A week after my fiancée became Mizukage, I left for the Land of Fire once more. I couldn't care less if Mei wanted me to stay - I already knew Obito wouldn't come again to cause trouble for the time being. And if he did it was too bad for everyone involved. It wasn't like Obito was as powerful as canon suggested he was already anyway. Sure, he did in his sensei, but he came dangerously close to dying. Obito should still be learning from Zetsu, Madara, or at least scrolls the mighty Uchiha left behind.
I wanted to find En No Gyoja to get taught by a fūinjutsu grandmaster now that Mei handed over some more scrolls to me. She was weirdly quick with that once I handed over a bottle of healing pills after enjoying a long, satisfying fuck with Ruka in the hotsprings.
Since my last investigations brought me to the north of the Land of Fire and quite a ways away from it, I decided to run a detour this time around to find out if the rumors of a second nine-tails jinchūriki were true. For that, I made my way toward the west of the Land of Fire - where it bordered the Land of Wind - by sea, going south first.
The rumor was one I paid a whole bunch of money for because it was either a secret known to very few or a lie. I'd find out soon.
There in the south of the Land of Fire, I would find the Fire Temple. One of the stronger non-ninja-village institutions on this planet run by shinobi monks. Including Chiriku, the previous head of the Twelve Guardian Ninja who recently became less than twelve shortly after the nine-tails attack in Konoha.
One of the guardian ninja in the Land of Fire daimyo faction wanted to stage a coup together with half of the guardians but the Hokage and his sons stopped Kazuma, the traitorous guardian ninja, and his allies. Sarutobi Asuma and Chiriku were the only guardians still believed to be alive, and only Asuma was still guarding the daimyo - though not for much longer, I supposed.
"Halt!" A bald monk called out as I strolled toward the fire temple a few hours after noon.
"Yes?" I called out after a few days of constant travel as I felt the need for a long hot soak once more.
"What are you doing here, ninja?" The monk asked warily.
"Me? A ninja?" I asked with an incredulous frown.
"I know you well, Red Demon. I saw you obliterate whole swathes of shinobi on the front line of the last war," the monk stated sullenly. It seemed he used to be a Konoha shinobi but then he turned in his leaf head protector for a shaved head and prayer beads.
"Oh… yeah, well… in that case I guess I can't hide it anymore," I answered with a careless shrug. "I'm on a sight-seeing tour."
My lie didn't seem to convince the monk as he already used a technique to inform someone else of my arrival.
I could have stopped him, but I didn't care much. If I truly wanted, I would have just disguised myself with the transformation jutsu. I just wanted to know if there truly was a boy with nine-tails chakra here to see if I could extract it and gain a seed without having to bother Naruto for some Kurama chakra.
The stand-off where neither of the two of us said anything lasted for a few moments before another bald monk walked over hurriedly. It didn't take much to feel that this ninja-monk was different. His chakra was miles above the other guy's.
"Monk Chiriku," I greeted cheerfully.
Even his chakra bordering kage-level didn't bother me much. I could make this place a literal fire temple with a wave of my hand before any of these monks, Chiriku included, could react. His thirty million ryo bounty didn't interest me much either. I was worth over three times that on the black market because of Danzō. And the danger I represented was well above even that three times higher bounty. It was the whole reason why my bounty wasn't higher. At some point, it would just make me a living legend instead of a target.
"Lord Terumi," Chiriku greeted with a guarded expression. "To what do we owe the honor of this visit?"
"Sight-seeing," I once more lied with a helpless shrug. "We recently ended the tyrant kage of Kiri but actually fixing the village with my own hands felt like too much work - so I left for a vacation."
Word of Yagura's death had already spread to all villages. Only the natural defenses of an island nation surrounded on all sides by endless horizons and the almost non-existent or otherwise cleverly hidden natural resources of the Land of Water stopped the other major ninja villages from trying to stomp us out. Not that people like Danzō didn't use that opportunity to install a few spies and wreak a little havoc in Kiri to weaken us further.
"The Fire Temple has a long and prosperous history. It certainly is a worthy destination for any traveler," the monk diplomatically answered - though I could tell he wasn't convinced.
I sighed, pretended to be hurt and countered, "And yet it doesn't seem very inviting. No worries, I won't intrude where I am not welcome."
My reputation was terrible inside and outside of Kiri. It didn't surprise me much that I was seen as a major threat by those who recognized me.
But I already got what I was here for. My sensory chakra and the mind's eye already picked up faint traces of the nine-tails inside a young child lurking behind the tall gate of the temple to observe the commotion.
A child that wasn't Naruto.
Walking away under the intense glare of Chiriku and three other monks, I vanished from their senses in no time before finding a tree to rest in.
The temple was heavily fortified with seals beyond my current comprehension. Or rather, I couldn't break them stealthily and move into the temple without causing a ruckus... so I hoped that the small child with Kurama's chakra would come out sometime soon. Or I'd just annihilate the temple's defenses and get to the boy if my patience runs out.
"Furido-san, please go ahead without us from this point. The monks found us last time," a melodious voice suddenly said from below me.
I looked down to see a four-man team. Two men and two women. The man in the lead had greying hair and was rather tan. The other man looked to be a towering brute with spiky black hair and a mark on each of his cheeks.
Both women were gorgeous, one with a more refined look and long black hair - the other a more seductive young woman with maroon-coloured hair all the way down to her ass and sensual blue eyes with long eyelashes.
With a fed-up sigh, the leader called 'Furido-san' left behind the other three and made his way toward the temple stealthily.
While watching his steps and how he planned to get in without triggering the seals, I listened in on the four below me.
"Fuka, you refined another body? Can you let me take a look?"
"As if I would let you play around with one of my sealed bodies, pervert," the maroon-haired kunoichi spat as she gathered some wood to start a fire out of the line of sight of the temple.
"Don't be like that, Fuka-san," the other woman cooed mockingly. "I'm interested as well. Your secret technique is so peculiar."
"Shut it, Fuen. You just want to see if my new body is prettier than the other. Let me tell you, all of me will always be prettier than you," 'Fuka' angrily retorted to amused smiles of the other two. This seemed to be a reoccurring discussion.
As the leader jumped over the temple walls unhindered, I tried to feel what changes happened in the defensive seals as he passed but turned up empty. The man seemed intimately familiar with the temple seals or his chakra was registered and allowed through.
With a sigh, I jumped down from the tree and landed between the three ninjas.
"What the-!" Fuka shrieked with a hurried jump back that her other two companions copied, though they did it silently.
"I'm sorry you three, but I will have to take you hostage to learn how your leader entered the temple without alerting the monks inside," I said with a theatrical sigh.
The three silently looked at each other, Fuen nodding at Fuka covertly, not that I didn't see it anyway, and Fuka walked over to me with a seductive sway in her marvelous hips.
"You look handsome enough, big boy. How about we forget about this hostage business and the two of us get acquainted for the night?"
Her hand went up to my cheek as she gently turned my head her way and with softly pouting lips, Fuka leaned forward for a kiss as the other two watched.
The moment our lips touched, both Fuen and Fudo looked at me mockingly - even Fuka's vulnerable smile turned triumphant and gloating.
But that changed quickly.
Fuka's kiss was some kind of chakra-draining secret technique… but she tried to do that with the wrong guy. My chakra was in a league of its own. And in no time, her chakra coils were bursting at their seams with chakra that was still under my control.
Sensing something wrong since Fuka didn't step back despite the painful moans coming from her since I held her in place, Fudo stepped forward and wound up his massive fist to deliver a devastating punch at my head.
I stopped supplying chakra to the chakra-sucking vixen and turned around faster than Fudo could see. My hand straightened as fire chakra ignited at my hand's edge and with a swift but simple swipe up, I cut off the arm barreling toward me in one movement.
Before the bulky ninja could see or feel what happened, Fuen seemed to have finished a series of hand seals and tried to put me under genjutsu while Fuka at my back sank to the floor screaming in agony with my chakra still inside her.
Crushing both of Fudo's knees as his remaining hand shot to the stump where I just cut off his arm before he could even scream, I shot toward Fuen and held her up by her throat. Her genjutsu and chakra control level was so far below my own, her chakra never even got close to putting me under her genjutsu.
"Looks like the outcome was inevitable but you wanted to make the staged hostage situation more convincing," I mocked while gloating.
Bringing the choking young woman over to the still screaming chakra-sucker, I pressed my hand on Fuka's stomach to remove my chakra from her chakra pathways.
"The technique is pretty cool. Guess you found your one counter today, I suppose," I pointed out after standing up straight again.
Looking at Fuen, I noticed she wasn't getting much air since I put too much pressure on her throat. Slightly lightening my grip, I allowed the kunoichi to take some hectic, deep breaths.
"W-what are you?" The raven-haired ninja breathed out with a frightened scowl as her throat was still in my hand. Any wrong movement and I could crush her windpipe instantly. She knew, just as I knew.
"I'm a he, not an it. And who I am is of no concern to you three low-level hostages," I non-answered and forced the kunoichi on her knees before sitting down in front of her on a log.
"Ugh, someone knock him out before I end this endless yapping," I ordered in no time because Fudo still screamed in pain as he clutched his shoulder near his missing arm. Not even the one with the burned chakra pathways was still screaming.
I could perfectly reattach the arm with a pill and Saiken's chakra before the night was over, of course, but why would I?
Seeing Fuka move with difficulty and Fuen looking on as she bit her lips, I watched the maroon-haired woman plunge a kunai in Fudo's throat to silence him.
"Huh. Yeah, that's close to what I had in mind. Guess the team chemistry wasn't as good as I thought. Will the leader of you three, I mean two, do the same to you or are you actually valuable to him?"
Fuka didn't answer, she only glared at me while still lying on the floor in pain but Fuen seemed to be the smarter of the two anyway.
"Furido-san will not want to lose either of us," the kunoichi with the long black hair answered as her hand rested on her throat. She winced while speaking.
Rolling my eyes, I shot a standard-issue healing pill into her mouth and with a chakra string attached that forced it down her throat.
"Stop looking so pitiful. With that pill you won't even have a mark tomorrow despite my rough handling."
My statement stopped the woman's attempt of immediately puking out whatever I just put into her and her head snapped in my direction.
"You're from Kiri! A-are you that infamous, elusive pill grandmaster?"
I only shrugged in answer. Most people knew I was the source of the enhanced soldier and ration pills. All the other miraculous pills I allowed the elite of Kiri to know about were legends among other villages - by my own design. I purposefully exaggerated these rumors to make sure the world would never take it seriously.
Nobody knew if those pills were real to some degree or who made them. Even the term grandmaster was something I had given myself out of boredom more than actual knowledge about any ranks of a profession only I could truly practice on this planet. To some, I was even my own teacher thanks to a rumor I spread in the Land of Iron.
There was more misinformation about my pills out there than probably necessary. Some of those stories even I will only hear about for the first time while traveling.
"Please, take me as your disciple!" Fuen immediately pleaded while shoving her head down to the ground near my feet.
With a puzzled look, I turned to Fuka who had by now - with some difficulty - placed the kunai back in her pouch after cleaning it of Fudo's blood on the brute's clothes. She just glared at me.
"Why?"
"I've been taught the noble and treacherous art of poisoning since young and I-"
"No, I don't care why you want to know how to make pills. I want to know why I should care to even get you as my maid, less need to be said of my disciple. Should I even want one at my young age," I clarified with a raised eyebrow. They would leave with me or die, I didn't care to admit to there being a pill grandmaster to these two.
Snapping her head up to look me in the eyes, Fuen offered fervently, "As long as you allow me to kill a single person in the future, I will warm your bed whenever you want! I will be your lowest whore, your most eager and willing partner. I will do my utmost to never lose my beauty for as long as possible just to serve you."
I weighed my options as my eyes roamed her body. Fuen even cooperated and opened her clothes a little to give me a better look.
"I could be a demon in human skin taking pleasure in inflicting pain. I could even be a terrible, selfish lover. Worse yet, with your promise, I could offer your body to my men to be toyed with," I countered with amusement tinging my voice.
"You don't strike me as a terrible lover, milord," Fuen immediately flattered while ignoring all the other potential negatives.
She was pretty eager to get this deal sealed if her dignity was worth so little…
"Alright, that's enough to get consideration as a maid. Tell me a little about your merry group," I pondered out loud as I watched Fuka look at me hawkishly after she managed to sit up when she finished writhing on the ground in pain.
Fuen immediately spilled the beans, more than willing to please me.
Of how their leader Furido was actually the supposedly dead Kazuma - betrayer of the Twelve Guardian ninja who tried to stage a coup against the Fire daimyo. Of how Furido was here to see his son, at which point Fuka widened her eyes. It seemed even she didn't know and Fuen was more observant or had their leader's trust.
Fuen even knew about how Furido, or Kazuma, managed to seal some of the nine-tails chakra inside his son to make him a pseudo-jinchūriki.
So the rumors were true. I knew that the kid had some of the nine-tails chakra, but Fuen confirmed its source that was in line with the rumors that the monks of the Fire Temple suppressed and I paid for.
In any case, I didn't care much for how those four had grievances with Konoha and were slowly training to become strong enough to kill their way towards their targets of revenge.
The dead Fudo wanted revenge for his clan's end at the hand of Konoha ninja when the village formed and their clan head at the time refused to listen to the Uchiha and Kurama clan envoys. He was born and raised in hatred by those few shinobi that managed to escape back then.
Fuka had seen the little village where she grew up looted by ninja wearing Konoha headbands returning from the Second Ninja War - making her older than I had thought, though I didn't bother asking how old. At 'worst', she was barely 40.
Fuen herself wanted to kill one person she suspected to be part of the Konoha ANBU. She didn't have a name, only a plain description that could fit anyone. It wasn't someone with white hair like Kakashi or pink hair or whatever. Nobody that was easily distinguishable.
She merely said she would know the person if she was ever in front of them, that she would kill anyone in Konoha to make it happen if needed and left it at that.
"What about you, milord? How may I address you?" Fuen asked almost desperately when she saw I wasn't immediately on board with gaining a disciple that was pretty much a lowly servant in all but name.
"Terumi Yoshihiro. Six-tail jinchūriki of Kiri and the fiancé of the Fifth Mizukage," I answered and gained a satisfied smirk when I saw the awe and horror in the eyes of both women.
With a hoarse voice from all the screaming before and wide disbelieving eyes, Fuka whispered, "Red Demon."
"Damn right, that's me."