Chương 49: Naruto: Sacrifices Absent Of Consequences? Part 1.
Purelands - Abeyance.
|Medelyne, staying here longer will affect the passage of time. Are you okay with that?|
'You mean like the longer we stay here, the wider the time gap between our reincarnations?'
|Yes. Reforming and changing the laws of your dimension will take me a few years, so when we reincarnate, several years may have passed.|
'Mmm, that's alright. I'd rather fix up my dimension in one go instead of tweaking it every time I die.'
With Medelyne's approval, Lucian began working on reforming and hybridizing the dimension.
He needed to configure the dimension to replicate the soul-friendly environment of the Pure Lands.
The Pure Lands had several characteristics that Medelyne wanted to replicate, and some she didn't.
For example, the exclusivity of the Pure Lands to souls. Medelyne wanted access to it even while alive, not just in her soul state. However, she did want to retain its healing effect on souls and the stabilization that allowed them to move on to the next step in their journey.
The healing effect was self-explanatory; it was the same resource Medelyne was harvesting for Lucian.
Soul stabilization was a process needed to ensure that souls could transition to their next station—Hell, Heaven, or Reincarnation. Without stabilization, a soul might fall apart before reaching its destination.
|We're basically creating Hueco Mundo, but like a Limbo.|
'Hueco Mundo? I don't recognize that name.'
|I'm not sure where I heard it, but it's like a desert where hungry souls fight each other in an eternal battle royale.|
'But souls don't get hungry. How would that work?'
|They don't get hungry in this multiverse.|
'Ah! Right, I forgot. I've lived much longer here than in my multiverse.'
|Limbo is an abode where souls await, like what we're making.|
'I guess this Hueco Mundo is sandy, right?'
|Yes, it's supposed to be a world of a starless perpetual night and alabaster sands, with tree-like quartz growths. There's a moon, but it follows the opposite lunar phases of Earth. That's pretty much what I remember. Oh! The god of that dimension is named Sōsuke Aizen.|
'Huh, this Sōsuke Aizen seems to have good taste! Let's try to base it on Hueco Mundo, but I like stars. So, let's create a grand tapestry of stars with a greenish light, like the original star of my dimension. Add a few shallow bodies of water like that place in Brazil the hooker lady once showed me pictures of.'
|Lençóis Maranhenses National Park?|
'Yes, that one!'
|That doesn't sound like something the hooker lady would do.|
'Oh, she was bragging to me about a few of the places she'd 'marked' that I would never get to see... and outdoor sex.'
|That sounds more in character for her.|
'Yeah, she was a bitch slut through and through, not a nice slut.'
It took Lucian a decade to hybridize the dimension just as Medelyne wanted. During that decade, two unexpected developments occurred.
First, there was a huge increase in the influx of souls.
Second, Medelyne developed a semblance of soul manipulation.
'Hey, Luci, do you think the increase is because the war with jinchūrikis exploded?'
|Yes, more than likely the Senju idiot died.|
'I know I estimated less than two decades but isn't one decade too soon?'
|Time here doesn't necessarily match time outside, also it was a ballpark estimate; he could have died sooner, or later.|
'I guess… I was expecting him to hold on longer, you know? That way, the start of the war would be delayed.'
|There's nothing you can do now, is there? It's more productive to focus on your soul manipulation. Keep trying to manipulate this wisp of my soul. If you can scratch my soul, you can consider yourself the goddess of souls to mortals.|
Lucian insisted on Medelyne developing this nascent power; something told him it was important for both of them.
'I know, I know! I'll focus! It's just… frustrating! That's what it is—frustrating! Look, this is worse than we've ever seen before.'- In the distance, droves of ailing souls arrived at the Pure Lands, bathed in its soul-healing resources.
'Shukaku was right. Hashirama introduced the next level of warfare.'- Medelyne muttered as she returned to trying to mold the wisp of Lucian's soul.
Lucian ignored the ailing souls since it wasn't his problem and went back to work on the final touches of the dimension.
Years passed, the influx of souls did not diminish, and finally, the dimension was ready.
|What will you name it?|
'Abeyance.'
|A contextual synonym of 'Limbo'?|
'Yep! I love it!'
The final result was just as she had pictured: alabaster sands, tranquil shallow bodies of water, stars with green light, and several sandy planetoids orbiting the green sun. On the surface, vegetation was sparse, but underground—just like in Sunagakure—there was abundant life.
On Kaguya's end, the closest interaction she'd had with life creation was her manifested will—which wasn't exactly alive. However, Hagoromo did give life to the chakra beasts, and according to Shukaku, he had done so using a skill he called Creation of All Things, the same skill he had used repeatedly while fighting Kaguya.
Kaguya had shared her memories of her fight with them, so Lucian simply extrapolated and tried different permutations until he found the correct one to use Creation of All Things.
With Lucian's unparalleled knowledge of energy and life, it wasn't difficult to use the rules of existence and copy the way Hagoromo bent these rules to bring life into being.
By manipulating matter into organic components to create bodies—whether plant bodies, animal bodies, or any other form of life—and using the world's rules to breathe in life, multiple forms of vegetation and fauna were created underground.
He also created all the necessary life forms needed at every level of an ecosystem to facilitate life. Medelyne took this opportunity to design her own brand of life and have Lucian integrate it into the environment of Abeyance.
They enjoyed the endeavor so much that by the end, they had spent close to two decades between the Pure Lands and Abeyance.
|The time has come, Medelyne.|
With Lucian's forewarning, they moved on to their next life.
_________________________
9th Life.
Land of Fire
In a forest of dark woods and perpetually green foliage, a red-haired, pregnant woman ran toward a particularly robust tree.
She flashed her hands into a few hand signs and used some of the blood she was smeared with from her multiple wounds to summon a large black wolf, about as tall as the chest of a human male.
"You'll have to carry out one last mission for me, Shinkuro."- The redhead said, weaving hand signs once more.
She slammed her left hand on the ground near the base of the tree, causing the earth to shift, creating a cave-in large enough to comfortably house three people.
"Lady Kaina, what happened?"- The wolf asked in a worried, baritone voice.
"On our way back from Konohagakure, we were ambushed by a Kumo-nin kill squad. I believe I'm the only one left."- She replied, walking inside the cave and sealing the entrance with another set of hand signs.
"Even Shinji?"- The wolf asked in alarm.
"He stayed back to buy our baby some time."- She said, her voice breaking but with resolve still evident in her eyes.
"They're still in pursuit."- The wolf concluded from listening to her words.
"They are. They've been chasing us for days, leading us closer to the Land of Hot Water. Now, we're too far from Konoha-nin patrol routes to ask for help. I need you to keep my baby safe in here for as long as you can. If no one from Uzushiogakure comes looking for my child, release the summon yourself and take along my baby to your home."- She commanded.
"What baby? You're only six months pregnant! The baby is still inside you! Why don't we find a way to reverse summon you to my home and rest? Let's think this through, Lady Kaina!"- The wolf exclaimed in alarm.
"Whether this baby likes it or not, she's coming out now."- She said, pulling out a few instruments from a storage scroll. She set a wide white cloth on the floor, topping it with some clothing to create a makeshift pillow.
"And we can't. You don't have enough chakra to reverse summon me and I'm running out of time and chakra now. My baby will fit in your mouth just fine in case you have to release the summon."- She said eyeing his maw.
"Assuming the baby survives this recklessness, how am I supposed to take care of a human baby? I can barely handle pups!"- The wolf protested, unable to understand the redhead's stubbornness.
"She'll be fine. She's an Uzumaki! I also prepared these after we were first ambushed a few days ago."- The redhead said, showing the wolf another storage scroll.
She channeled chakra through it, and a few bottles of breast milk and blood appeared.
"It should last you a few months. I overloaded the milk with my vitality, so she won't need much. Feed her the blood when the milk runs out. There's a seal on the scroll to prevent spoilage. In the third scroll, you'll find some bedding I ripped from the carriage before we abandoned it, but I don't think you'll need it with that much fur."- She said, running a hand affectionately through the black mane of the wolf.
"I don't think this will work, Lady Kaina."- The wolf commented, enjoying the last petting from his summoner.
"It's my only play left."- She said with a serious gaze. This was meant to be a routine mission in times of peace, it was supposed to be her last mission before the baby was born.
The wolf sighed in resignation, already deciding he would drag the baby to Uzushiogakure if he had to.
"It's time, Shinkuro."- She said with finality.
She grabbed a kunai fresh out of the first scroll and jammed it into her belly. In total silence, as if defying the pain, she dragged the kunai across her abdomen, opening it. She located the baby sack and cut it open.
The small creature stirred awake but didn't open her eyes.
Her hands glowed green as she used one hand to examine the baby and the other to speed up her unnatural regeneration and close the wound in her abdomen.
"She's healthy. Unusually healthy, even for an Uzumaki. She'll survive."- She said, placing the baby on the makeshift pillow and ensuring her self-inflicted wound had fully closed.
"I leave my hopes and dreams with you, Shinkuro. I'll cover my tracks and lead them in another direction."- She pleaded with the wolf before unsealing the cave and exiting.
'This is madness!'- The wolf thought as he sniffed the little creature curiously.
'Did that just happen?'
|It appears you'll be raised by a wolf. We might last a few days without breast milk.|
'Maybe it's a female wolf? Maybe we can do to her what we did to Haruna.'
"That woman was always crazy! I'm a bachelor wolf. What do I know about raising pups, much less human cubs?"- Shinkuro said in his baritone voice, which almost made the baby's bowels vibrate.
'...I'm not willing to suck anything on that clearly male and bachelor wolf!'
|...Maybe he's guarding you until someone arrives. Let's wait before we give up on this life. This body has potential; it would be a shame to lose it.|
'Fine, just spare me the pain of dying from hunger.'
A few hours later, Madelyne cried once, and the wolf channeled chakra through the scroll, pulling out a bottle of breast milk.
'Oi, oi, oi! How is he planning to feed me that? This wolf will drown me in milk at best!'- Madelyne thought in alarm.
The wolf covered his body in a thin film of chakra and poofed, transforming into the one human he was used to changing into—Kaina.
'...Now what?'- Madelyne wondered, curious to see if the wolf would prove her wrong.
The now-transformed wolf dipped his pinky finger in the milk and began dripping it into Madelyne's mouth.
'...Not bad!'- Madelyne began to see the wolf in a new light.
|This milk is filled with life force. Maybe the woman wasn't as much of a trainwreck as I'd imagined.|
'No, that woman was a trainwreck. What else could she be when, pregnant and doing who knows what in who knows where, she had to entrust her clearly premature baby to a bachelor wolf?'
After a few drops, Shinkuro stopped and stored the milk back in the scroll.
Six months passed like this. The wolf only left the cave to dispose of waste; otherwise, the two spent the entire time in total darkness.
Lucian took advantage of the abundant vitality in both the milk and the blood, using it as a supplement to speed up Madelyne's growth. She now looked like a baby older than one year.
After six months, the supplies were exhausted. Shinkuro was faced with the decision of either trying to take the girl to Uzushiogakure or taking her to his home summoning domain, as Kaina had instructed.
What the reckless woman didn't consider was that if he took the baby with him, she would probably never see her people again, as Kaina was the last contractor of the wolf clan in Uzushiogakure.
'How far are we from Uzushiogakure?'- He heard the voice he had grown used to hearing in his mind.
"Not that far, human cub. But the first ninja war ended a few years back, and now the land is plagued with rogue shinobi. I can't say we'll make it to the sea without encountering these pests."- Shinkuro replied.
As far as the bachelor Shinkuro knew, human cubs said their first words telepathically after their first four months of life.
'Can we travel at night and hide during the day?'
"We could, but I don't know if we'll find shelter. This place was made by your mother, and the best I can do is raise and lower the wall we use as a door. Earth release was never my strong point."
"I also don't have a way to make it across the sea. My chakra won't last long enough for us to walk to the island, not to mention the whirlpools that would drag us down."
'Are the Uzumaki and Senju still allies?'
"Yes."
'Then let's go to Konohagakure and ask them for assistance.'
"That could work... Mito Senju is there, or so Lady Kaina mentioned once."
'What can you tell me about Konohagakure?'
"I don't know much, human cub, just what Lady Kaina mentioned from time to time."
'Is the Hokage a Senju?'
"No, the previous Hokage was a Senju, but he died near the end of the first ninja war. The current Hokage is a Sarutobi."
'How did the war start?'
"The death of the First Hokage sparked it."
'The current Hokage is the Third?'
"Yes."
'I see... Thank you, Shinkuro.'
"Let's get going, human cub. We have a long few nights ahead of us."- Shinkuro said, transforming into Kaina and wrapping Madelyne tightly in bedding.
He didn't have much to store in the scrolls since they had used everything over the past six months. Shinkuro released his transformation and grabbed the bundled baby by the scruff of the wrapping with his maw.
'Isn't it better if I ride on you?'
"I don't think you'll be strong enough to hold on until we rest."
Madelyne—in her cocoon-like form—adhered herself to Shinkuro's chest and then moved to his back, all using tactile telekinesis. That was the best she could manage at the moment.
'I can hold on to you like this.'
"... Human cubs are fascinating. I heard one of the betas complain about how hard it was to raise pups, but if I can raise you, a human cub—known as the most defenseless type of cub—then I bet I can raise pups just as easily. Maybe it's time to graduate from my bachelor's title."
'~Hehehe~ You'd be a great father, Shinkuro.'
"... You think so?"
'Yes, Shinkuro. I know so.'
"Great! I will look for a bitch to settle down!"- His baritone voice held a singsong of happiness.
|How cruel.|
'Hehehehehe! I do think he'll do fine. Pups are easier to raise than babies.'
|If the beta complained, then maybe it's not so easy.|
'No, no, he'll do just fine! I have faith in his parenting skills.'
|... We had to wait three months until you could access tactile telekinesis to clean your filthy body.|
'And I'm grateful for that! Imagine if he had cleaned me like dogs do their pups... I don't want my little cuchie licked clean by a wolf, or my butthole, for that matter.'
|Yeah, but then I wouldn't have had to waste energy we very much needed to battle germs.|
'Hey! I'm a girl! I have my reservations about certain things! And one of them is not having my privates licked clean by a wolf!'
Seventeen days later, Shinkuro made it to Konohagakure.
The scene of two guards staring at a wolf with a baby on his back was hard to classify.
"Shinobi, I come looking for Mito Senju on behalf of Lady Kaina Uzumaki."- Shinkuro said.
The guards looked at one another in question. It's not that a summon looking for someone was strange—Konohagakure uses summons as much as the next village, so it's normal to use them for deliveries, information gathering, battling, information sharing, and many other roles—but no one would send a baby via summon.
"You, bring this to the Hokage's office."- One of the guards ordered a genin while handing a scroll with a report of the situation.
Had the baby not been an obvious member of the Uzumaki clan, he would not have sent a genin to deliver the report and would have compiled it at the end of the day with the rest.
"You, bring this to the Senju compound. Make sure they know the receiver is Lady Mito Senju."- He ordered a second genin while handing a similar report.
Shinkuro moved to the side of the road to give space for passersby and waited.
A few minutes later, a little girl with light blonde hair tied in a high ponytail, bangs framing her face, and brown eyes arrived.
"Tsunade-Hime?"- Asked a guard.
"My grandma sent me to pick up a doggy and... a baby?"- She said, not so sure by the end of her sentence if she had heard right.
"Right this way, Tsunade-Hime."- The guard guided her to where the wolf was sleeping, curled around a cocooned red-haired baby.
"It was really a baby."- Tsunade said in disbelief.
Her words awakened the wolf and baby duo.
"Is the baby blind?"- Tsunade asked, tilting her head in confusion when she saw the baby's eyes.
"No, the human cub can see just fine."- Responded Shinkuro after the baby had—as if by magic—moved to his back.
"How did you do that?!"- Tsunade asked, startled, echoing what the guard also wanted to know.
"What?"- Shinkuro was not sure what she was talking about; in his eyes, nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"That! When the baby slid to your back, but like, defying gravity. Was that a jutsu?"- Tsunade pointed at the bundled baby on his back.
The baby stared at her and the guard flatly, just as Shinkuro did.
"Obviously, the baby moved to my back. Isn't that logical?"- Shinkuro answered flatly.
'What's wrong with this human girl?'- Shinkuro thought to himself.
To him, human cubs clearly slid and stuck to your body for convenience. They also spoke to your mind and cleaned themselves after a few months.
"No! Not that! I can see the baby moved, I'm asking how?!"- Tsunade felt like the wolf was mocking her. Even the guard felt the same.
"She just did. You don't seem to know very much about human cubs, do you?"- He asked, mockingly and exasperated. The patience of Shinkuro was running thin.
"What?!"- Tsunade now knew she was being mocked by the wolf.
"Lead the way, human girl. I want to deliver the human cub and return to my home today. Stop asking obvious questions!"
'That's obvious?'- The guard and Tsunade asked themselves in their minds.
"Agh! Fine! Follow me!"- Veins popped on her forehead as Tsunade led the wolf to the Senju compound.
'It's more lively than I expected.'- Madelyne commented about the general mood of the village.
For a village that was coming out of a war where they lost their leader, they seemed more spirited than she had expected.
|Maybe the new Hokage is doing good work leading them.|
'Possibly, or the losses of the war might not have been as devastating as the loss of a Hokage would imply.'
|They possibly made a winning out of the war... Though I think keeping the Senju kid alive would have been better. That kid was smart.|
'That he was. His mastery over chakra and its intricacies was better than all the uragirimono we've met.'
|I particularly liked the teleportation fūinjutsu he made. It reminded me of Sunagakure's 'Recall'.|
'I think my favorite was the chakra clone... Shadow Clone Jutsu, was it?'
|That's because you're a bit of a narcissist and a pervert.|
'My narcissism is your fault. You always make me beautiful no matter the starting genes.'
|And the sexual perversion?|
'That's 100% the hooker lady. That woman forced me to feel things even though Essex hardwired me into heterosexuality.'
|Why would she? Did she like girls?|
'No, she liked whatever kept her alive. She said it was to get me used to the feeling of pleasure while I was pleasuring my future Summers man.'
|She sounds disgusting.|
'She was disgusting.'
|If we find your home multiverse, do you want me to seek her soul and break it?|
'Nah, I'm too old to care about her. She had a gruesome death, so there's that.'
|What about Essex?|
'... Give him so much pain that he will forget himself in it and will only know pain for the rest of his soul's immortal life.'
|Granted. We just have to be lucky enough to find your multiverse.|
'Maybe we come from the same multiverse. That would explain how my soul ended inside yours... I wonder if we were doing something naughty that resulted in that.'
|I doubt it. You were never a goth girl, based on your memories.|
'I bet I could rock black!'
|... I don't think that's difficult; black combines virtually with any color.|
'Yeah, but there's a difference between wearing black and rocking black.'
|I guess you're right. It's like the difference between an emo girl and a goth girl. Both can almost be the same, but only a true connoisseur would notice the difference.|
'You and your goth girls... I bet your wife/girlfriend/significant other is one.'
|How do you know I'm not a bachelor like Shinkuro?|
'... Woman's intuition.'
|I don't think that's a valid reason, but let's assume you're right. My... eldritch terror intuition also agrees with your statement.|
'Does that mean a woman can equate to an eldritch terror?'
|I don't think that logic holds...|
'... Yeah, I thought so.'
While Madelyne and Lucian talked nonsense and observed the village, they arrived at the Senju compound.
|We were being followed.|
'Maybe because we are visiting a high-profile villager?'
|No, they would have followed us inside, but they stopped when we got close to this location.|
'... We need more information.'
|Agreed.|
"Grandma! I brought the wolf and the baby!"- Tsunade excitedly entered the room where Mito Senju awaited, her tone as if asking to be praised.
"Well done, Little Tsuna. Now, go look for your father; I have something to discuss with this wolf."- Mito Senju patted Tsunade's head, and like a good child, she followed her grandma's instructions.
Shinkuro sat on his hind legs as Madelyne slid back to the front, staring at the aged woman with her pupil-less and iris-less eyes.
'It seems stress and/or age has gotten to her.'
|Probably losing her husband and brother-in-law did that to her; the war must not have helped.|
"So... Little Kaina is dead?"- Mito asked softly, directing her question to Shinkuro.
"My summoner left her cub with me and then ran away to distract her pursuers. That was six months ago."- Shinkuro implied her death.
"Six months ago? How is that creature still alive?"- Mito walked over to examine the baby.
"Wait..."- Mito started to notice some discrepancies.
If Kaina had an approximately six-month-old baby, why was she with the baby outside Uzushiogakure?
"Do you know what her mission was or why she was outside Uzushiogakure with a baby?"- Mito asked while running her chakra through the baby and discovering she was extremely healthy.
"I don't know much. I know she was returning from this village to Uzushiogakure, and that a kill squad from Kumogakure ambushed her team."- Shinkuro explained.
"If it was six months ago, then she was probably part of the team doing the routine delivery of seals... But—"
"And the human cub is not one year old; she is six months old."- Shinkuro interrupted, answering her previous question.
"... What? This girl is six months old? Not one year old?!"- Mito stared at the girl and the wolf, stunned.
"I also can't tell the difference in age in human cubs, but she is six months old."- Shinkuro responded as if Mito's mistake in measuring the baby's age was understandable.
"Lady Kaina was only six months pregnant when she cut her abdomen open and pulled the human cub out. That was six months ago. She left some supplies and entrusted the cub to me. I was supposed to wait for shinobi from Uzushiogakure for however long the supplies lasted and then bring the cub with me to my home if no one came. But the cub suggested we come here instead., I agreed."- Shinkuro reported.
"... What?"- Mito had many problems processing the report.
"..."- Shinkuro stared at her, wondering what was wrong with the humans of this village.
'I guess it's better if I explain, isn't it?'- Madelyne spoke to Mito's mind now that she was in range.
"..."- Mito stared, shocked, at the eyes of the baby(?) in her arms.
'...'- Madelyne stared back, watching multiple expressions flash across the woman's face until she settled on 'composed fright.'
Mito lowered the baby in front of the wolf and sat in seiza across from them.
"Are you related to that woman?"
She wouldn't have drawn any conclusions just from the baby's eyes, especially since she knew of Kaina's family—they've been guards for the Uzumaki Royal Lineage for five generations—and this baby was guaranteed to be her descendant by Kaina's summon.
But she remembered how they found out about her husband's disease. After the Four Kage Meeting, when they returned to Konohagakure, Hashirama opened up to her and Tobirama about how the woman had spoken in his mind and the message she had given him.
Later, they confirmed that indeed he was sick and that there was nothing they could do to stop the disease's progress.
The two decades the woman had given him became the deadline of his life.
In the end, he was getting worse faster than anticipated so the news was shared with the rest of the family, this prompted his daughter to speed up her marriage.
Hashirama lived long enough to see Tsunade's parents' marriage but not the full two decades.
The script that Hagoromo learned from Lucian and taught his children was not much when compared to Sunagakure's library, but it was enough to make their fights more deadly than they would have been without it. This made the wounds he received from his battle with Madara Uchiha worse than they should have been without script.
For example, there were different levels of explosive tags, with some of the most deadly capable of demolishing large buildings.
Creating minefields using reactive script was a standard tactic. Tags of sticky fire were part of the staple. Poisons made more deadly using liquid purification script was normal.
Using script to lighten or weigh weaponry was generally used. Script to cancel noise or remove smells to make ambush far deadlier. Script to mimic lightning release and shock your enemies.
In such a manner, multiple scripts whose initial purpose was not war-related were twisted and used to elevate the standard level of war. Thus making war-related injuries more deadly, with some that even with a sage's body couldn't be healed or treated.
The week following the marriage ceremony, he passed away, and one week after that, the First Ninja World War broke out.
This was also affected by the use of script. A form of communication script was inherited which allowed for a faster spread of information. Nothing as fast as Sunagakure's communication system, but fast enough for the multiple spies in Konohagakure to pass information after a few days of the passing of the God of Shinobi.
With the start of the war so close to the marriage of Tsunade's parents they had to wait until the end of the war due to war regulations to conceive Tsunade. Consequently, Tsunade was born later than she should have been... or more accurately the war started sooner.
'I'm not related to her, Uzumaki girl... I am her.'- Madelyne's voice sounded in Mito's mind, but this time in a mature voice.
A voice she never forgot. Her hand clenched into a fist to mask the trembling.
Shinkuro smelled her fear and found it strange. He had assumed the human cub was talking in her mind but couldn't fathom what the well-behaved cub could have said to make the woman reek of fear.
'I've lived a long time across a few lives, but I reincarnate after each passing.'- Madelyne explained further.
"... Like the tailed beasts?"- Mito's mind was trying to normalize the situation.
'Just like that. My mother in this life passed away, and I asked Shinkuro to bring me to you for help in getting to Uzushiogakure. I'm hungry and would very much like a meal that is not blood or raw meat.'
"Blood? Raw meat?"- Mito was failing at normalizing the situation.
'Kaina left several bottles of her blood for me for when the milk ran out. That has been my only meal for months, and I can't keep pulling miracles with this body. Shinkuro had to feed me some of the game he hunted along the way here. Help me, and I'll help you once.'
They stared at each other in silence for a few long seconds, until Mito concluded that it was better to help the 'baby' for now and think things through later.
"... Alright."- Mito said, her hands still balled.
'Shinkuro, she will help me. Do you carry your clan's summoning scroll? I wish to sign a contract with you.'
"It would be my pleasure, human cub."
With a poof, Shinkuro summoned a smaller gray wolf, which handed him a scroll that he brought forward to the baby.
From the baby's thumb, a few drops of blood floated out.
'Aya Uzumaki is my name, Shinkuro. Please take care of me.'- Aya's blood flowed and signed 'Aya Uzumaki' on the scroll.
"It should be my pleasure, human cub Aya."- Shinkuro licked her cheek.
"I shall bid you farewell. It's time for me to return."- Shinkuro said and canceled the summoning.
|They modified the summoning scroll.|
'Ehmm, what do you mean?'
|Six months is too much for a summon, based on the scroll the slug gave Sunamushi.|
'But in Sunagakure that's normal, no?'
|I taught the scribes how to extend the summoning time.|
'Maybe the redheads did it with their fūinjutsu.'
|Maybe, but I replaced the need for chakra when extending the summoning time with natural energy. As far as I know, fūinjutsu can't use natural energy.|
'I see, that's interesting! We will find out when we have more time to examine the scroll!'
|I agree.|
"Aya Uzumaki?"- Mito asked after Shinkuro disappeared, she had read the name in the scroll, it was just after Kaina Uzumaki.
'I've had many names. This would be my third time with that name. Kaina was in too much of a rush to give Shinkuro a name for me, so I reused my previous name.'
"... I see. I'll take you to have something to eat. Is anything fine?"- Mito assumed that a baby who could eat raw meat could basically eat anything.
'Anything cooked shall do.'
Mito lifted Aya, still fearful, and carried her to the kitchen to find something for the starving baby(?).
"... You can't talk?"- Mito asked as she noticed Aya wasn't using her voice.
'I haven't had the time or need to practice with my vocal muscles, so I can't speak well enough.'
"... It must be hard having to go through infancy repeatedly."
'It's not that hard when you have parents that want you and are alive. This is the third time my mother died shortly after birth... The first time, I killed her by exploding my body when she was going to kill me, so there's an improvement.'- Madelyne counted her mothers from her lives as Sara Hyūga, an exploding baby, and now as Aya Uzumaki.
"... What?"- Mito stumbled and had to pause before resuming her trip to the kitchen.
'She wanted to feed me to the metaphorical wolves because I was born female, so I blew my body up and took everyone in the room with me... Hehehehe She got what she deserved!'
Aya's comments about her exploding body were not helping Mito's heart at all!
"That's... awful."- She said, settling for a harmless comment.
'Meh, it is what it is. Once, I was born after my mother had died. I had to jump my soul into a sandworm that was eating me alive. I lived for more than a century as a sandworm and then returned control to the sandworm's soul. That's how the leader of the sandworms, Sunamushi, was born.'
"..."- This time, Mito's pause was longer.
'Aside from that, it's been pretty normal, though this is the first time a wolf raised me. Oh, I did live as a male in one life! Turns out your body can affect your sexuality even if your mind disagrees. It creates a weird phenomenon where you feel like you're wearing the wrong skin.'
"... Any famous life?"- Mito was now sundering her common sense, entering into Torture-resistance Mentality. She asked this to keep the conversation going and find out if there was anything of value she could glean from the baby(?). But now she feels like maybe she should have kept walking in silence.
'Mmmmmm, the Teiru last name of the Daimyo of this Land came from me.'
"..."- Mito's heart had to be reinforced with chakra.
'The royal branch of the Hyūga are my descendants.'
"..."- This time, she reinforced her stomach.
'I was a famous priestess from the Land of Demons, but that was probably posthumously.'
"...Why is that?"- Mito felt as if the kitchen was getting further away as the conversation continued.
'I sealed a demon in my soul and killed myself to exorcise it. I think it was called something like Momo or Momio, I don't remember.'
"...Mōryō?"- Mito was using a chakra exercise invented by Tobirama to control her chakra flow. Even among the Uzumaki, that demon was famous.
'Yeah, that one. Probably my most eventful life was the first one, but Hagoromo and Hamura Ōtsutsuki seem to have erased most records of me. Oh, but the fox inside of you probably remembers me, though he only met me a few seconds before I passed away in that life.'
"Why would the Nine-Tails remember you?"
'...By your question, can I assume that you never got along with the fox like the idealist kid said you would?'
"He hates me, humans, and pretty much everything. So, no, we never got along."
'That's just an excuse. His chakra is filled with hate, but that's not his fault. He probably only truly hates me... well, that was before you imprisoned him inside your body. I guess you're right; he probably hates you.'
"Why is his chakra like that?"- Mito asked after internalizing Aya's words.
'It has to do with his origin. You don't need to know much about it. You could ask him, but then again, he probably hates you. That's why you're having a hard time with him.'
"But other villages have reported a few perfect jinchūriki."- Mito had thought she was unskilled enough to do it. Luckily her bloodline was talented enough to forcibly extra chakra from the fox even against its will.
'A few centuries ago, I purged the hate from the chakra of his siblings, but this one unknowingly eluded me.'
"...You purged all that hatred?"- Mito asked in surprise.
'Yeah, purification of energy is kind of one of my many talents.'
"I see, it's a shame you didn't get to purify this irritable fox."- Mito lamented.
They finally made it to the kitchen, and Mito felt relieved to have finished what felt like the hardest ordeal of her life, the most rigorous test of her mettle.
"By the way, why does it hate you?"- Mito asked as she saw the baby float food to her mouth.
'This is good; you should congratulate the chef!'- Aya commended.
"I will let them know that their food pleased the oldest being in the world."- Mito said with a faint smile.
Aya was going to correct her, but if Lucian's words were true, then she was billions of years old, so there was no need to mention that the sage beasts were older than her.
'About why he hates me, it's because I killed his father and uncle.'
"...*Thunk!*"- Mito had stopped reinforcing her body and controlling her chakra, so when the Nine-Tails rioted his chakra inside of her upon hearing Aya's words, combined with the shock from the preposterous claim she just heard, she passed out and fell forward, her head hitting the table. Luckily, she was sitting down.
'Nine-Tails, calm down, or I'll actively focus on unsealing your grandmother!'- Aya ordered, her threat dripping with vitriol.
The Nine-Tails conceded.
"...Ugh, this stupid fox..."- Mito woke up almost immediately and complained.
Mito then gazed at the monster in baby form and decided not to ask any more questions for the sake of her sanity.
Eventually, Aya spent a month in the Senju Compound while the village coordinated an escort for her. In the end, Mito suggested that she wait for the next squad to arrive in Konohagakure for the biannual Uzumaki delivery of seals, as she had missed them by three weeks when she arrived.
During this time, Mito would occasionally ask about her previous lives, but she mostly focused on Aya's first life.
"So, this woman was the progenitor of chakra, which came from a fruit she ate from a tree that was consuming the planet's Natural Energy? And she came from another world?"
"Kaguya had her own chakra, but in a moment of desperation, she ate the fruit to save her unborn children from a pursuing mob and stop the wars plaguing the world. The Chakra Fruit gave her a significant boost in chakra, allowing her to share it with the rest of humanity."
"She... she sounds like my late husband—a person trying to do good."
"Mmm, you're not wrong, but Kaguya was even more naive and ignorant than Hashirama. At least he was hardened by wars and had his mind broadened by hardship. Kaguya came from a society where massacring civilizations was accepted and encouraged. Her capacity to be 'objectively good' was strong enough to break through the shackles of her upbringing, but she was so ignorant about anything else that it wasn't funny."- Aya could now speak fluently after a few weeks of practice with Tsunade and Mito.
"And there are more of these monsters from where she came from?"- Mito asked worriedly.
"Yes, but not many should be left."- Aya observed the blonde girl sleeping peacefully in Mito's lap.
She was the first to admit that she had grown used to the high-spirited girl.
"Did their civilization die off?"
"No, I killed most of them. Their galaxy is no more."
"...What's a galaxy?"- Few outside of Sunagakure knew what a galaxy was. They were familiar with stars, the sun, moons, and planets, but that was about as deep as their knowledge of the universe went.
"Mmm, let me pull you into a genjutsu of sorts, and I can show you."- Aya thought it would be faster to demonstrate.
"...Okay."- After mulling it over for a few seconds, Mito accepted.
They were spending time in the living room, lying down on the tatami. Aya stood up, walked over to Mito, and touched their foreheads.
Mito soon felt a sensation similar to being pulled into a genjutsu, but it was slightly different. This difference came from the use of psionic energy. Mito tried to feel out the genjutsu and discovered that she could break out of it anytime.
'I'm too weak to trap you here, which is why I needed your consent.'- Aya said in her silver-haired form.
Mito looked around her and found herself in a wondrous paradise of colorful lights and black, reminiscent of the night sky. She was standing over a calm ocean of black liquid dotted by stars.
She kept looking around until she found something new behind Aya.
"This?"- Mito asked, looking at the tall, white humanoid shadow that was greedily hugging Aya from behind, as if staking its claim over her.
|Hello. You don't need to know my name.|- Lucian spoke neutrally.
'Don't be rude.'- Aya said, placing her hand on top of his, which was crossing over her abdomen.
|...Lucian Drake. If it's easier, call me Luci.|- Lucian conceded, introducing himself.
"Hello, Luci-sama. I'm Mito Senju."- Mito introduced herself respectfully.
Lucian nodded in acknowledgment, then looked upwards from her.
|Won't you introduce yourself, beast?|- Lucian spoke to something behind her.
Turning around, Mito was startled to find the Nine-Tails standing behind her. Yet, something else caught her attention—it was completely still, as if restrained.
"*GROOOOWL!* Release me!"- The Nine-Tails snarled, demanding freedom.
|Bad dogs get chained.|- Lucian said, and chains of white light restraining the Nine-Tails became visible.
"MURDERERS!"- The fox snarled furiously.
|Before the actions of your father and uncle, the human population of this planet was above the one billion mark. After his so-called righteous betrayal, only a scant few million were left.|- Lucian said, floating to the eye level of the fox.
|Following his 'righteous' holocaust, neither your father nor uncle assumed the seat of power, leaving behind over 900 years of constant war.|
|All the lives claimed due to clan wars, territorial disputes, and the so-called cycle of hate—this is Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's legacy.|- Lucian said, bringing a hand to the fox's forehead.
|Death was his legacy.|- Lucian shared with the fox the feelings of death he had picked up through the centuries with his empathy.
|Famine, his inheritance.|- He shared the feeling of dying from hunger that many humans experienced, those who Madelyne could not save in time.
|War, his heritage.|- He shared the desperation of going to war to certain death felt by the countless humans Madelyne witnessed marching to the slaughter and their inevitable death.
|Hopelessness, his gift.|- Lucian shared the feeling of seeing a deadly attack approaching, a feeling shared by the majority of those killed in action.
|Pain was his bequest to humanity.|- Lucian shared the pain of thousands of humans he had experienced through his empathy.
The Nine-Tails remained chained and unmoving, its mouth wide open as if silently screaming, with tears filled with despair, resentment, anger, fear, and pain leaking uncontrollably from its eyes due to everything it was feeling.
|So tell me, Nine-Tails... who were the real murderers? The harbingers of everything that failed in this world? The precursors of their and now your pain?... Was it my Madelyne or was it your father?|
Lucian stopped sharing emotions with the fox and released it from the chains.
*THUMP!*- Its titanic body slumped to the ground helplessly.
|Beast, pay attention, and maybe you'll learn why we killed them.|- Lucian said, waving a hand as the mindscape changed into the past.
|The twins grew up in a home filled with love. Kaguya cared for them more than she did for her people or her life. Madelyne raised them just as she later did her daughters. I breastfed them and taught them.|
'Luci also advanced humanity to what it was to guarantee the best environment for us.'
|On the eve of our departure, Madelyne gave them a heartfelt goodbye.|
'I named them the protectors of our people and our little family and left Kaguya in their hands.'
|And we departed to the homeworld of the Ōtsutsuki.|
Lucian showed how they moved faster than light, ignoring the distance and leaving behind Earth... the Milky Way...
'That's our galaxy, Mito.'- Aya commented as the full view of the Milky Way came up, and Mito was left flabbergasted as she remembered Aya's words: "No, I killed most of them. Their galaxy is no more." Realizing she meant she destroyed something of this magnitude.
...Then they left behind their sector of the universe and kept moving away until they found a galaxy surrounded by a barrier...
In this galaxy, all life was lost, and every planet was barren, except for one single giant planet—a planet larger than most dwarf stars.
They wasted no time and flashed forward to this planet.
But it was well-protected—barriers, armies, technology harvested from millions of worlds, parasites of unimaginable power, and many more stood in their way.
They fought...
Battled...
Clashed...
Defied...
Resisted...
Killed...
Slaughtered...
Cut their way through...
Barreled forward without stopping...
Pushed everything away...
Pulled everything back...
Sealed...
Restrained...
Defended...
And they attacked with everything they had, while the parasites counterattacked with everything they could muster.
Madelyne dragged out the fight to lure the parasites into recalling their members who were outside their home world.
Skin tissue was the first to be lost. Muscles were ripped off their bones, and they lost and regenerated limbs until they could only regenerate their bones.
They burned through organs as a source of power until only their charred lungs were left.
And almost twenty years later, when the parasites thought they were going to win, Madelyne ripped out her heart and threw it at them before she disappeared into a safe distance.
The heart burned bright for an instant... then it absorbed everything... the parasites... the planet... the star... space... dimensions... the galaxy... time... and finally, it burned bright once more before leaving a void that could never be filled.
Then the skeleton of Madelyne looked in a direction, and Lucian spoke through her:
[Ş̶̢̺̩̭̙̦̞̳̟̒̈́̓̅̾̔͌͝ͅh̸̡̧̢̤̫̘͚̬̟̄͊̓̇̈́̽̾̋͠͠ḯ̴̛͔̜̠̤͇̲̺̀̑̆͐͜͜b̴͙͖̖͛͊̌̀͂̎̈́͋͘͜͜͝͝à̵̢̟̫̳̜͈̼̺̤͎̥̾͆́͜i̴̖̘͔͇͋̈́̏̎͐̀͒̕͜͝.̴̡̧̩̦̻̻̯͓̤̻̤̻́̇̓́̈́͗̚͘ ̷̺̮̟͎̖̗̩̦̹̜͉̄͒̓S̶̮͙̘͈͖̀̌̒̉́͑̐̀̾͘͝͝ţ̴̡͔̟͓̗̫̫̺͉̱̭͑̅e̷̢̞̙̞͇̰͇̯͕͎̗̖̅͂͌͜͝ͅp̵̦̑̆ ̵̢̨͖̼̜̈́̂̈́́̈̇͘͠ȉ̶̧̡̧̟̯̲̘̱̬̬̖̞̖̓̎̌̕ṅ̸̘͂̾̄̆̽͛̉͂̑͐͗̔̚t̵̩͖̂̍͗͌̆́̉̀ǒ̸͈̜̣̬̞̣̪̪̟̥̳͋̈́́͜͜͝ ̶̥̻͍̗̎͒̀ẗ̶͙̤͙̜̲͍̝̜͓̗̟̠̺̤͓́̿̒͌̕͝h̸̨̠̘͙̻͍̟̜̪̦͎̝͔̀̊̅͐̉̈́͛͐͆̚ͅị̸̢͖̑̿̽͆͑͛s̸͖͗̿̇́̐́̾̎͂͠͠ ̵̧̛͍͕͙͑́͂̌͘͘u̴̧̡͍̻̥̱̲̪̗̐͂̆̔͜͠n̵̠̲̺̉͒̊͌͂͌̒̋̔͐̌̀̓͝i̷̢̨̧̮͉̠̩̲͔̥͕̙̳̔̈́̀̈́͑̈́̒̓̒̃̑͘͠v̸̡̠̭͖̬̫̰͚̀̔̌̿̌̽̒̊͛̓͝͝e̸̺͙̙̫̯̖͍̻̞̠͙̳̝̗͒͑̐̅̍̋͊̇̐̉̏̏́r̵̰͉̠̖͌͐͗͊̑̚͠s̶̢̡̨̧͚͍̭̦̩̯̞̭̣̩͆́͒͌̽͌̍̌̈́̇̅̿͐̑̚ê̵̯͎͈̭̥͍̺̣̬͓͐̍̚ ̷̻̺̎́̀̅̈́͝ã̷̧̩̖̱͓̹̇̒̉̀̏̆͋̚̚n̷̢̢̮̜̪̻̠̗̯͎̟͍̼̚d̶̟͓̤̰͎̜̹̲͚̙̼̆̓͒͊̕͜͝ ̶̖͕͋̉̂̊̓̈́I̴̛̲̥̰͙̥͇̼̯̗̭͈̠̞͛͂̂̽̅̈́̔̉̍̄̿͝͠'̸̖̽͊̈́͂̍̔̀̑͑̓̿͝͝l̸̮̭̯̮̹͓̞̥̫̂̕ḽ̵̢̛̺͍̰̫̝̤̦̈́̄̃̐̒̄̽̈̔̐̐̿͘ͅ ̷̢̜̪̤̈́͌͛̓̃́̈́̆̔̽͊͘͝e̸̡̙̽̎̑͐͗̇͋̈́͑̐͘̕ŗ̶͈̮͇̼̦͉͇̘̬̱̝̾ͅa̸̯̱̖̪͈̾̓̀́̿͛͌̈̃͗͘͘͝͝͠s̵̗̞̎̍̀͗̽̾̈́̒͝e̴̦̗̝͉̱̠͉̻̰͎̬͖̯͚̐ ̶̢̢͓͖͔̮̳̮͓̿̈́͜ÿ̷̼̣͉͉̝̟̥̣̺̫̟́̈́̒͋ŏ̸̧̙ũ̴̘̰̺̝̃̆̿̂͘͘̚͠͠ ̸̨͕͓͉̖̩̫̘̬̗͉̔̐̈́̔̾͂̾̅̋̄̀̄̚͝͝f̶̛͍̳̣͔̻̳̩͌͌̿̄̑̈́͗̂̌́̕͝r̵̛͖̆̂̀o̵͙̾̔̆͝m̶͚͎̬̀ ̷̢̡̥̩̃̅̈́t̸̢̞̫̦̳̰̮̼͉̝͐͜͜͝ͅh̴͉̞͇̼̝̀̉̓̓͗͒̽̑̾͂̑ͅe̵͔͘ ̵̧͝͝m̸̦̊̐̈̄̊͆̃̋̏̚ű̶̙̿̈́͐͌͐̒̔̂́̚l̵̨̥̪͚̲̩̪̦̓͒t̵̻̜̻̪̯̖͈̼̜̳̄ͅĭ̸̝͉̗͍̪͓̯͆̐̉̇̈́̀ͅv̸̡͓̤͈̭̰͋͋̚e̷͇̰̭̜̮̍̊̅̒̃͑̏͋̈̕r̵͙͔̈́͒̑̒̽͝s̷̖̝͋͒̃̈́́̋͝e̶̪͇̦͇̖̟̜̞͇͖̙̜͈̪͆̃́̈́̚͝.̶̥̔͋̓̋̈́̽͌̽̒̄̊̈́̈́̕͠]
{Shibai. Step into this universe and I'll erase you from the multiverse.}
As those words were replayed, Mito and the Fox bled from their ears.
Lucian waved his hand and the fox and Mito returned to their previously healthy but aghast states after watching what Madelyne did.
Back in the memory, the space trembled and a voice responded as if signing a pact:
[Ḁ̴̡̮̬̌̊͂c̸̡͚̩̾̈́̌k̸͇̣̟͖̤̠̟̯̖̖̥̍̓̾̀͂̐͆̈̓̃͑͑͜n̵͎̞̝̹̪̹̺̥͍̓͒͂̐̀̄̀̃͑͝͝͝o̸̢̫̼͉̦̺̤͖̙̯̺̠̐͊̋̆̐w̸̡̡̛̛̙̻̤͖̟̤̔̔̌̄͐̔̇̂͋̍̓͜͝ͅl̸̥͕̼͚̟̻̇̐̐̈̓͑̂͌͠ë̷͍̘̗́̃͌̀̍̏͊̒d̴̠̪̩͔̖̞͊̚͠g̸̣̭̯̖̖͛͐̑̔̃͋̀͗̒͐̀̀̓͘͝è̸̻̭̻̱̣͓͑̆́̇̓͊̄ͅd̸͎̯͍͖̭̮͉̥̠̣̯̲͇̅ͅ]
{Acknowledged}
Lucian once more stopped their bleeding ears.
What was left of Madelyne then flew in a different direction.
|After a year of travel—due to her failing body's state—Madelyne returned to the previously thriving planet Earth. Only to find the garbage dump your father, uncle, and Isshiki left.|
'Know something, Nine-Tails, Kaguya will be freed. That was never a question. Even if your father finds a way to kill me in my next lives, I will just keep dying until I have done so enough times to heal Luci's soul.'
|When inevitably my soul heals, I can just will you and your father out of existence. Because that destruction you're so terrified of, I did with only the speck of my soul that resides in Madelyne.|
Madelyne and Lucian stared at the two guests of their mindscape—as much as Lucian's face could replicate staring.
""Why are you telling me/us this?""- The fox asked with his back's fur standing up in fright at the same time as Mito Senju did.
|Because now that you stand in front of Madelyne she wanted to purify your chakra.|- Lucian said while facing the fox.
'But because of my current weekend state, you could overwhelm me easily, so I need your cooperation. From both of you.'- Madelyne looked at the fox and Mito.
Lucian waved his hand once more and the mindscape returned to the ocean of stars from before.
Logic won that day, and the fox understood there was no resisting the inevitable.
As a result, every night, Mito would carry Aya to her bedroom and collaborate with her and the Nine-Tails to softly pass the corrupted chakra through her body so that she could purify it.
Aya would then sleep until late morning and spend the rest of the day playing with Tsunade.
Sometimes, Tsunade would ask Mito to strap Aya to her back and then walk through the village, showing Aya the sights.
"Let's go to the training grounds! Maybe we'll get lucky and find someone practicing jutsu!"- Tsunade said in her usual cheery tone.
"Okay, Tsuna-nee. Let's go."- Aya softly murmured into her ear.
'Are they following us?'
|Yes, there's the Senju escort Mito sent, and further back, there's another squad tailing us. There's also something way far back, but I currently can't detect what it is.|
'I'll ask her later.'
"Look, look! Aya-chan! That guy is going fwoosh and fwooasssh with the sword!"- Tsunade excitedly said as they sat some distance away from one of the public training grounds, watching a white-haired shinobi practice stances with his sword.
"Do you want to be a shinobi when you grow up, Tsuna-nee?"- Aya asked while still strapped to Tsunade's back.
"Yes! I want to be a great shinobi like my grandpa."
"Did you meet your grandpa?"
"No, but Grandma said he was the greatest shinobi!"
"I see."
"He was indeed the greatest shinobi, Tsunade-Hime."- They heard a voice from next to them.
"Eeep!"- Tsunade was startled while Aya was silently staring at the white-haired teenager.
"You're the guy!"- Tsunade exclaimed when she realized he was the one she had been watching just moments ago.
"Hello, Tsunade-Hime. My name is Sakumo Hatake. It's an honor to have the little ladies spectating my training."- He said with an amiable smile.
"Hello! Can you teach me what you were doing?"- Tsunade immediately asked.
"Mmmmm, I could, but what will you do with your little sister?"- He said pensively, the warm smile never leaving his face.
"It's okay. I can wait here with one of those guys."- Aya said, pointing with her gaze to a corner where a Senju appeared.
"... Are one-year-olds supposed to be like this?"- The Senju asked out loud.
"I was going to ask the same."- Sakumo added, his smile faltering a little. He hadn't detected the Senju-nin, but the baby girl did.
"Grandma said that Aya-chan is a special baby!"- Tsunade acted as if she was just being praised.
"Is it okay if I indulge Tsunade-Hime's request?"- Sakumo asked the Senju-nin.
"It's fine. Right, Tsunade-Hime?"- He pretended to ask for confirmation.
"Yes, Uncle Riku!"- Tsunade confirmed with all the authority a little girl like her could muster.
The Senju-nin unfastened Aya from Tsunade's little back and sat her on his leg while they observed Sakumo train Tsunade—more accurately, play with her.
"Riku Senju, we were being followed."- Aya commented, she knew his name from the list Mito had given her of her escorts.
"... Since leaving the compound?"- He asked with concern. He had accepted her input as veridic given that the girl was able to detect him.
"Yes, a five-member squad. They were about five times the distance you had from us."
"I'll inform Lady Mito."
An hour later, Tsunade had exhausted herself, and Riku Senju had to carry both girls back to the Senju Compound.
In such a manner—spending time with Tsunade and purifying the Nine-Tails' chakra during the nights—five months passed, and Aya's time to move to Uzushiogakure was around the corner.
"I've decided what I want to request, Aya-sama."- Mito addressed her formally like that in private.
"Do tell; you've taken your time."
"As you've noticed, my clan members are under occasional surveillance, and you specifically as well."
Aya nodded, signaling for Mito to continue.
"After Tobirama died, Hiruzen Sarutobi took the mantle under the military orders of the previous Hokage during the war. Since the war was ongoing and Hiruzen was Tobirama's student, he didn't face much opposition."
"The war went on for a few years after he became the Hokage. When the war was won, the wounded returned, and the deaths were tallied, some of the more vocal members of my clan and the Uchiha complained and sought a guilty party in Hiruzen."
"They kept a shadow war between factions, and it all ended when I made my stand public and supported Hiruzen. Things calmed down, and now it's been a few years since then."
"But the damage was already done."- Aya concluded.
"*Sigh* Yes. Tobirama's students realized that the village's power was centered in the Uchiha and mostly the Senju. So, slowly, they began to amass some of this power. Which brings us to my request."
"The Uzumaki."- Aya said.
"It is as you have surmised. The Uzumaki are indispensable for the village's supplies of seals and to facilitate jinchūrikis to contain the grumpy fox. But they are also the Senju's staunch supporters. The other villages noted the abundant help our seals and pseudo-script provided during the last war, and I'm afraid that in the next war, if Hiruzen has to decide between prioritizing Uzushiogakure or other battlefields, he may be swayed by the recent grievances he's had with the Senju."
"You want me to protect Uzushiogakure?"
"No, I don't know if you'll be strong enough by the time the next war begins—which is around the corner. I want you to protect the future of the Uzumaki. I don't want my bloodline to be lost to the annals of time."
"Mmmmm, okay! That's not an impossible request. The later the war starts, the stronger I'll be by then... Also... This is for you."- Aya agreed and handed Mito a sheet of paper filled with scripture written in Aya's blood.
"This is?"- Mito asked. She could understand some of the script, but most of it was alien to her.
"If you need help, take this to the Futagami clan."- The Futagami clan in the village specialized in earth and wind release. They were also known for their friendly disposition and most would remember them for their reluctance to participate in direct combat.
"Why them?"
"They are a clan that answers to Aya Futagami, no matter in which life."- Aya said, pointing at herself. 007 and 47 had already contacted her and she was sure her Imouto-chan was informed as well of her current reincarnation.
"... They are plants from the desert?!"- Mito asked, surprised, concluding that the Futagami were spies from Sunagakure.
"Yes... Also... They are great at stealth."- Aya commented.
Mito stared in silence for a second and nodded.
"I understand... Thank you."-She said, catching Aya's implied statement.
Time moved fast, and a week later, it was time for Aya to depart.
"Aya-chan, I'll miss you!"- Tsunade said while she lifted Aya and wiped her snot and tears on her.
"... I'll miss you too, Tsuna-nee! I'll try to come and visit you when I'm older."- Aya said with a twitching eye, looking at her snot-covered clothing.
"Come on, Tsuna. Let Aya-chan go with the nice gentlemen."- Mito said while pulling the girls apart.
"This is for you, Aya-chan. Give it to the current village leader."- Mito handed Aya a sealed scroll.
"Thank you. I'll make sure to fulfill my end of the deal since you've fulfilled yours."- Aya had been taken care of for over half a year by Mito, and she had helped purify the Nine-Tails' chakra.
As Aya left, riding on Shinkuro's back, Hiruzen Sarutobi observed the team of Uzushio-nin from a crystal ball.
"Danzō, what did you pick up from the girl?"
"She is uncannily smart; contrary to what her eyes suggest, she is not blind. She is a sensor, signed a contract with the wolf, her chakra is masked, and..."- Danzō remained silent as if mulling over something.
Hiruzen gave him a look to urge him to continue.
"... And the Hyūga refused to report on what they saw in her."
"They refused?"- Hiruzen asked, unsure about what Danzō meant by that.
He knew his friend better than anyone, and he understood that Danzō wouldn't allow a subordinate to refuse a direct order. This was not a democracy; if anything, it was closer to a military dictatorship with some flares of meritocracy. But no Konoha-nin could refuse orders, at least not without a reason of weight.
"Hiroto Hyūga refused to elaborate and removed himself from my Root on account of clan secrets pertaining to the Royal Branch. The next day, all the other members of the Royal Branch who were considering applying to Root withdrew their requests and applied for the hospital."- Danzō was still trying to collect information, but spying on a Hyūga was borderline impossible—much less the Royal Branch.
Moves like these are what drive Hiruzen Sarutobi and the council to amass power. Now it's the Hyūga who are refusing orders citing their clan as a reason, but before it was the Senju and the Uchiha.
"... Could it be related to the girl's dōjutsu? Maybe a distant connection to the Hyūga? Tobirama-sensei did say that the Hyūga were distant cousins of the Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Senju."- Hiruzen offered a possible motive for the Hyūga Clan's behavior.
"I'm lacking information, Hiruzen. That's why I suggested a seal to ensure loyalty. Had Hiroto Hyūga been branded, he wouldn't be able to withhold information from us."
"You know as well as I do that the clans wouldn't tolerate that."- Hiruzen said, not officially taking a stand on the permissibility of Danzō's solution.
"You don't have to tell me. But this not only affected Root. As far as Homura and I were able to track, they stopped taking missions outside the village since then and never left their complex. They also kept a perimeter around the baby."- Danzō spoke with displeasure laced in his voice.
"A perimeter, you say?"- Hiruzen wondered what sort of perimeter a Hyūga would keep with their dōjutsu.
"Yes, we were hardly able to detect it because of how wide it was. But centered around the baby, they kept at least five of their Royal Branch members armed with bows at all times."- Danzō didn't want to admit that the only reason he discovered the perimeter was because Hiroto Hyūga contacted him for 'old times' sake' and advised him not to mess with the baby after his Root team was discovered tailing the girl.
It was a complete failure from the standpoint of an intelligence agency like Root, and all of this was because of an Uzumaki girl.
"Keep monitoring them. I'll see if I can ask the Hyūga patriarch about the girl."- Hiruzen said as he and Danzō observed the Uzushio-nin moving out of the crystal ball's observable range.
A few days later, at night, on the last day before they board a boat to Uzushiogakure, Aya received a non-unexpected visit.
"~Huehehehehehe~ So small and defenseless!"- A red-haired woman laughed like a pervert while she spun naked over the bedding with the baby in her arms.
Aya just stared flatly at her Imouto-chan having one of her yandere episodes.
"Come here, Aya! I made this specifically for you when I received the report for the Futagami clan all those months ago."- Sahara sat and brought Aya to her bare breasts. In the middle of her chest, she saw a script she recognized.
"Sahara, are you thinking of breastfeeding me?"- Aya was sure she was, but she had to ask.
"Eh? Of course I am, look! I'm lactating."- She showed Aya the white droplets in her nipples.
"... Why, though? I don't breastfeed anymore."- Aya sometimes wondered what went through her sister's head.
She knew that part of the reason behind her little sister's aberrant behavior had to do with all the fanatism in Sunagakure and that Aya raised her as much as her parents did, but given that they had similar ages Sahara never saw her as a parental figure entirely.
Somehow that combination of cultural fanatism for Aya and the pseudo-parental figure she was for her combined into... this.
"Are you sure? Father said you liked mother's milk very much, I made it specifically for you."- She massaged her breasts and milk started to drip with some pressure.
'Ah, there it is. The emotional manipulation and the puppy eyes laced with crocodile tears.'- Aya thought.
But her little sister was right, Kaede's milk was one of the most heavenly drinks she's ever had—for such reason, Yuudai, a grown-up man, took advantage of her pregnancies—and besides, she didn't want to hurt her little sister's feelings and throw away all of the hard work she did to get this beverage to her, so 'reluctantly', Aya accepted.
But not without externalizing her displeasure! She bit the nipple that fed her!
"~Ahn!~"- She bit no more because the tactic was counterproductive.
"Pervert, stop it!"- Aya demanded as she felt Sahara rubbing her legs.
|I don't think you have ground in which to stand. Do you remember why I breastfed the twins and you were not allowed?|
'Hey! Luci this is different, there are several levels of perversion, and this girl breached through like a dozen of them at once!'
After the now most uncomfortable breastfeeding session in history, Sahara laid Aya on her chest to talk more comfortably.
"What are you doing here, Sahara?"
"I came to pick you up."
"No can do. I made a deal with Mito Senju, I need to make it to Uzushiogakure."
"Ugh!"- Sahara grunted as if someone had stabbed through her stomach.
"I also need you to return to Suna and do me a favor that will take you a few years to complete."
"Ugh!"- Sahara grunted as if someone had twisted a knife in her gut.
"You complain too much for a pervert who just had one of her fantasies fulfilled."
"Fiiiiiine! What do you need help with, Onee-chan?"
"Do you remember that dimension I own?"
"Mhmmm."
"While I was in the Pure Lands Luci upgraded it and turned it into an abode of souls and the living."
"... Okay, I didn't see that coming, keep going."- Sahara's interest was picked.
"I'll give you a... 'Key' to Abeyance—that's what I named it—I want you to mark the souls of the old and the terminally ill first, then mark everyone in Sunagakure and Ryūmyaku who would like to follow me and change their afterlife destination from the Pure Lands to Abeyance."
'Luci, can we do something similar for the immortal Army?'
|Yes, but we would need the help of the next bearer of the Rinnegan or my true body.|
'Okay, we'll get to that when we have the chance.'
"Sahara?"- Aya asked after she noticed Sahara was not speaking, but she felt her vibrate and through her chest, her heart was pounding wildly.
"Onee-chan, does that mean that I can follow you after I die?"- Her chakra was rioting but luckily Sahara had set a script barrier around the tent.
'Oh...'
|Somehow you passed the pervert to this one but didn't to your previous children... though Haruna was somewhat of a pervert at the end.|
The next day Aya and the escort made it to the boat and by the end, they were landing in Uzushiogakure.
_________________________________________________
The chapter continues.
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