A good year later, I found myself casually lying on a couch in the Mizukage's office. I had been summoned.
"You will remain in the village to guard against external threats. It is paramount that I accompany our delegation to Iwagakure to attract paying customers. After the death of the daimyo family and the end of the bloody mist era, our finances look grim. Nobody wants our Kiri nin to do missions for them and relying on our hunter nin and bounties is no long-term solution," Mei sullenly ordered as she looked at me in exasperation. Ao behind her looked at me with a complicated frown. The daimyo family died a very sudden non-fiery death and they all wanted to pin it on me but they couldn't.
The Land of Water only had two noble families left and they didn't want to take over as daimyo. The leader of the daimyo's samurai was currently acting as the leader of the country but he was suspicious of us and scared. I had allowed them to live for the sole reason that they didn't exploit the common populace, but they didn't know that and didn't want to become the next target. The samurai prided themselves in being just as deadly as ninja, and there existed those that could fight S-rank shinobi, but there were probably less than five on this continent.
And they had a glaring weakness among all the obvious. They knew how to counter genjutsu, but they absolutely couldn't counter genjutsu. Not at my level. Those samurai guarding our daimyo never even noticed me coming or going. And that terrified the leader who incidentally stayed just outside the chamber of the daimyo's first wife that night.
That made Mei the leader of the country.
"Yeah, sure," I agreed with a shrug. "I can guard our borders while you're out. Have you decided what little troublemakers you will take with you for the chunin exams?"
"You're the academy's headmaster. You tell me," Mei pointed out with a small roll of her eyes.
Since hundreds of kids in many different ages hit the academy thanks to my hidden compound and the end of the bloody mist era, Mei and Ao had ordered me to overhaul the academy and make it something that the village could be proud of. I could only assume to keep me distracted and away 'from actual power', as if being able to shape the minds of our future ninja wasn't a tremendous soft power.
Mei and Ao were still young and inexperienced in politics, they would soon realize their folly.
Stomping a curriculum out of the ground had been too easy. Inventing the Will of Water was child's play. The only problem was the jōnin instructors for the freshly graduated genin.
Kiri simply didn't have enough jōnin to take on the ridiculous amount of genin that would have graduated this year since I wouldn't make them kill each other. And Kiri didn't have an institution called 'Genin Corps' like Konoha. We simply didn't have the population needed to fill it before - especially since less than ten out of a hundred academy students actually graduated under the previous two Mizukage.
Plus, the old jōnin would poison the minds of my cute little students with their bloody mist era style thinking.
As a result, most graduates still formed 3-man teams under my guidance to do odd jobs. They were usually accompanied by a fire clone of mine.
Our genin had never been stronger. Sure, they weren't bloodthirsty killing machines, but almost every graduate under my tutelage had the strength of a chunin right out of the gate. Those who grew up in my compound who were already in their young teenage years were even on the level of special jōnin or in very special cases elite jōnin.
Mei and Ao probably regretted their choice to make me lead the academy in no time despite the fact that the little genin could climb trees, walk water, and use elemental jutsu.
Did they assume I would slack off and do a terrible job?
Well, my fire clones created with the living flame kekkei tota acted very similar to shadow clones so I was rarely there in person. So to some degree I did slack off.
"Give me a piece of paper, I'll write down the name of the four best teams. You have someone choose from them or take them all. Those twelve are bordering on jōnin strength anyway," I answered with a lazy smile. "It'll be a wakeup call for those watching the exams. Just prepare for Onoki's inevitable retaliation if those brats show off too much."
—————
"The Mizukage even took Haku's team. Was that truly necessary? Haku isn't even seven and the other two aren't even ten," Kaede, Karin's mom, complained to me later that day.
"Haku was determined to show off. He'd pout for a whole year if I didn't suggest his name to Mei. I didn't want to see that," I countered with a small shrug. "If you're worried about him, there's no need. Haku alone could take out most of Kusagakure's shinobi on his own if he was smart about it and didn't fight them all at once. The little brat ate my pills like candy since he was still in diapers and his talent was already plenty high even before."
"Still, Yoshihiro-sama," Kaede lightly muttered in distress.
Haku and most of the other kids remained under my care in the now permanently unlocked compound where I had all the orphans stashed away. Which meant Kaede doted on most of them. And Karin took a special liking to Haku for his gentle side and good looks. Whenever Haku wasn't training or studying, he was playing with Karin and the other smaller children.
He became their rightful leader.
"You fear Karin will want to copy his achievement of becoming a chunin before turning seven?"
The Uzumaki mother nodded when she heard my question.
"Simple, Karin is very smart. Just manipulate her into thinking that her best bet at being outstanding is fūinjutsu. She has the talent for it, I'm sure, so make her join the sealing department. They rarely go out to kill. Alternatively, have her follow my sister after awakening a desire to learn medical ninjutsu in her. She can become a special jōnin without having killed a single person by the age of 10 if she puts her mind to medical ninjutsu."
Kaede's eyes started to shine. She knew strength was needed so that Karin and her future family would never have to live through what she lived through. But a mother also didn't want her only daughter to die as genin cannon fodder in some random mission just to become a chunin a little faster either.
"Those are good ideas, Yoshihiro-sama," the red-haired woman praised with a blinding smile as if she just regained a long-lost hope.
"I know you've been trying to pick up sealing so you could teach Karin the fundamentals yourself. If you need any help, just ask. But a small girl like Karin is better suited to learn calligraphy first anyway. It'll lay good foundations for her," I pondered out loud and saw the girl's mother enthusiastically nod in agreement.
"I'll send a clone over to my sister to warn her about Karin later, so she'll have no problem giving Karin pointers either. We should wait before she's four before she makes chakra for anything too advanced, though. Let her be a child for longer."
With another grateful look, Kaede excused herself to cook for me and the children and left me alone.
From my study, I saw Pakura and Ryuzetsu spar in one of the seal-reinforced training grounds of mine. It could withstand an average superkage-level fire release attack specifically for my own needs, so neither of the two could hope to destroy the training ground unless they found a weakness I missed.
In the year since I brought the younger Kusa kunoichi here, Pakura and Ryu bonded quite a bit. One had the scorch kekkei genkai, the other had a pretty unique arsenal of fire release jutsus that incorporated yin-elements without the need of a fire-yin bloodline ability. Both were quite the tragic figures.
Though, one was less tragic. Seeing potential in Ryuzetsu for her life-manipulation kekkei genkai that she revealed to me when I came back from my sealing lessons in the Land of Fire and suspecting her family to be a distant branch of the Uzumaki clan, I nurtured her despite my earlier reservations.
Two months ago I even went as far as stealing something called the Box of Ultimate Bliss from Hozuki Castle, an 'international' prison in Kusagakure. While drunk, Ryu had whined that the prison warden Mui had sacrificed his son Muku to the box and I seemed to remember some Naruto movie plot where such a box contained either an extra-terrestrial chakra entity, evil chakra from a distant past or something equally wondrous.
After refining my grasp over large scale sealing techniques with En No Gyoja, I dared to place this giant chakra metal box that I stole pretty easily in my plant dimension. Saiken had a vague memory of such a box with grotesque masks on the side being used during the time of her father, the Sage of the Six-Paths, so it was quite the old artifact.
Using some of my vast chakra to open the box, since large amounts of chakra was the key, I managed to free a dude in his late teens who turned out to be Ryuzetsu's childhood friend, a true prodigy of Kusagakure. I bought Ryu's unending loyalty by allowing Muku to go back to Kusa and become its next kage. Even malnourished and in despair, Muku had elite jōnin strength after what he went through inside that box. He would make a decent leader for the small country.
And, well, the Box of Ultimate Bliss did have a chakra entity inside. A 'puppet' called Satori. It was currently getting drained of all its worth to feed the chakra quality in my plant dimension. Once that was done, I'd try to melt down that giant box. It was almost pure chakra metal and as big as a hut fit to house a small family.
*Yo-san. The puppet has once more regained its chakra in full,* Saiken suddenly commented inside my mind.
'That box really wants to keep that headless, feathered beast alive,' I answered inwardly with a small frown. 'But if that is all it does, there is nothing to fear. Are the seals holding up?'
An avatar of Saiken in the form of a pink-haired Tsunade was checking the intricate seals I placed around the box for me. It was a really convenient arrangement and the six-tails was a truly agreeable companion.
*Just like before, the box tried to erode the seals in the direction of your special trees. But your decoy seals did their job. I can replace them for you,* Saiken eventually answered.
'Thank you, I'd appreciate it.'
Saiken loved tending to the 'garden' as she called it. Because unlike other tailed beasts sealed inside their vessels, the six-tails was able to roam around lush vegetation, play around in a pool, tend to my unending array of alchemy ingredients, and she could talk to me if she was ever bored. It was a life of bliss compared to the monotony of a sealed space.
And, as a chakra construct she didn't even slow down the time dilation like I did when I or my clones entered the plant dimension.
—————
Mei, Mangetsu, four genin teams, and a bunch of ANBU in disguise had left five days ago in the direction of the Land of Earth. Iwagakure was over a week away at minimum if you allowed the genin to set the pace, so they were probably still on their way.
But that didn't stop one of our neighbors from using the opportunity of two missing kage-level shinobi to get some benefits.
An ANBU that I knew from my time as Yagura's bodyguard had informed me that ten large boats had landed on one of our northern islands near something we called Mist Forest.
It took no time at all for me to reach there and observe.
Kumo had come with their A-B combo and several hundred battle ready ninja.
Giving a disguised Pakura, Ryu, Ao, and the ANBU who brought me here a signal to stay behind, I broke off a branch from a nearby tree and made my way toward the Kumo delegation openly on the beach.
Almost immediately, I was found out, but I wasn't trying to hide in the first place.
Leisurely pulling my arms out of my kimono but keeping it bound to my waist by the sash and allowing it to fall behind me as I walked toward them barechested, I addressed the enemies.
"Raikage, Killer B, I don't think it is appropriate to go sightseeing with that large army behind you coming along. Send them back and I'll make sure nobody dares to bully the two of you on our islands," I shouted with a provocative smirk.
"Yo, fool! There's no need for you to act all ~cool," fellow jinchūriki Killer B postured while 'rapping' his rebuttal. "We're here for more than just to see. We're here to get something for ~free!"
Narrowing my eyes as I continued walking toward them, the branch in my hand suddenly caught fire and perfectly burned off the leaves and little offshoots leaving behind only a completely straight branch that I held like a katana. The fringes of my clothes started to catch embers without the clothes ever truly catching fire.
———
[POV change to 3rd person with the Kumo army]
The air behind the Red Demon started to distort. The fog surrounding the beach began to dissipate quickly. Even the ocean to the left and the forest to the right lost a lot of the mist hugging the surroundings in an ever-present, eery blanket. The air around them began to heat up.
Most Kumo nin immediately identified the Red Demon as the source before they even heard his mocking answer to Killer B's rap.
"The only things you will find for free in Mizu no Kuni are death and everlasting panic at the sight of fire."
The Raikage began to step forward, casually stretching his arms in preparation for the confrontation between two kage-level shinobi and that started to reassure the present Kumo ninja.
"Call your other vermin or I'm afraid there will only be a bloody pulp left that I can't use to negotiate for a decent ransom with that little kage lass once she is back," Raikage A ordered with a mocking drawl and had most of the Kumo nin jeer taunts toward the few ninja still in hiding at the Red Demon's back.
The temperature noticeably rose when the six-tails jinchūriki gently waved the branch in his hand as if he was wielding a sword.
"You know, ever since I reached this level of power, I always wanted to say the following. So thank you for giving me the opportunity," Terumi Yoshihiro quipped with a good-natured smile.
It started to… snow despite the heat. But Killer B and the several other Kumo nin caught some 'snowflakes' and noticed that what they caught was ash.
*I have a terrible feeling about this,* Gyuki, the eight-tails sealed inside Killer B, suddenly commented inside his jinchūriki's mind.
Just then, the temperature rose even further and Gyuki immediately warned in a shout, *B! Warn your brother! Get as many as you can and get out of there! That Red Demon has more chakra than even me! I don't even feel the rokubi in his chakra!*
'What what what? How is that possible?' B argued back inwardly as the eight-tails activated the chakra beast cloak on its own to save his jinchūriki.
*He drowned the entire surroundings in his chakra! He's gearing up for a massive attack that will take out all of your forces!*
"An entire army looks intimidating. But they are human. And humans need to breathe air. I wonder how many you can save, A, B," the Red Demon drawled with a disdainful sneer and held the branch in front of him parallel to the ground.
*B! RUN!*
The distorted surroundings that were clearly just superheated air behind Terumi Yoshihiro turned into towering, scorching hot orange flames.
"Reduce All Creation to Ash, Ryujin Jakka."
The inferno arrived instantly, the very chakra in the air turned into fire so all-encompassing, the Kiri nin that the Mizukage's fiancé had brought didn't even hear the screams of the Kumo nin who died instantly as their lungs and skin turned to charcoal.
The massive form of the eight-tails broke through the flames moments later as the branch in Yoshihiro's hand was reduced to microscopic ash. While the Kumo jinchūriki and his beast tried to shield as many ninja as they could, the Raikage chose offense to stop the attack.
A lightning-clad boulder shot at Yoshihiro in the literal blink of an eye, but the strongest offense among the kage was still in the realm of kage.
"Liger Bomb!"
Two giant fists bathed in blue chakra barrelled at Yoshihiro's face, who in return… ducked down.
With no further technique, the red demon punched the Raikage's kidney. The muscled mountain of a man dodged to the side and frowned as he looked at his stomach.
"That hurt. You're stronger than you look, monster," A commented grimly.
A mocking sneer answered him.
"Shouldn't you be more concerned with your men? Your brother? The fact that I could dodge such a point blank attack at your highest speed?"
Looking back to see the scorched flesh of Gyuki shielding a part of the army he brought, the Raikage quickly said, "Release your technique and fight me squarely. There's no need to involve those lesser ninja."
"Already negotiating? Fine, fine," the Red Demon jokingly retorted with a friendly smile.
That massive inferno didn't even make him get out of breath, most people present thought in shock. "My fiancée will surely scold me when she comes back for not trying diplomacy first. You choose to offer your life so that I will allow those few still breathing back there to return? Or is there something else you wish to bargain with?"
Before the Raikage could retort, Yoshihiro suddenly shouted, "Hey B, Gyuki! Leave behind the scorched flesh! You'll feel much better with it cut off anyway!"
*He knows my name. So this isn't even his full strength. The six-tails will have allowed him to enter the perfect tailed beast chakra mode,* Gyuki sullenly stated inside the young Killer B's mind. *Bear with me, B. I fear that wasn't a suggestion and it will hurt. Your brother is no match for him.*
With gritted teeth, the eight-tails chakra mode form of the jinchūriki shed a large part of its burnt skin and it vanished after getting touched by a chakra thread sent out by the Red Demon. Not that anybody would know, but Saiken, the six-tailed beast inside Yoshihiro, was already forming a chakra seed of the eight-tailed beast inside the plant dimension with it now that she had some practice.
"Are you so sure that you can take my life?" The Raikage suddenly asked with a deep scowl on his face.
"Please. You might soon be one of the strongest kage alive but you're nothing in front of the likes of Hashirama and Madara. The you in ten-fifteen years might be able to flee in front of me, but the you now is a slightly more durable jōnin in my eyes."
Feeling humiliated, the Fourth Raikage was about to fight again when Killer B, worse for wear and without Gyuki's form shielding him, urgently ran over and stopped him.
"Brother, the hachibi tells me he has more chakra than even the kyūbi and he didn't even use the rokubi for that massive attack!"
Killer B's shouted 'whisper' stopped the Raikage cold. B didn't even rap, that added to the gravity of the situation.
The Red Demon hadn't even used any hand seals. He just held a random branch in front of him and muttered some nonsense! How did he do any of that? Is he truly in a league of his own? The same league as Hashirama and Madara once were?
"So? What will it be?"
The Raikage was brought out of his worried musings and regarded the six-tails jinchūriki. In his wish to quickly gather merits and solidify his foundation as the new Fourth Raikage after his father died at the end of the last war… A had truly miscalculated.
Kiri seemed like an easy target after a lost war, a decade of civil war, the death of a tyrant kage and the long journey to the Land of Earth of the new kage. There wasn't even anything they could get outside of a generous ransom in the island country. Getting humiliated here was the least of his worries once Kumo learned the full truth of his hasty invasion.
"What can I offer you that isn't my life?" The Raikage eventually asked.
"Hmm," Yoshihiro hummed as he pretended to mull it over. "You won't offer your brother and asking for that cute little two-tails jinchūriki will also not go over well with the other villages. Can't disrupt the balance Hashirama fought so… leisurely for."
Killer B wiped some sweat from his brows when he heard that and looked horrified behind his glasses.
"The Mizukage and I aren't married either, so with no daimyo to sign off any deals for Mizu no Kuni, I can't negotiate for territory. That's a good thing, I'd have probably asked for your half of the Summoning Island and your little Turtle Island in return. The rest of the world would have thought I was greedy then…"
Several people thought they heard wrong, but most wished they hadn't when the Red Demon continued.
"So I can't ask for land, I can't ask for a tailed beast… Mei will probably hate me for this, but did you bring those two girls Samui and Mabui? Did they survive my attack?"