Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Shinden Saga – Arc 1: Kimera

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Chapter 117 – Emergency in Kumo

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Two days later in the morning, at the gates of Kumogakure. Takeshi spent the whole trip painfully going at Naomi's pace, simply because he refuses to carry her on the way. Rather than running across the sea, they took a boat like regular people would, knowing that the Chimera doesn't have a faster travel method either.

After a day and night worth of nothing, they catch sight of the entrance of the not so hidden village hidden in clouds, elevated in a mountain chain that reaches up to the sky and beyond the clouds. As they near their objective, Tentoki warns Takeshi about a few technical aspects.

"Don't forget that standing in Kotobuki's way isn't enough." he says. "We obviously need their agreement to enter the Lightning Daimyo's territory first, but we should also seek allowance to stay there and intercept who's on the way."

"Yeah. Sure." Takeshi boringly replies. "Honestly, it would be easier to just wait at the sea border and run around until I see him coming. I sure would be simpler than getting this village involved. This is just gonna make stuff complicated."

Tentoki doesn't reply and agrees, but stays vigilant. Sasuke's statement may have made Takeshi a bit overconfident. Yet, he doesn't know about how powerful his host really is now that he partially has the Daitengu's abilities.

Naomi runs forward, made impatient by the sight of the gate. The ninja in black sees her pass by his side, shrugs, and decides to mess with her pointlessly. When the former huntress reaches the entrance she sees Takeshi already chatting with the 3 ninjas who were leaving at the same time. She sighs, annoyed, and gets closer.

At the gate, together with Takeshi, are Tarui and Toroi, two of Minaa Nii's students. The 3rd ninja is Narui, the clone expert, student of Atsui. It's her who replies to the kiri-nin after hearing why he's come.

"You certainly won't get what you want." she says.

"Really?" Takeshi asks. "Why's that? I'm pretty sure the Raikage is a chill guy."

"First of all, yes he is." Tarui, the youngest but tallest of the group, answers. "Second, he won't be chill with a show-off stranger like you. Third, we're not gonna tell you why. We have no reason to let you know."

Takeshi just gently nods, accepting this answer, used to people being oddly rude with him for no reason. Toroi tries to play it cool and let them go on their way.

"You can still go and ask by yourself, sir." he says before turning around and pointing at the highest tower. "It's up there you should go."

When he turns around again, he sees the ninja he's talking to playing with a giant shuriken that looks just like the one he carries on his back. To be sure, he frantically checks with both hands if his own is still there. When he reaches out for it, he catches his weapon as expected, but doesn't see it in Takeshi's hands anymore. The Minamoto is just messing with him as a response to his colleague's unfriendly behavior, to make clear that him being nicer doesn't make up for them.

"Okay then. Thanks anyway." the Minamoto muffles before vanishing in a white flash.

The three kumo-nin look at each other confusingly, and then at the retired mercenary who still stands there. Naomi makes a slack face and tiredly goes down the road to join the Raikage's mansion by foot.

"I swear he's been sent to me by fate as a punishment for sparing his father's life…" she complains aloud.

Tarui leans her head forward, amused by this remark and stands there boringly. The trio is pushed forward by Narui who insists on quickly getting to their destination.

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In the halls of the highest tower, Takeshi is blitz walking his way to the top when he abruptly stops in front of a familiar face. There, he notices Aoki, the Raikage's daughter, side by side with Yukai and… Narui, the girl he just saw at the entrance.

"Weren't you just down there?" he asks to the last one.

She shakes both eyebrows up and down to tease him, keeping up the suspense about her cloning jutsu. Aoki, leading this trio, steps forward and prepares to question the foreign ninja about his presence, but she's cut before she can even start by Yukai who exclaims way too late in reaction to the stranger.

"Hey! You're from Kakumei!" he yells.

Annoyed and startled by this nonsense shout, Aoki knocks him on top of his head to shut him up.

"What the hell are you screaming for?" she yells back. "He's not even from Kakumei. What gave you that idea!"

"Ay! Ouch! Sorry sis!" Yukai replies, rubbing his head in pain. "It's just that I last saw him on that mission where we fought Kakumei so it's just everything mixing up in my brain."

"Why'd you have to hit him that hard?" Takeshi complains to Aoki. "No wonder his thoughts are getting all mixed up."

"You don't get to ask questions, Minamoto Takeshi!" she exclaims. "I still hold a grudge against you for making us fail our first Chunin exam! What are you doing here?"

"I gotta see your dad real quick so I can get to your Daimyo." he says. "Where are y'all going? And you girl…" he adds, looking at Narui. "You being at two places isn't surprising. What's odd is that you actually remember me."

"It's because of her clones' hivemind thing." Yukai speaks it out to Takeshi before being sent to flutter through the hallway by another of Aoki's punches.

"Don't give out technical intel so easily!" she shouts. "No way you'll ever be Raikage with that slow brain!"

Yukai, who was just accepting his treatment, instantly stands up after this provocative statement and goes to confront his rival.

"Hell yeah I'm gonna be Raikage!" he says. "And I'll make you a genin again while every important position will be taken by Narui and her clones."

"I'll be Raikage!" Aoki replies. "If not, you wouldn't be the one being punched out of us two."

"I'd beat you up anytime!" he yells back. "I just didn't see it coming."

"You never see anything coming, idiot!"

Takeshi awkwardly looks away, cringed by this scene. Knowing that Aoki is the same age as him while Yukai is two years younger makes it even weirder. To escape this situation he stares at Narui who answers his previous statement.

"To the Daimyo is where we're going." she says. "It's impossible for you to get there for now."

"… Why's that?" he asks.

"Because the capital is in quarantine." someone behind them joins in the discussion before grabbing Aoki and Yukai by the arms to separate them.

It is Y, the Raikage's advisor, who comes to illuminate the visitor and clue him in about the situation.

"A bounty was set on the Daimyo's head, and bounty hunters are on the way for him." the woman explains. "The bounty is high enough to get S-rank hunters' attention. Kumo's forces have been sent there to ensure safety."

"I see… Am I allowed to participate?" he asks the assistant.

"Certainly not." she frankly says.

"Hm! Lord Raikage would say something like…" Yukai says before mimicking his sensei by hiding his left eye with his hair and holding another strand as a mustache under his nose. "I'm sorry, but Kumo needs no help from a Kiri-nin to defend its interests. That's dull."

"Oh Dang! That was perfect! Haha!" Aoki bursts out laughing at this imitation.

Takeshi, Y and Narui look at these two casually having their fun seconds after beating each other, like real siblings. Focusing again, the Minamoto recalls Y's words and, expecting an analysis, stares at Tentoki, who understands his task and delivers.

"Let's see… This bounty must come from one of Kotobuki's rivals that Naomi mentioned." he suggests. "This person certainly knows about Hideo's plan and wants to stop him from getting control over the lands of Heart. In case you're wondering how Kumo found out about the bounty, they surely have a mole, someone infiltrated in the mercenary network and gathering intel."

"I get it… They won't let us go with them. So we can't get to the Daimyo." Takeshi complains. "What should we do?"

"I think we can trust Kumo on this one." the white tengu advises. "No matter who they'll have to face, if Yukai is there, they'll handle it. Remember this guy held his ground against Izuna's brother. Even if he was eye-blinded at the time, Oshio was still a Rinnegan user. Anyone who can fight someone with this eye will hardly find anything else challenging."

Takeshi simply nods and turns around. To him, the strongest mercenary was Crow. Without him, no one else could be a threat to Kumo. Just as Tentoki said, Yukai may seem foolish or idiotic based on what childish conflict he just saw him take part in, but he's undeniably gifted and a natural Koton user, and therefore cannot be underestimated.

Without telling anything more about his own mission, Takeshi waves goodbye to these people and leaves the capital to them. He goes back down into the village to find Naomi. While running toward the exit, he finds her slowly walking to him and stops straight in front of her.

"There you are." she quietly says. "So? Are we allowed to get to the old lord?"

"Turns out we can't." he replies. "Someone put a bounty up on his head so Kumo's closing the perimeter."

In reaction to this information, she checks the device attached to her belt and consults the latest open contracts. She indeed finds an offer, but oddly low compared to what one would expect. It's still high enough to justify Kumo's reaction, but she personally wouldn't risk it for this price. It's only then that she notices the secret signature on the contract.

"I see." she comments. "It must be Killin' Kiss. She can get people to work for her for other things than money… We have to be careful. This girl certainly knows what she's doing. What do you recommend we do about this?"

"I trust Kumo's ninjas." Takeshi repeats Tentoki's advice. "They'll protect their Daimyo, and we'll take care of ours."

"Agreed." Naomi replies with a confident and serious smile. "Our priority is still the Chimera. I have a hideout on the south border. We don't know where he currently is, but we at least know he'll be crossing this frontier soon. We'll try to locate him once we're cozy. Also, I really need a break from running behind you."

"Well you're gonna have to bear this one more time at least." Takeshi mocks.

"Certainly not. It's my hideout we're heading to. You have no idea where it is." she happily replies. "If you wanna get running, you'll have to carry me around!"

Takeshi tilts his head forward, clearly expressing his disagreement, but still complies. An instant was enough for him to compare what's worse between having another slow paced travel or carrying that old woman for just a few seconds. He embarrassingly invites her to get on his back.

"Well…" she sings, before jumping on and getting comfortable. "You're just as damn tall as your old man aren't you, kiddo?"

"Not that much. I'm barely 1.90. My dad's over 2 meters tall." he answers.

"You may not be as tall as him, but you're still growing." she jokes.

"Anyway! Where to?" he asks as he pulls his mask up on his face.

"I'll tell you on the way." she replies. "What's the mask for again?"

"… It's to avoid the bugs and dust getting in my mouth." he promptly replies.

"Avoid wha-" she exclaimed before he suddenly gets on the way and interrupts her.

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Half an hour later, in a little but well equipped cottage on the south shore of the land of Lightning, Takeshi is lying down on a couch and thinking. While he's been brought to work with Naomi Yuki, Sakitsuki is alone somewhere in this same part of the continent, taking care of business of her own.

Will she really bother to come back to him, or was she just saying this to make him work along with her needs? As some kind of superior being who doubtlessly outclasses humanity, and as a nearly omniscient spirit, why would she give any consideration to him?

He doesn't know what triggered his thoughts, but he knows that she's obviously seeing him right now. To know about her power makes him constantly feel watched, but not even in a bad way. He somehow enjoys this potential attention, while still worried that it's just in his head.

In the bathroom of this little hideout, Naomi is making gross noises that reach Tentoki's ears, while she forces herself to puke all the things she may have accidentally swallowed on the way to this place. Thinking about her new playful and calm personality, the white tengu remembers what he was told about her by Tsubai.

"She surely changed a lot." he comments, to his inattentive yamabushi.

"What do you mean?" Takeshi asks, thinking he's talking about who's on his mind.

"I mean Naomi." the tengu replies. "She used to be so cold-blooded and distant."

"Ah… Her." he answers, kind of disappointed. "If you say so. Why do you think made her change?"

"I don't know." Tentoki thinks. "For her to turn against her former employer must have taken a serious thought process. But I don't feel like it's her time in Karasu that did this to her."

"Karasu?" Takeshi asks, reminded of his late hunter friend.

"It's true that I never raised the quiproquo until now." the celestial light notices. "Karasu means Crow. It was the name that Sasuke gave to the team he built to take down the Daitengu, back when your parents first met."

"Oh really?" Takeshi says quietly. "What a funny coincidence." he adds, thinking of his intentions and Kotobuki's betrayal again. He remembers Sasuke's trustful words and,… Before he can jump on another train of thought, he's interrupted by Naomi who leaves the bathroom. She lies her stuff aside.

"That run really made me feel dirty." she comments, getting ready for a shower.

"Why'd you have to make yourself vomit?" Takeshi asks.

"Isn't it obvious?" she answers. "I didn't want any of the gross things that fell in my mouth to stay down there."

"I get it… But still. Forcing yourself to puke? It… kinda hurts." he argues.

"Not really. It only hurts your pride." she replies. "That's something you ninjas have too much."

Takeshi sits up and rubs his chin, making him notice that he's still wearing his mask. After putting it down, he thinks of Naomi's words, and of how she sees herself if not as a ninja. His mind comes across the same interrogation as Tentoki, and he decides to speak it out.

"I was told you used to be colder." he says. "Why did you betray Kotobuki? I mean, why so late? You're well aware of how bad he is now. Why didn't it occur to you sooner? Like, before you met Sasuke."

"I understand your question." she answers, stopping what she's doing to think it through. "To make it clear, it honestly has nothing to do with Sasuke, Daisuke or anyone else of this little group. Actually, Sasuke never tried to affect my path or to question it. Truth is… My change of heart is solely because of Shimo."

"Shimo? The little girl you spoke about?" Takeshi remembers. "Why? You still delivered other kids to Kotobuki before her."

"I did. But she was different I guess." Naomi explains. "I had searched for other members of my clan. Even my existence was unknown by this land, so I strongly believed another one like me existed. But I couldn't find anyone… until I met her."

Takeshi doesn't interrupt. He stays quiet to give her the time she needs to confess. Naomi goes on.

"When I was tasked with delivering her to the Chimera, I really intended to do my job as always." she tells. "But when I first saw her, asleep, lying on the shore, I… she immediately felt like a little sister to me. I couldn't explain it. Maybe it's the fact that the delivery didn't go as planned. Or maybe it's because I found her so weak and in need of care. That decision was much more spontaneous that you'd think. It really… just happened."

"So where did she go now?" he asks about Shimo.

"… Well…" Naomi breathes in, remorsefully. "I gave her up. Or was it the opposite? Possibly both… After I found her, Sasuke sent us to hide in Otogakure. We spent 6 years there until we were forced to move away when the Chimera found out about our location. Not long after that, we had an argument that didn't end well. She was angry about having to feel hunted, but I could only do my best to protect her. To be treated like a child, I guess, wasn't making her feel better either. She ran away, and I let her go. It's possible that she embraced independently the path that I was trying to save her from, but it's too late to change it now."

"How old is she?" Takeshi asks, trying to estimate how worrying it should be for this girl to roam alone.

"She must be 17 now."

"Classic teenager period then." Tentoki comments in Takeshi's mind. "What about her Kekkei Genkai? Isn't she in danger?"

"Aren't you worried that Kotobuki might be looking for her, since he intended to absorb her originally?" Takeshi reformulates his tengu's question to ask Naomi.

"Frankly, no." she replies. "Shimo is still young, but she's stronger than me. And she'll only get better with age. If the Chimera wants Hyoton, he'd probably come after me instead. I'm getting old and useless. My genes are all that's good left of me to his eyes I think."

Takeshi doesn't reply once again. He stays quiet and thinks of the place Shimo came from. An orphanage that was secretly a mercenary formation camp, and that Kotobuki was using as a gene farm. All the kids with Kekkei Genkai powers from there could have been consumed by him.

Takeshi is brought to think of his own Kekkei Genkai, and of the only other human able to use it. To think that, without Momoshiki, Kotobuki could have taken Yukai's heart too and gotten Koton is deranging. He's glad that Kumo found him first.

Yet, this fact still bugs his mind. If Yukai comes from this orphanage, why didn't he tell Kumo about the place and the people he knew from there. Does he even remember his past?

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Just as the Minamoto thinks about him, Yukai arrives at the capital of the land of Lightning with Aoki and one of Narui. They join other ninjas of Kumo, including W, the man with the red sword, the trio of Yurui, Tarui and Toroi, others Narui's, and Kaminari the second teammate of Narui.

From Narui and Kaminari's squad, Maroi is staying at Kumo's hospital where she works part-time and Atsui is on duty in Kumo instead. From Aoki and Yukai's team, Omoi and Ru are on the way and will be joining them later.

Now that they've reached their destination, Narui keeps up the conversation she was having with Yukai. Simply out of interest for him, she started a flirty conversation about anything that keeps him talking.

For his village, Yukai is the same kind of young hero as Takeshi. But unlike his Kiri-counterpart, his obvious and assumed imperfections make him more beloved than jealoused. The fact that he isn't as unmatched as Takeshi likely also contributes to his image. Indeed, Aoki is on par with him in terms of both popularity and power, so he doesn't seem like a big fish in a small pond.

"I thought you'd be the kind of guy to have a dog…" Narui says to Yukai, making conversation.

"I don't think I ever had a pet." Yukai answers.

"But what if you had one? What would it be?" she asks, seeking common interests.

"I dunno… A dragon, maybe?" he naively suggests to himself.

"Dragons aren't real, dumbass!" Aoki promptly gets in the conversation to bother her bro.

"Oh really… I thought they were… Then maybe a monkey?" Yukai says instead before going on a rant to justify his second choice, as Narui confusingly listens.

Close by, Yurui stands aside from his teammates, next to W. The two swordsmen look around to see the gathered ninjas and initiate a discussion about another ninja who they often have training sessions with.

"So I heard Ru is on the way." Yurui says, making a short pause to blow out a bubble gum. "Won't it be his first mission since his rehabilitation?"

"It will." W answers. "Honestly, I only got to know him after his attempted betrayal 2 years ago. At first I misjudged him based on that, but it's clearly visible how this was just an unfortunate manipulation he's been victim of. He never had anything against this village."

"It's odd to hear you say it." Yurui comments. "You're usually so full of Kumo pride and disregard for criminals. If you say this about Ru, then it has to be true."

"Well, the truth is… I'd probably feel the same if I was clustered in a team with Aoki and Yukai." W explains.

"I get it. It's also thanks to these two that Ru gets a second chance." the blonde Kumo-nin says before looking at Aoki and Yukai that he just mentioned.

Yukai, still ranting about monkey pets, lost Narui's attention. The girl is having a close look at his chin rather than listening. Yukai stops speaking when he notices her getting suspiciously close to his face.

"I never noticed before, but it looks like you have facial hair growing." she comments about a bunch of blonde hair on the ninja's chin.

Uncomfortable, Yukai steps away and blushes. Narui lightly smiles, amused by his reaction, and adds a bit more to this.

"You should let it grow. I'm sure it would suit you." she says.

"He already has more than enough hair on his head." Aoki barges in with a comment about Yukai's long hair. "And, Narui, don't bother flirting with him. He's too dumb for a relationship."

"You think so?" Narui asks Aoki. "I don't think he's dumb. He's just unconsciously picky."

"Maybe he is." Aoki discusses. "He won't be satisfied unless he finds a literal princess. Yet, even if he does so, he wouldn't make the first move. He's too naive for that."

"Yeah right!" Yukai says, pretending to agree with Aoki, whom he didn't listen to at all.

Aside, Kaminari stands with Tarui and Toroi. These 3 aren't talking and instead quietly inspect the surroundings. Hearing his teammate's chatting, Kaminari interrupts them to focus on the task.

"We should stay aware." he says. "I feel like an attack could arrive soon."

"Do you really think something could happen?" Yurui asks Kaminari.

"It's not like any bounty hunter is foolish enough to dare trying something while Aoki and Yukai are present." W praises the young heroes.

Embarrassed by the compliment, Yukai rubs his nose and walks a bit away from the gathering. Trying to hide his appreciation, he looks around and tries to think of anything.

Suddenly, something passes by in the Kumo-nin field of view that he notices for just a fragment of a second. That thing moved so fast that no one other than him could see it. Even so, his lack of attention prevented him from actually noticing it. It is only 3 seconds late that he looks to where this moving thing may have gone. Seeing that no one else reacts, he assumes it was nothing and forgets it.

Closer to the castle, Minaa Nii, captain of Yurui, Tarui and Toroi's team, has senses as sharp as Yukai's but is more receptive. When this flash obstructs her sight, she immediately notices it. Based on its direction, she actually gets worried about the mission. As she runs toward the Daimyo's temple and balcony, she thinks of what set her on the move.

Such a flashing object couldn't just be a projectile. But it couldn't have been a person either, because no human should be able to move this fast and silently at the same time. Yet, she can't stop herself from portraying an attack scenario. Using Kumo's communication apparatus, she calls two of her students.

"Toroi, Tarui." she says. "Come to the temple. There might actually be something."

After this call, she rushes to the Daimyo's location, hoping to find nothing, or intercepting a threat on the way. Normally, the VIP isn't at risk since a dense guarding army is arranged all around the perimeter. On her way, all the other ninjas were acting normal, unalerted. Despite her speed, the corps of army still gets on the move in time to react to her on false alert. They seem overly efficient. It seems like she overthought something.

However, when she gets all the way to the balcony of the Daimyo's chamber, she finds exactly what she was expecting not to see. The feudal lord and the guards in the room have all been beheaded, without any of the present ninjas having noticed anything.

Utterly shocked by the indifference of everyone, she trembles and analyzes the scene, trying to understand who could have done this. The positions of the bodies and heads indicate that they fell down after being separated. Yet no one heard a noise. There is no sign of battle. Just beheaded corpses and blood painting the walls and ground.

It is after a few seconds of anxious but calm analysis that Minaa notices a presence in the room. On her right, someone is standing. Someone who didn't make a single move and seemingly isn't paying attention to her. Someone who looks distracted, thinking about something.

After a few seconds, this figure slowly looks aside to see her. It is a bounty hunter. He's wearing a dark brown ninja uniform that covers the entirety of his body. His head is hidden under a hood attached to the outfit. In his back, he carries a sword in its scabbard. On his face, a white mask with black marking.

A red chakra emission shines through the mouth and eyes of his mask, making his face invisible. This mask represents a white tiger face with its 2 ears, including one that points out of the hood. This bounty hunter, Minaa knows him very well by name, just like every ninja in this land and continent. But she's unable to identify him, for it is the first time he ever lets an agent of the Union catch a glimpse of him.

This bounty hunter, recently listed as an S-rank criminal despite the little information known about him, has built its reputation by taking down many other high class criminals, such as Guroi, the Ripper, 3 years ago. It is White Claw, the most mysterious and brutally powerful bounty hunter the world has ever seen.

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End of Chapter 117 – Next Chapter: Enter White Claw