On Tuesday, instead of training unofficially with the anbu team, she was summoned to Shikaku's office. The moment she entered, he looked at her with a mix of amusement and exasperation.
"Have you had enough of taking revenge on the Hokage?" he asked as soon as the door closed and the barriers activated.
"Yes. She apologized sincerely, so…" She shrugged. "Now I'm going after the other one."
Shikaku let out a short laugh and gestured for her to sit down. Curious—since she rarely sat during mission briefings—she complied, pulling up a chair and sitting across from him as he studied her intently.
"How's anbu treating you?"
Seina wasn't surprised by the question. Shikaku was sharp, and since she'd been absent from the village for days without him assigning her a mission, it wouldn't take much to deduce the truth. Plus, if Tsunade-sama had approached him about the prank, she had likely hinted at or revealed the reason behind her actions. Not that it mattered much to her. She trusted Shikaku.
"Fine. Not bad, but nothing new, really."
"Give it time. What do you think of your team's promotion?"
"What do I think? It's perfect. Why?"
"They can start taking on B- and A-rank missions now, but you're overqualified for anything below A- and S-rank. See the problem?"
"How long will they be stuck on B-rank missions?" she sighed, rolling her eyes as she caught on.
"At least a month. I'll talk to the mission department to push their progress."
"And after that month, we can take missions together?"
"A-rank ones, at least. Some missions, however, you'll handle solo—it makes no sense to assign you a team when you can complete them in the blink of an eye."
"Fair enough," she shrugged again. "Naruto and Sasuke can handle a month without me."
"Besides, if they want to advance to jonin, they'll need a minimum number of missions in each rank."
"How many missions have I completed so far? Do you know?" she asked, curious.
Shikaku pulled out her file.
"Let's see… 49 D-rank missions, 25 C-rank, 10 B-rank, 19 A-rank, and 7 S-rank. Not bad, considering it's been just over a year and a half since you left the academy."
"Huh."
She remembered the D-rank missions—damned Kakashi. He had them painting walls every other day… Thankfully, that phase didn't last long, ending when she grew tired of Naruto's constant complaints. The C-rank missions had been slightly better, though still unremarkable. The fun began with B-rank missions as a chunin, especially with other chunin, and A-rank missions as a tokubetsu jonin. She knew exactly what her S-rank missions were: two she completed with anbu and the ones destroying Orochimaru's bases.
"Well, let's get to the point. Today's mission." Shikaku tossed her a scroll. "Find those bandits, eliminate them, and recover the stolen goods. You're dismissed."
Seina nodded and left the office. She found a seat on one of the couches in the jonin department to read the mission details alone. The coordinates marked the bandits' base near the border with the Land of Rain. Supposedly, the stolen goods were expensive minerals extracted from a mine in the Land of Fire, intended to be sold illegally across borders.
"Seina, long time no see," said a voice. It was Genma, accompanied by Hayate. "What brings you here?"
"A mission?"
"Yeah. I'm heading out now, actually."
"Be careful."
"I always am. See you later."
"Goodbye, Seina."
She made her way to the nearest exit and registered quickly. Ten minutes later, she was hidden in the forest, teleporting as close as possible to the coordinates. She ran the final stretch—a light 15-minute jog—and found the camp. Surprisingly, it was abandoned. They hadn't even bothered to clean up the mess, which she cleared with magic to avoid polluting the forest. Tracks on the ground revealed wheel marks, at least one horse, and large crates. Likely a cart with a single horse.
"Do you smell that?" Kurama asked suddenly.
"It smells like urine."
"Human urine."
She frowned, pondering the implications. There were only two possibilities: either someone had urinated in one of the crates for some reason, or it wasn't a crate at all but a cell containing a person who had been forced to relieve themselves inside. For their sake, she hoped it wasn't the latter. Using a spell to locate them, she found it unnecessary—the trail was easy to follow thanks to the tracks.
Thanks to one of her revealing spells, she knew something was off. For starters, there were four ninjas hiding near a tree at the bandits' new base. They weren't surrounding the base to protect it—they were lying in wait, ready for someone. A strategy like this, where they stayed grouped, was perfect for ambushing a single ninja or a small team. But why?
The mission was A-rank. A jonin or two chunin should have sufficed. Shikaku had assigned it to her because the merchant was in a hurry to recover the goods, and she was the best candidate for quick, efficient results.
Could they be expecting someone from Konoha? That would mean there was a mole. Well, another one. She meditated on what to do while remaining invisible about 30 metres away. After some thought, she decided to attack. Her mission was clear: recover the goods and eliminate the bandits. To reach them, she'd have to deal with the ninja first.
They hadn't noticed her thanks to her magic concealment. Using Kakashi's genjutsu, she also masked her chakra. As she approached invisibly, one of them appeared to sense something, turning slightly in her direction and performing hand seals to detect her. Curious, she watched more closely. He perched on a branch and seemed to fall asleep.
It was a gesture she'd seen countless times. From Ino. Alarmed, she summoned a creature to investigate further. They didn't notice the chakra expenditure as she sent an invisible, enchanted local insect to the tree. It took several minutes, but once the creature reached the tree, she confirmed her suspicion: the ninja was a Yamanaka. She didn't know that because she could recognize him or see his face, but because with the white anbu masks, they could only be Danzo's ninjas. If they were Danzo's ninjas, they could only be Konoha ninjas. So, it wasn't surprising that the Yamanaka could be someone she didn't know.
There were four people, including the Yamanaka, who was using his jutsu on someone. Obviously, she didn't recognize any of them. The question was… who were they hunting? And whose body was the Yamanaka using his body-swapping jutsu on? Something smelled terribly wrong, so she didn't move closer until she had answers to those questions. She opened her mental barriers. Two of them were like robots, waiting for orders from the other man, while the Yamanaka wasn't in his body. Instead, he was inside an object or something similar since she couldn't see the aura of a person on the other side of the clearing. The last person, another man, was watching his companion's body while preparing to attack with his rinkachu. An Aburame.
She didn't like this at all. One of them could use objects to attack her, and another could poison her with his insects. Not to mention, the other two were probably experts in something. To make matters worse, they seemed confident she would be the one to show up to take out the bandits.
"I'm sure she's here. I can't sense her again, but I know she's here," thought the Yamanaka—or rather, the scarecrow he was using as a puppet. "Actually, it doesn't matter. I just need one touch to activate the cursed seal, and she'll be mine."
She understood then what he planned to do. He intended to swap his mind, hidden in the object, with hers when the seal was triggered! Her blood boiled at the thought of how they planned to take over her body and cage her mind as if it were nothing. She didn't even want to imagine what would have happened to her if they succeeded. Luckily, now she was the one with the advantage.
"Oh, Yamanaka… You don't know who you're dealing with…" she thought maliciously, preparing to strike.
With malice, Seina approached the scarecrow, avoiding the traps she could see thanks to a temporary spell that revealed where they had been stepped on recently. She silently thanked the aurors for teaching her such an enchantment, a smile on her face. Once she was just a few meters from the scarecrow, she used active legilimency on it. Before the Yamanaka could sense her mind invading the object, Seina captured his consciousness and wrapped it in her magic like a prisoner bound in chakra chains.
The mind screamed, unable to break free, terrified as it was involuntarily extracted from the scarecrow. Fu Yamanaka, as he was called, was petrified because no one had ever used a jutsu similar to his against him. Seina, far more experienced and powerful than he, dragged him into her mind, where he had no power. She heard the sound of Fu's body collapsing sideways, entirely vegetative. She levitated the scarecrow, shrank it, placed it inside a wooden box, then into her pouch after wrapping it in several layers of fabric to avoid direct contact.
Once Fu was under Kurama's watch, trapped in a magical prison and mental barriers, she blinked. The entire transaction had lasted barely a minute, but she knew someone would investigate what had happened. Torune Aburame, the guy of the rinkachu, sent the others away as he picked up the Yamanaka and darted in another direction. Seina followed invisibly, putting his attackers under her genjutsu. They fell to the ground, their balance destroyed.
She used the hiraishin on the insect that was tracking them, landing silently on its back, invisible. Realizing he couldn't fight while carrying the Yamanaka, Torune set him aside. He removed his gloves, ready to touch her, but Seina already knew much from Fu's mind. She dodged. With Kurama's chakra running across her skin, she had a protective layer against his insects, though she still avoided contact.
"I know you're there," Torune said.
Still invisible, she used his fallen companion's body as a shield to attack him. Torune cautiously avoided touching the body with his hands, but this hesitation worked against him. Seina flung an adamantine chain to impale him from behind. Torune couldn't dodge the stab to his shoulder. Unable to break free, he lay face down on the ground. The chains, immune to infection, kept him subdued safely. Then Seina tried something she'd never attempted before: she placed a hand on the chain and attempted to cast a stunning spell.
"Stupefy."
The red light travelled along the chain, illuminating it for a split second, before rendering Torune unconscious.
"Huh. I didn't know I could do that," she muttered to herself.
"I told you!" Kurama exclaimed. "That means you can connect with me using your magic."
"We'll test that."
She pulled out her suitcase to store the prisoners in cells. She wrapped Torune from head to toe in several layers of fabric, casting a spell to let him breathe without creating holes. She placed both bodies in individual cells, then went for the other two. Unfortunately, one had choked on his own vomit, and the other had taken a suicide pill. Oh well. She collected the corpses and stored them in her prison.
The bandits, of course, had no clue. She observed that they were using a half-collapsed building on the outskirts of a small village. No one dared to go near, likely knowing it was full of scum. As she approached, she heard raucous laughter and vulgar comments. What angered her most was the sound of women crying inside.
"No! Please!" a young girl sobbed as several men cheered one of their own. "NO!"
Seina heard the sound of fabric tearing. Containing her fury, she entered through a window, dodging the bandits' amateur traps. The first one she caught had his throat slit with a kunai. Without pausing to check if she had been seen, she went after the next. Once someone managed to shout, all heads turned to see what was happening. Seina deactivated her invisibility bracelet, making herself visible. Instead of relaxing, they screamed in panic. She saw her red eyes reflected in the blue eyes of one of the bandits.
She drew her wakizashi and proceeded to kill them all as painfully as possible. She severed legs, arms, stabbed genitals—letting them bleed out and crawl on the floor, begging for mercy. The three barred cages were full. Each one contained a young, physically attractive woman. She knew exactly why they had been chosen. And for what. To the man about to assault a girl on the floor, she conjured a metallic stake and drove it through his legs, immobilizing him.
She finished the rest within minutes. The women stared at her wide-eyed, their expressions a mix of terror, shock, and, above all, hope. She walked, drenched in blood from head to toe, to the last man alive.
"N-no! Please! Have mercy!" he screamed, his face pale with fear.
"Mercy?" she asked quietly. "You were about to rape a person. You've likely done it before. Why should I let you live?"
"I won't do it again! I swear! Please! I swear to God!"
Seina opened the women's cages, tearing the bars apart with brute force. She helped the naked woman on the floor to her feet and discreetly conjured clothing from her pouch, handing it to each of them. They dressed while listening to the man's cries and pleas. Seina kicked him in the side and dissolved the stakes in his legs.
"Why don't we let your victims decide your fate?" she asked.
She looked at the women. All seemed to be recovering, trembling and holding back tears, except one. She was terrified, of course, but stared at the man on the floor with hatred. Seina picked up a few kunai she had used to kill others and offered them to the women. Silence fell as the victims stared at the knives.
The bravest stepped forward, trembling, and grabbed one. The man screamed upon seeing this, but the woman had already raised the knife and, with all her strength, stabbed him in the genitals. The other victims rushed to grab the kunai and began stabbing him wherever they could. His howls and screams surely echoed far. The scent of blood and other bodily fluids reached her nose. The women seemed oblivious, piercing him as if he were a pincushion.
When the man was no longer recognizable or alive, Seina grabbed one of their hands, stopping them from stabbing the corpse further.
"He's dead."
Then, the sobbing began. It lasted a while, the women hugging each other as Seina disposed of the bodies and retrieved the untouched cart of goods. She silently healed their injuries. To her horror, she discovered one of them was two weeks pregnant.
"How long were you captured?" she gently asked one of them.
"About three weeks," she sobbed.
Seina's stomach dropped, realizing the pregnancy was the result of assault. She made a controversial choice: she induced an abortion. The girl, sobbing in another's arms, didn't even notice. Seina didn't want her to find out later and reopen the wounds. Perhaps the girl would have kept it, perhaps not. The child was innocent but still a product of violence. Seina arrogantly decided to spare her that choice.
"Where's your home?" she asked again.
"I-in Hama," one of them cried. "It's about an hour's walk."
"All right. I'll take you there."
She used the cart, lightening its weight so a single horse could pull them all, and they headed toward Hama. The journey was silent, broken only by tears, until more than one fell asleep, reassured by her presence. The bravest stayed awake, staring into space. Seina didn't want to imagine what they'd endured.
"Thank you for saving us. My name's Izumi, by the way," she said quietly.
"I'm Seina. You're welcome. Killing human scum is one of the reasons I became a ninja. In fact, it's my pleasure to eliminate them from existence," she replied bluntly.
"Still, thank you."
The rest of the journey continued in silence. Hama was a small village, perhaps with a population of no more than 2,000. As soon as they saw the cart and the women, a couple dozen people approached with tears in their eyes, their faces filled with incredulous joy.
"Izumi!" an elderly woman shouted, running as fast as she could. "It can't be! It's Izumi! She's alive!"
She stopped the horse in the middle of a square. As she dismounted, Seina realized she was covered head to toe in blood. Not just her, but the women as well. Oh well. There was no discreet way to clean herself up without being noticed now. A few people helped the women down from the cart, embracing them tightly and crying with relief. Then, an elderly woman embraced Seina as well, sobbing.
"Thank you, god, thank you!" she wept in her ear. "I thought we'd never see them again!"
"Are you a ninja from Konoha?" another elderly man asked.
"That's correct," Seina replied.
"Thank you so much for saving them. We owe you the lives of our daughters."
Many nodded in agreement. The elderly woman released her, blinking as she noticed the blood on Seina's clothing.
"For the love of god! Come, come. I'll prepare a bath for you. It's the least I can do."
"No need," Seina said firmly. "I have orders to return to Konoha as soon as possible." She had already spent an hour escorting the women home at, quite literally, a horse's pace.
"Are you sure you don't want to rest for a bit?"
"I'm fine, don't worry."
"And you girls?" asked one of the men, clearly the father of one of them. "Whose blood is that?"
"One of them," one of the women spat. "We gave him what he deserved."
"They're all dead," Seina confirmed before they could start planning any sort of revenge.
"Are you alright?"
"Seina-sama examined and healed us," one of them replied.
One of the fathers turned to Seina.
"You didn't—?"
"They're fine," Seina cut him off before he could ask the question she knew was coming. She shot him a look.
The man and a couple of women seemed to understand the unspoken meaning. One of the women began crying into a handkerchief, her face pale. Fortunately, the girls didn't notice the exchange. Seina left shortly after, gifting them the cart and the horse. She used the hiraishin to return to Konoha, cleaned the blood off herself with a flick of her hand, and quickly headed to Shikaku's office.
As soon as he saw her enter with an expression that brooked no nonsense, he put down what he was doing. Seina closed the door behind her, ensuring her magical protections were active and scanning the room for any unwanted presences. The other jōnin, obviously noticing her actions, looked surprised and cautious.
"What happened?" he asked. "You took longer than expected."
"There were a few complications."
"What kind of complications?"
"Part of the stolen 'cargo' was people, and I ran into a Root team."
"What?" he asked, sitting bolt upright. "Define 'ran into.'"
"I have them in my bag. Two of them are dead, the other two are alive."
"Let's go. We need to speak with Tsunade-sama."
Shikaku's serious expression made her realize there was something going on that she hadn't been informed about. She shrugged as they left for the Hokage's tower. On the way, she saw Shikaku send someone to fetch Inoichi, the head of the interrogation department.
"Huh," she said aloud without meaning to.
"What?" Shikaku asked, raising an eyebrow as he walked on her left.
"I forgot to mention one of their identities."
"...Even more problematic," the jōnin commander sighed, realizing one of them must be a Yamanaka. "Alive or dead?"
"Alive."
"I suppose that's something..."
When they arrived at the Hokage's office, the secretary ushered them in immediately. Tsunade-sama glanced at Shikaku, then at Seina, and sighed. She manually activated the room's protections so she wouldn't have to close the windows and gestured for them to sit on the couch.
"What's the issue now?"
Shikaku nudged Seina to speak, the lazy bastard.
"I have a Root team in my bag."
"…You have a Root team in your bag," the Hokage repeated, her face blank. "How is that possible? I thought this was supposed to be a straightforward mission, no complications."
"Yeah, so did I."
A knock on the door interrupted them. The secretary informed them that Inoichi had arrived.
"Shizune, call Commander Ryu."
"Yes, ma'am."
"We'll wait for him to arrive before continuing," Tsunade said.
"What happened to the kidnapped people?" Shikaku asked Seina.
"What people?" Tsunade interjected.
"They were women who had been repeatedly violated. I returned them to their village, Hama," Seina replied.
"They had women captive?" Shizune asked, her face filled with rage.
"What happened to the captors?" Inoichi asked, disgust evident on his face. After all, he had a daughter himself.
"What do you think?" Seina raised an eyebrow.
Tsunade snorted a laugh. Commander Ryu appeared abruptly, dropping in from the ceiling to land beside the Hokage as if it were nothing.
"You called, Hokage-sama?"
"It seems we have an emergency involving Danzō—or so Shikaku says."
"Seina? Why don't you tell us what happened on your mission?"
Seina sighed. So much for thinking she'd managed to shake Danzō off her back for a while.