you and the villagers."
He stared at me for a long moment.
"In the olden days, boy, your clan was filled with monsters and butchers. That is how the world viewed them. But at least they had a sense of integrity."
I raised an eyebrow at the indirect insult.
"Ask what you want, Young Senju."
Fine. If that was how he wanted it.
"We are part of a Konoha expedition meant to route the Kiri shinobi on this island before moving on. We will do what we have to in order to achieve that. Where are the villagers? Are there others like you? How did you come to be on this island? I need everything."
A dry smile formed on his lips.
"At least you're honest now."
He continued.
His family was an offshoot that had resisted Byakuren when the First Mizukage founded Kirigakure. Haruki's father and mother, along with a few other elders, had rebelled fiercely rather than submit. After reaching an understanding of sorts, they had settled here—far from the village hidden in the mist. The small fishing village had been their home. Now they were hiding in a safer location.
We all took in the story as I pressed on.
"We need to know if you are a threat to Konoha. How many of you there are, and where you are located."
He shook his head slightly, then seemed to come to a decision.
"Very well. I will take you there. We number no more than forty."
I raised an eyebrow at his compliance. Kakashi, who had been silent until now, spoke in that flat tone I had come to associate him with.
"And why should we trust you aren't leading us into a trap?"
Haruki answered dully, without offense.
"I have not lived this long by being foolish. I am well aware of my family's certain demise if I tried something. Even that one—" he pointed at me "—would be enough to kill us all, much less with you children and the Uchiha. Isn't that why you flared your chakra, young Senju?"
Yes. That was exactly why.
"That was not my intention," I said, bowing a little. "I apologize if it came across that way."
He picked up both girls in one arm, allowing the ice cane to dissolve into thin air. Then he started running. We followed, keeping a reasonable distance. Despite his claims, it would have been foolish to trust him completely. He led us upriver until the land opened into a natural basin of water, ringed by boulder formations. Haruki walked to the edge, formed a couple of hand seals, and the water parted in a pseudo-ice state—revealing a wide living cavern beyond.
The moment we stepped closer, I picked up thirty-nine signatures inside. All of them had chakra and carried the same flavor as Haruki Yuki.
They all had the Hyōton, though none of them felt particularly strong.
The cavern was senseless to my senses; I had to hide a grimace that threatened to form again. I really had to do something about this weakness of mine, as we stood at the entrance. Sayuri-san gave me a look, to which I had to nod.
There was no way we were stepping inside a territory covered in unknown fūinjutsu or something similar. Can they do something similar with the Hyōton?
"You may come inside and join us. My Mother is the current matriarch of the clan; you may discuss your needs with her."
Mother? She must be pretty old.This was so far outside the mission parameters it wasn't even funny. We had stumbled onto a Yuki clan offshoot filled with Hyōton users who claimed no connection to Kirigakure. The implications of that were not lost on me.
Still, there was no way I was walking into that cavern. Even if I could uproot the entire place if things went wrong.
"Mayumi-san," I said. "Take Kakashi, Obito, and Rin and set up a perimeter."
She nodded as the four of them vanished in a flash of shunshin. I turned back to Haruki.
"Please bring your mother out so we may discuss. My team and I will not be entering your home."
The old man regarded me with faint disapproval.
"You seem to lack manners, young Senju."
"It seems I do," I said. "It is, after all, a complicated situation."
I stared at him, unwilling to budge.
After a moment, he smiled wryly.
"Now you resemble the Senju of old."
I frowned, unsure whether that was meant as a compliment. He gave a small nod.
"I will inform my mother. Please stay here."