STEP 2.5
Shibuki didn't take the main roads.
That was the first thing I noticed once we were far enough from the mansion that the noise of the search parties started to bleed into the distance. He kept to the narrower paths, the ones that wound between houses and along the edges of the lake, moving with a kind of quiet urgency that didn't fit the image he usually projected.
Careful too, almost excessively so. Then again, if one of the patrols caught him right now, they'd drag him straight back to the mansion and post guards at every door. Young leader or not, nobody was going to let him wander off into the dark while a missing-nin like Suien was on the loose.
Every time voices carried a little too close, he slowed, adjusted, cut around. Once or twice he even doubled back a few steps before slipping down a side path I wouldn't easily have noticed on my own.
Apparently, even though he came across as a sheltered youth (because honestly, he was) the young village leader had spent quite a lot of time familiarizing himself with the village he was supposed to be leading.
I kept my distance, staying far enough back that I wouldn't get caught in the same lanternlight when he crossed open stretches, close enough that I didn't lose him when the paths narrowed. The lake stretched out to our left, black and glassy under the night sky, the massive silhouette of the great tree rising from its centre, looming over the entire village like it owned the place.
Which, in a way, it did.
Somewhat to my surprise, we made it to the long narrow bridge connecting the island to the mainland, the same one we crossed when we first arrived in Taki, without incident. The structure stretched long and narrow across the water, old wood reinforced over time but still creaking faintly under Shibuki's lithe weight. It was the most exposed part of the route, no real cover, nothing but open space and reflections dancing across the surface of the lake. If any patrols were circling back this way, this was where they'd spot him, though with how fast he was moving, all they'd likely catch was a shadowed blur, with me not far behind.
Paranoia saw my eyes sweeping the shoreline out of habit. Nothing moved. Either we'd slipped through the gaps in their net, or they hadn't managed to tighten it yet.
Either way, we were through.
Despite all of the commotion occurring on the other shore, the tight sense of rising panic an almost palpable buzzing in the air, the island underneath Kusunoki Ōboku's gargantuan trunk was oddly serene and deathly silent, the sheer presence of the massive tree pushing all other sounds away.
The roots of Ōboku sprawled outward in every direction, thick as pillars in some places, splitting the earth and stone as they reached toward the water. Only some disjointed patches of ground were flat, either worn smooth by the ages or deliberately cleared around a few old and dilapidated shrines, but the majority of the island was massively uneven, shaped by centuries of slow, relentless growth.
Once again, Shibuki showed his familiarity with his home turf as he navigated it without hesitation, even in the pitch black of the night. He knew where to step, knew which paths would hold, which roots to use as footing, where the gaps were, and I dutifully followed in his footsteps without even a whisper of a sound.
We circled toward the far side of the island, the side that faced the waterfall. Even from here I could hear it, the constant, distant roar of water crashing down into the ravine below. The air felt heavier, mist clinging to everything, turning the exposed roots slick underfoot.
That's when I saw the shrine again, the one I'd noticed yesterday when Fū had told me the mythical origins of her village, god trees and water spirits and all, and the way her eyes instinctively flickered to this part of the island when she mentioned the sacred Hero Water.
Old, half-collapsed, tucked away between the roots, the shrine looked like the oldest structure in all of Takigakure, and if I didn't have my wiki-knowledge to fall back on, I likely would've given good odds on the relic being sequestered somewhere deep inside, hidden by traps and sanctified protections.
I knew better though, and clearly so did Shibuki, the youth ignoring the empty (but likely still boobytrapped) temple completely, instead carefully picking his way over and under the roots extending towards the shoreline, before they disappeared below the mirrorlike sheen of the vast lake, the man's eyes intently trained on the surface of the water. He made his way down toward the shoreline where the roots thinned out just enough to reveal a narrow strip of dark sand. The water here was deeper than it looked, black and still, reflecting almost nothing.
Shibuki slowed at the edge of the root-covered shore, scanning the dark surface of the lake one last time, before he stepped forward and slipped into the water without a splash, vanishing beneath the surface in a single clean motion, barely even leaving a ripple. I didn't follow, not yet, remaining hidden behind a particularly gnarled and thick root. My eyes, more adapted to the dark thanks to my tiger-spliced DNA, cut through the gloom without issue, slitted pupils opened wide.
'There! He took the bait.' I grin as I catch a dark shadow cutting underneath the still surface of the lake, hot on Shibuki's trail yet barely leaving a wake in the water.
I gave it another second or two before I too jumped into the lake, though with a bit more of a splash than the completely silent Waterfall ninjas. The cold hit immediately as the lake closed over my head. The world above disappeared in an instant, replaced by pressure and darkness and the faint distortion of movement ahead. I didn't bother trying to catch up, deliberately hanging back a bit and letting Shibuki take the lead.
'All roads lead to the Hero Water, after all.' I muse as I cut through the dark with deliberate motions as we descended further and further down into the depths of the lake, the roots of the tree above us like vast pillars twisting around us in a gargantuan labyrinth, the moon nothing but a shimmering pinprick of light far above us.
Despite the immense size of the lake, the trip to the cave that hid the Hero Water ended up surprisingly short. The entrance wasn't obvious until you were almost on top of it. A narrow opening between the roots, hidden just deep enough to avoid casual notice, sloping down into black water that swallowed what little light filtered through from above. Shibuki had already disappeared into it, Suien right behind him. For a moment I paused at the edge of the cave system, trying my best to pick up any vibrations in the water or a hint of chakra being expelled.
But my sensing skills weren't developed enough to pick something up over such distances and despite my new ninja constitution, I could feel a burning pressure clamp down on my lungs as I began to run out of air, so I vaulted into the dark tunnel after the two Taki shinobi.
The tunnel was wide and surprisingly straight, a sign it was at least partially man-made perhaps. Thankfully for my burning lungs, it wasn't that long either and in short order the oppressive gloom of the dark waters was broken by the flickering orange glow of torches being placed inside the cave itself. Slowing my ascent, the top of my head gently broke the surface of the water and I could see that the tunnel ended up as a lake on the edge of the cave which extended further back, sloping slightly upwards. An ancient shrine, a more well-kept mirror to the dilapidated one above, stood tall and imposing at the far wall at the back of the cave.
However, my attention was immediately caught by the two figures standing in the midst of the cave, Shibuki halfway towards the shrine, fear warring with righteous anger on his face. His eyes kept flitting from the Hero Water's hiding place to the man who had halted him in his steps.
Suien's back was turned towards me but even from my hiding spot in the lake I could see the smugness radiate off of him.
"-the same. That same weakness as your father! You lack the strength to defend what's precious to you, defend the very people that trust and rely on you, so all you can do is cheat! Run away and throw your life away for nothing!" the traitorous jōnin spat as he slowly advanced on the scared youth.
Meanwhile, I'm watching the exchange with narrowed eyes, mentally tugging on a part of my mind that has become very active since yesterday.
'Fū.'
'Mizuki?! Where the hell are you? What's going on?!'
'I know everything must be confusing and scary right now Fū, but you need to listen to me. I need your help. More than that, Shibuki needs your help, he's in danger!'
'What?! Where is he? I'll be right there, just sit tight!'
'He tried to get to the Hero Water, but Suien followed him. I'll try and stall him, but we could really use your help!'
'The Hero Water? But then- ah crap, hang on! I'm on my way! Whatever you do, just… don't die!'
The static buzz leaves the back of my skull as I blink my eyes at the 'advice'.
'Right, let me get right on that.' I think ruefully to myself, before my attention is snapped back to the confrontation happening near the shrine.
Looks like the traitor's patience had run out. Suien's hands came up slowly, almost leisurely, flipping through a worryingly long chain of handseals.
"Do your village a favour, Shibuki, and just give up already. You're much more useful to them, and to me, if I don't have to turn you into a pathetic smear on the wall. Now-"
That's as far as he got before my scything kick catches him in the side hard enough, the tall jōnin folds in half around my leg. In that brief, suspended moment of time, the world itself seemingly holding its breath, Suien's mouth torn open in a silent scream, I simply cannot help myself.
"DYNAMIC… ENTRY!"
Far away, in the Village Hidden in the Leaf, a certain man in green spandex and orange legwarmers, currently walking around on his hands, experienced a sudden inexplicable urge to start shouting about 'Youth!'.
I push through the spin with all of my enhanced strength and Suien is taken clear off his feet and launched across the subterranean cavern, roughly rag dolling over the slick ground before he slams two swords made of thick roiling high-pressure water into the rocky floor, carving deep furrows as he rights himself.
His expression is murderous, but he's somewhat wobbly as he rises to his feet, hacking out a glob of blood, clearly favouring his side.
"M-Mizuki… damn you… t-traitor…" he gasps out through gritted teeth, but I just shrug as I move beside the stunned looking Shibuki.
"Can't betray what you never believed in." I shoot back coldly.
"You… you followed me?" Shibuki asks in a small voice and I give him a sly wink.
"You really are an open book, you know that? It wasn't hard to figure out what you had set your mind on after our talk. Tiger forbade me from joining the search for the traitor, but he said nothing about volunteering for bodyguard duty. Just my luck Suien clearly had the same idea." I say with a smirk, before my expression falls, my voice sombre.
"Consider it payback, for… for Saburo." I say and from the other side of the cavern, Suien lets out a hacking laugh, blood spilling in thin rivulets down his chin.
"Mizuki, you lying fuck!"
He launched himself at us, high-pressure swords whirling around him. Considering how effortlessly those blades had carved through solid bedrock earlier, I didn't particularly like our chances of trying to block them, even with kunai. Shibuki and I threw ourselves backward just in time, Suien's strikes tearing through the stone where we'd stood moments earlier. Fortunately, the strain of his imprisonment combined with my earlier sneak attack was finally starting to catch up to him, slowing the jōnin down just enough to give us some breathing room.
If only just…
"Careful Mizuki! Suien is our most skilled user of the Takigakure Style: Watercutting Sword. It'll strip flesh from bone with even a glancing hit!" Shibuki warns, before surprising me when he shoots through several handseals himself, their speed showcasing he must've had thorough training in the past.
Water coalesces around his hands before solidifying in two similar streams to the ones Suien is wielding and Shibuki lets out a nervous little smile as he settles into a combat stance.
"Good thing that Suien taught me everything he knew about the technique before he betrayed the village."
"Wrong."
And then Shibuki has to rapidly backpedal, swords flashing around in a defensive pattern as Suien unleashes a furious barrage of heavy handed strikes. A brutal overhand blow is immediately followed by a sinuous series of slashes aimed at the youth's legs, forcing him to give ground, as Suien steps into the opening, dragging one of his water swords through the ground in an upward sweep, showering Shibuki in gravel and bullet-like droplets. The young village leader flinches back, only for a moment, but it's enough as Suien stabs forwards with one of his swords, impacting one of Shibuki's swords square on its unstable tip with a horribly loud grinding noise. Shibuki's sword groans and roils underneath the sudden strike, before violently dispelling itself, almost taking his hand with it. Not letting up, Suien spartan kicks him in the chest, Shibuki rolling harshly over the floor, gasping as he looks up at the traitor with wide panic-filled eyes.
"I taught you everything you know."
He raises his sword for a killing blow, only to whirl around as he cuts a brace of shuriken out of the air. His eyes widen briefly when he's not faced with one Mizuki, but close to twenty instead. Then his gaze sharpens and he scoffs.
"Simple Illusionary Clones? These won't fool me Mizuki. I've seen how you move, know how you think. You cannot hide from me!" he roars as he charges through a bunch of Mizukis that tried to close in on him, completely ignoring them as their ghostly limbs move through him with no effect.
"I have you now!" he shouts, raising both swords for a devastating blow as he moves recklessly through the clones still closing in on him.
"Die you- urghk!"
Only for one of those clones to pierce him in the side with a very solid kunai. The response is immediate as that Mizuki is cut down, while Suien's other sword arcs out in a wide swing. It passes harmlessly through three more clones, but catches the fourth, which together with the one at his side, bursts into a puddle of water.
"I see… you mixed in Water Clones with the Regular ones… even layered them in a henge to make them appear less real… no doubt you've done the same in reverse with some of your Illusionary Clones, to muddle the waters even further…" Suien immediately catches on, his eyes wary as he keeps a cautious distance from the clones circling around him, before he shakes his head with a rueful chuckle.
"You're such an annoying bastard to fight, Mizuki."
"You're one to talk." One of the clones shoots back, and Suien throws himself in the fray again with a snarl.
He's breathing hard now, but those pressurized water swords still make him as deadly as ever. Which is probably why Shibuki is scrambling to reach the shrine, before a strong grip on his shoulder halts him in his tracks. As he whirls around, he's faced with me, the real one this time.
"Shibuki, don't."
"The Hero Power, we-"
"Don't need it."
My voice is so calm despite the chaos of the moment, it's enough to take Shibuki off guard as he falls silent, eyes wide as he stares up at me.
"But… but Suien said…"
"I know what Suien said. And guess what. He was right." I say as I lean down closer to the young man, his mouth open in shock.
"You take that power-up, you'll throw your life away. You'll disappoint every person in this village who trusts you, who relies on you, who needs you to make it out of here alive and lead them towards a new tomorrow." I implore in a somewhat hurried tone, distinctly aware how Suien is absolutely tearing through the few Water Clones I managed to slip in with the regular ones, though caution mixed with his previous injuries make him slower than he could've been.
I need to get Shibuki's head in the game and fast.
"You drink that stuff and you're gambling your life on ending this quickly. If you fail, Taki loses both its leader and its strongest reserve in one shot."
That at least got through to him.
"You don't save your village by dying for it," I said, keeping my tone firm but measured. "You save it by surviving long enough to lead it afterwards."
'There, that's something Naruto, or someone shonen-protagonist adjacent, would say, right?'
Apparently it was, as Shibuki shoots the shrine one final look, before turning back to me, a determined set to his jaw as he gives me a confident nod. Which is immediately followed by a look of panic as I can feel the air at my back change.
"Mizuki, look out-!" he tries to warn me, even as my hands fly up to form a simple series of a few handseals, desperation lending me speed.
Just as my hands fall into the Snake seal, a sword made of pure pressurized water bursts straight out of my chest as if it's auditioning for a part in the Alien franchise. A spray of blood hits Shibuki in the face as the youth scrambles back in shock.
"I have you now, you slippery bastard…" Suien growls low as he leans over to whisper in my ear.
The only response he got was when my clothes suddenly collapsed into a splash of water, the 'me' he'd impaled dissolving into a puddle at his feet. Under normal circumstances, a jōnin probably would've noticed immediately that the liquid bursting from my chest lacked the metallic scent of blood, but by this point Suien himself was bleeding badly enough that he likely never even noticed the difference.
"Die!" my voice rings through the cavern from right behind him and to his credit, despite his injuries and fatigue piling on, Suien still turns on a dime, sword brutally cutting me in half mid-air.
"Wait, Mizuki doesn't shout his attacks-" the traitorous jōnin is a bit faster on the uptake this time, even as he's splashed with more water from my destroyed clone, but the distraction served its purpose.
Hands shoot out from just below him, taking hold of his ankles and pinning him in place. Restricting Suien's mobility takes away the only real advantage he had left over me, that being his greater speed, but it also sacrificed my strongest play so far, namely subterfuge. After all, a Water Clone would be physically too weak to constrain him, while a normal Clone wouldn't even be able to hold on to him in the first place. Which meant-
"Found you now!" Suien crows as he raises his water sword, aiming to stab down at me.
If I was more proficient with the Hiding Like a Mole Technique I could've transitioned into the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique and pulled Suien right down into the bedrock, fully restraining him and potentially ending the battle right then and there. Alas, I was no Hatake Kakashi and the limited training I had done in prison and under Hiruko had been focused more on physical conditioning than expanding my jutsu repertoire.
This left me as a sitting duck, rather than a mole, but thankfully, I was a duck with allies.
"Water Release!"
Suien freezes as his eyes flit to the now standing Shibuki, who's rapidly flying through a set of handseals.
"Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
"Impossible!" Suien roars, dispelling his swords and quickly flying through his own set of seals.
'Wait, wasn't Shibuki only capable of using that after taking the Hero Water? He needs the massive chakra overdose to compensate for not using all forty-four handseals… dangit, don't tell me my Talk no Jutsu was not very effective!?'
However, both Suien and I are taken off guard when Shibuki completes a relatively short chain of handseals and spits out a torrent of water from his mouth. It's a powerful rapid, but no dragon. Still, it comes out suddenly enough it still catches Suien right in the stomach, his own technique only half-formed, with enough power behind it to tear him from my grasp and send him ass over teakettle.
I burst from the ground as Shibuki lands beside me, breathing somewhat heavily after using two demanding nature transformation jutsu back to back like that. The only reason I'm not gasping for air after having made half a dozen Water Clones is because the partial Chimera Technique gave me a greater chakra pool in addition to greater endurance. Not unexpected, since chakra itself is partly made up out of physical energy and stamina.
Despite Shibuki having landed a clean blow with his water jutsu, Suien still climbs back to his feet, a little more ragged but surprisingly intact for a man who just got pressure washed. My eyes narrow as I notice the water splashed across his body from the destroyed Water Clones behaving strangely, clinging to him in uneven patches that almost look solid for a moment before the chakra destabilizes and the liquid finally sloughs off onto the stone floor.
"Heh, if that really had been the true Water Dragon Bullet Technique, my impromptu Water Armour wouldn't have saved me from being torn to ribbons. What a clever little trick, calling out the dragon jutsu, but using the regular Water Bullet instead, even forcing me to abandon my attack in favour of defence." Suien chuckled darkly, before cracking his neck.
"But such deception is a double-edged sword, my former student. Now that I've survived your little sneak attack, what do you plan to do next, I wonder?" the jōnin says menacingly, but surprisingly, this time Shibuki remains uncowed.
"I'll attack you again. And again, and again, until you finally fall and the village is saved, no matter how long it takes! The village gives me strength! It gives me the strength to beat you, Suien, not because I want to, but because I must!" the young leader roars, fire in his eyes as he summons a new set of water swords.
'Good speech. Very moving, very shonen of you. You've played your part very well: unfortunately for you, a new player is about to enter the scene, which for you means exit stage left.'
Right as Shibuki coils his body to spring into action, my hand delivers a brutal chop to the back of his neck, instantly knocking him out cold as his swords destabilize before disintegrating completely. For a moment, the cave is filled with a pressing silence as Suien gives me an odd stare, completely disregarding the village leader almost comically flopping over flat on his face, butt in the air.
"Mizuki… honestly, on which side are you even on at this point?" the traitor asks, sounding genuinely exhausted for a moment, too tired to even be angry anymore.
"The side I've always been on, the only side that matters."
And then I'm in his face with far greater speed than I've shown thus far, Suien's eyes widening as he barely manages to lean back, turning a brutal haymaker into a glancing blow. As the traitor backpedals, summoning his own set of swords, I drop my Henge, showing my new altered appearance, stripes and all as I give him a toothy grin.
"My own."
Suien just snarls before leaping at my tall form, swords leading the way in a deadly dance. What follows is a high speed exchange of brutal blows and narrow dodges. I catch him with a knee in the side, targeting his broken ribs, he manages to score a thin, wide line across my chest as I lean backwards in my best Neo-dodge impression. The fight continues like this for a few intense moments, but I can see Suien's eyes narrow in suspicion, even as he begins racking up hits against me.
None of them are fatal, most of them aren't even that deep despite the dangerous properties of his high pressure swords and as we briefly disengage, him battered and bruised, me bleeding profusely but standing tall, I can see the realization click in his mind.
"You're letting yourself be cut?" Suien asks, once again baffled.
"Why? What angle are you aiming at? What fucking game are you playing this fucking time Mizuki!" Suien shouts, almost desperate now, his voice echoing through the cavern, his eyes wild, irises narrowed to manic pin pricks.
"Truth is, Suien…" my eyes flit towards the lake at the edge of the cave, where I can sense a presence rapidly hurl through the water, to the point the surface of the lake is already trembling.
"… the game was rigged from the start." I say with a grin, before my expression turns into one of agony as I jump backwards so I'm standing in a defensive position over Shibuki's prone body.
Before Suien can react, the surface of the small lake almost evaporates as something explodes from its depths, hovering above the wildly quacking surface on fast beating wings. As Suien is shocked still from Fū's sudden entrance, I make sure to pitch my voice loud.
"You'll never take him Suien! I'll protect Shibuki with my life!"
Fū's distinct orange eyes shoot from Suien to me, before widening as they fall on Shibuki's still form. Something… deep and primal bursts into the petite girl's face as she whirls around on Suien.
"YOU!"
A voice that deep and loud and… beastly has no business coming out of a body that small and it roots Suien to the spot, the traitorous jōnin reduced to a soaked and battered man rooted to the spot with wide eyes. When Fū explodes into motion, I can barely track it. Suien stands no chance at all against the enraged Jinchūriki.
The girl turns into a streak of color and movement, slamming into Suien and carrying the tall man towards the far wall… and into it. He bursts much like my Water Clones had done, except there was no doubt this was the real flesh and blood Suien. It was… disquieting and I found myself averting my gaze as the tremors shaking the cave finally subsided.
I sunk to my knees at Shibuki's side, my fatigue only partly faked (my gambit, though it had worked to get Fū into insta-kill mode, meant I had lost quite a lot of blood), checking him over as small, hesitant (unsettlingly wet) footsteps padded over. A blood-smeared Fū knelt on the opposite side of Shibuki, her wings and the thick, oppressive chakra that had choked the chamber now disappeared. She remained silent for a moment while I checked Shibuki over, falling back on the basic medical techniques I'd picked up from watching Tsubaki treat me over the past weeks as I slowly dragged him back to consciousness.
Shibuki groaned softly as consciousness (and with it, pain) finally returned to him, one hand weakly pressing against the side of his neck before his eyes slowly opened. For a second he just stared upward at the torchlit ceiling of the cavern, disoriented and unfocused, until his gaze shifted and landed on Fū kneeling over him.
She looked a mess.
Blood covered the front of her clothes, streaked across her arms and cheek, even spattered through parts of her hair where it was already to beginning to dry up, her normally mint-green locks now dark and sticky. Judging by the way her eyes kept carefully avoiding the far side of the chamber, where what remained of Suien still covered the wall like a Jackson Pollock painting, she clearly didn't want to think too hard about whose blood it actually was.
"Shibuki!" she blurted out the second she realized he was awake, relief flooding her voice so quickly it almost cracked. "Are you okay? You got hit really hard and then you weren't moving and I thought-"
"I'm fine," he said quickly, still sounding dazed as he pushed himself up slightly.
"I'm okay." He continued, voice gaining strength as he held onto her slim wrist.
"What about you? Are you hurt? Are you alright?"
Fū blinked.
Then, almost sheepishly, glanced down at all the blood covering her before hurriedly shaking her head.
"No! I mean, uhm… No, this… this isn't mine."
Her voice dropped slightly near the end of the sentence and I could see Shibuki's eyes flit to the new crater embedded in the far side of the cavern.
"R-right. I see. Mizuki, what happen-" Shibuki tries to change the subject as he turns to me, though both he and Fū fall silent at the sight of me.
'Fair enough. Not everyday you see a half Tiger-man covered in his own blood sitting with you in an underground cavern…' I think wryly as I can see the two Taki ninja drink in my broader form and new tiger stripes crossing my arms and arcing over my shoulders.
"Woah. What happened to you?" Fū asked as she tilted her head slightly.
It would've looked adorable if she wasn't covered in more blood than me.
I glanced down at myself before shrugging tiredly.
"Dug a little deeper than usual," I said. "Turns out Orochimaru left me more surprises than just sleeper agent problems."
That immediately got Shibuki's attention.
"It's a power-up," I continued before either of them could start asking inconvenient questions. "A hidden one. Strong, but…" I let out a quiet breath. "Not exactly free."
I deliberately let my gaze drift toward the shrine.
The implication landed instantly.
Just like the Hero Water.
Shibuki's expression shifted slightly as that thought connected in his head, and he looked back toward the shrine himself, the earlier panic suddenly returning.
"The water…-"
He got to his feet too quickly, nearly stumbling before steadying himself against the wall and making his way over to the shrine entrance. Fū instinctively moved to help him, though he waved her off after a second, more embarrassed than anything else.
Together, the three of us stood at the foot of a short set of ancient steps leading up to the shrine, its stones worn smooth with age.
'It's smaller from up close.' I realized.
It was really just a glorified closet, barely worth the name of shrine, or even building. Shibuki disappeared into its recesses briefly before reemerging a few moments later with visible relief written across his face.
"It's still here," he said.
In his hands rested the old ceremonial gourd, faint chakra practically radiating from the liquid inside. Even from where I stood, I could feel the energy within the water despite my limited sensing abilities.
Good thing nobody here knew what it originally felt like.
Shibuki carefully returned it to its place inside the shrine before sealing the compartment back up, far more cautiously now than when he'd first come here. By the time he finished, the adrenaline had started wearing off for all three of us, leaving behind exhaustion, pain and the slow realization of just how close the entire situation had come to collapsing into a disaster.
"We should get back. People definitely felt all that chakra." I said eventually, glancing at Fuu from the corner of my eye.
The short Jinchūriki ducked her head at that and I placed a large, clawed hand on her narrow shoulder.
"It's not an admonishment, Fū. You did what you had to do, in order to protect the people precious to you. Your actions today saved the village. But they won't know that, they'll just know what they felt, even from way down here." I explain, my voice gentle, and Shibuki sighs as he lays his own hand on Fū other shoulder.
"Mizuki is right, I'm afraid. We best go back to the surface and put any unease to rest. Make no mistake, Fū: you did the right thing. Like Mizuki said, you saved the village. I'll make sure everyone knows that." He says, his earlier nervousness all but gone.
Again Fū ducks her head. For a moment, she lifts a hand to rub at her suspiciously shiny eyes, before she gives the limb a second look and decides against it.
Fū stayed close to Shibuki as we made our way back toward the underground pool, though I could feel her eyes keep drifting toward me every now and then, lingering briefly on the markings still visible across my skin before quickly darting away again. Curious. Concerned too, probably.
The swim back up felt longer this time.
By the time we finally emerged from beneath the roots and climbed back onto the shore, the island was already swarming with movement. Lanternlight flickered through the darkness as shinobi and villagers alike rushed toward us from the bridge, voices carrying across the lake, shouted orders and nervous villagers pressing in behind the shinobi cordon. The moment people realized it was Shibuki and Fū climbing out of the water alive (with me deliberately hanging back a bit), the entire crowd surged forward at once.
"Village Leader!"
"Are you hurt?!"
"Where's Suien?!"
"What happened down there?!"
The questions came from every direction at once, layered over each other into meaningless noise. Several Taki shinobi immediately moved toward us, some helping steady Shibuki while others looked toward the island itself with poorly hidden unease. They'd all felt the burst of bijuu chakra earlier.
And judging by the whispers starting to ripple through the crowd, so had the civilians.
"I felt the Beast-"
"Did it lose control?"
"What if it damages the tree?"
"Could the island collapse?"
"Quiet."
Shibuki's voice wasn't loud, but it cut cleanly through the chaos anyway.
The effect was almost immediate, not because of the volume, but because for the first time since arriving in Taki, I heard actual authority in his tone.
The crowd fell silent.
Even the elders looked faintly caught off guard.
Shibuki stepped forward slowly, still looking pale and exhausted from the fight, but standing straighter than I'd ever seen him before. Fū hovered near his side, arms folded tightly around herself, very deliberately not looking at the blood still covering parts of her clothes.
"Suien is dead," Shibuki announced, and a ripple spread through the gathered villagers immediately.
Shibuki raised a hand before the noise could build again.
"When Mizuki arrived at the mansion earlier tonight to warn us about Suien's escape, I…" He hesitated briefly before continuing more firmly. "I made a mistake."
The admission visibly surprised several people.
"In my fear for the village, I decided to seek out the Hero Water."
That caused outright murmuring as the villagers and even shinobi exchanged glances, a mixture of awe and worry.
"I believed that if I used its power, I could protect Taki myself. But Suien anticipated exactly that. He followed me beneath the very roots of Kusunoki Ōboku and attempted to force me into repeating the same tragedy that claimed my father."
One of the elders frowned sharply.
"How could he possibly have known you would go there?"
Before Shibuki could answer, Elder Senji spoke instead.
"Because it was the same tactic he attempted years ago," the old man said grimly. "During the attack that killed Lord Shibuki's father, Suien intended to follow him to the Hero Water as well. It seems he merely attempted to repeat history."
That quieted the remaining objections quickly.
Shibuki nodded once.
"If not for Mizuki, I likely would have." He continued, his gaze briefly shifting toward me.
"He convinced me not to use the Hero Water. Instead, he reminded me that strength doesn't only come from forbidden power."
The villagers listened intently now.
"That my father's mistake wasn't believing himself to be too weak, but believing he had to shoulder everything alone."
Shibuki took a slow breath.
"True strength, our strength… it lies in each other! In trusting our comrades and fighting at their side, with everything that we have! So I took up my swords and I fought at Mizuki's side against the traitor Suien, with my own strength! My own skills!"
The villagers were getting swept up in his story now, though the mood abruptly shifted as a little bit of the old Shibuki crept back into his posture.
"I gave it everything I had, but unfortunately, 'everything I had' appeared to be merely half of what Suien had taught me. He anticipated my moves and to my shame I must confess that during the fight, I was knocked unconscious. It now all fell to Mizuki."
He swept out his arm, beckoning me to step forwards, into the mass of lantern- and torchlight, the crowd rippling as they got their first good look at my altered appearance. Standing off to the side, I noticed Tiger's fists tightening at his side as I completely disregarded his earlier order to keep my power-up hidden from Taki.
"He survived only by drawing upon a dangerous power of his own," Shibuki said, his gaze briefly flicking toward the markings still visible across parts of my body.
"One that nearly destroyed him in the process, showing once again the dangers, the price of trusting in powers that are not our own."
"But even then, the battle would have been lost without Fū. It was her who saved Mizuki from the traitor and the cost of his own powers. It was her who dealt the final blow to Suien. The honor of the kill goes to her."
That immediately shifted the atmosphere again.
Fū visibly stiffened beside him as the crowd's attention swung toward her. Some looked grateful. Others looked uneasy. A few outright fearful.
One villager near the back spoke before anyone else could stop him.
"But the Beast—"
Shibuki rounded on him instantly.
"Fū is not a Beast."
The sheer force behind the response stunned the crowd silent again.
"She is my comrade," he continued sharply.
"A shinobi of Takigakure who risked her life protecting this village tonight."
Fū stared at him in surprise as a low murmuring slowly but steadily began gaining momentum. In the dark of the night, within the shifting of the crowd and the flickering of the lantern light, even I couldn't tell who shouted next.
"She ain't a Taki nin! She ain't even got a headband!"
Shibuki narrowed his eyes at the crowd, some agreeing, some pushing back, most clearly caught in the middle and unsure (or unwilling) to pick a side.
"Good point!" he called out and it was so unexpected, it shocked the crowd into silence as Fū bowed her head with a hurt look.
Though it shot up again when Shibuki stood in front of her with a beaming smile as he took off his own forehead protector. The lithe girl remained rooted on the spot as he tied his own headband around her, uncaring of the matted dark spots in her mint-green hair, as if she couldn't even believe it herself.
"Fū. In recognition of your deeds tonight in service of the safety and survival of Takigakure no Sato, I, Shibuki, son of the honorable Hisen, name you a Genin of the village, with all of the privileges, responsibilities and stipend that that entails. Wear your headband with honor. Wear it with pride!"
Somewhat surprisingly, there were more than a few cheers going up from the crowd at that as Fū couldn't contain herself any longer and launched herself at Shibuki, hugging him tightly, her bloody attire completely forgotten, not that the village leader seemed to mind much. He patted her on the shoulder before taking a step back.
"Yes, yes, well done. But we're not done with handing out rewards tonight!" he said, an infectious good mood in his tone now as the crowd seemed to lean forwards in anticipation.
Shibuki turned back toward me then.
"Mizuki."
I straightened slightly.
"Tonight, you saved both my life and this village." His voice carried clearly across the shoreline now. "From this moment onward, you are an honored friend of Takigakure. Know that my door is always open to you."
That caused another wave of staggered cheers.
"You may ask a boon of me," he continued. "Anything within my power."
Every pair of eyes immediately shifted toward me, though I could only feel the two burning a hole in the side of my head, staring out from twin dark holes in an expressionless porcelain mask. No pressure then.
I coughed slightly in my fist before clearing my throat.
"There is… one thing."
Tiger's stare sharpened immediately.
"I'd like permission to travel to the Great Fire Temple to the south of here, before returning to Konoha."
That clearly wasn't the answer anybody expected.
Even Tiger blinked.
"The Fire Temple?" Shibuki responded, taken off guard.
I nodded.
"This power I used tonight," I said, gesturing vaguely toward the markings still visible across my skin, "it doesn't just strain the body."
"I can feel it affecting me spiritually as well. Honestly?" I forced a tired laugh. "Feels like my soul got dragged across broken glass."
Several people looked deeply uncomfortable hearing that.
Good.
"I was hoping the monks there might be able to help." I finished, making sure to look somewhat abashed at that.
Shibuki exchanged a glance with Elder Senji, who slowly nodded, his expression unreadable.
"I still maintain correspondence with one of the senior monks there," the elder admitted after a moment. "I can send word ahead."
"Then it's settled," Shibuki declared immediately.
Tiger's jaw visibly tightened at that, but he stayed silent.
Calling me out publicly now would mean undermining the entire narrative Taki itself had just built around the night's events, not to mention embarrassing Konoha in front of an allied village after one of their shinobi had supposedly saved the village leader's life.
Politically speaking, he was trapped.
Which I was enjoying immensely.
Still, Shibuki didn't seem finished.
"That request is too modest," he said suddenly.
'…What?'
"You have earned more than safe passage."
Several elders immediately looked alarmed, catching on quicker than me.
"Lord Shibuki—"
"I will provide you with access to our remaining records on the Earth Grudge Fear Technique."
That got an actual reaction out of me, not a carefully acted mask and tailored body language, but actual genuine surprise.
"You have that?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Shibuki gave a small nod, seemingly not that surprised or bothered I knew about (yet another) Taki secret. Then again, the tale of famously failed assassination attempt on our first Hokage was hardly unknown. Hell, I have memories of the original Mizuki reading it to his Academy classes at the end of the day during story time.
"Fragments of it," Shibuki admitted. "Kakuzu took much of the original knowledge with him when he abandoned the village, and every attempt to recreate the technique ended disastrously."
The elders looked progressively more horrified the longer he spoke.
"Taki is too small to waste shinobi on dangerous experiments," Shibuki continued. "But…" his eyes flicked briefly toward the markings on my body, "I suspect you may already be more suited to such things than most."
The outrage from the elders came immediately after that.
"Lord Shibuki!"
"That technique is forbidden!"
"We cannot simply hand it to an outsider!"
Shibuki turned toward them, and for the first time since arriving in Taki, the young village leader genuinely looked like their leader, like he stood above them on an untouchable pedestal, worthy of the same reverence they had thus far only displayed when mentioning his father.
"Taki will not survive by clinging fearfully to every scrap of power while expecting others to bleed for us," he said firmly.
Silence, the Elders too stunned or cowed to speak.
"We need to trust our allies. More importantly, we need to trust ourselves. Not forbidden techniques. Not suicidal power. Nor burdens forced onto children."
For a while, nobody dared say anything, before Elder Senji placed himself between his village leader and the other Elders, his ancient gaze especially fixed on the man that had first lashed out and even now stood silently fuming. His words were directed to Shibuki, but clearly meant for his peers.
"Well spoken, my Lord. Though perhaps it would be best if we gave our allies copies of our records, scattered as they are. Uplifting our allies should not come at the cost of diminishing ourselves, of course." He said smoothly and Shibuki lost a bit of his bravado as he let out a sheepish chuckle.
"Of course, Elder Senji, that was what I meant. Make sure copies are made and delivered to our friends as soon as possible!" he called out to one of his shinobi, who bowed surprisingly deeply before disappearing along with several others in a Body Flicker.
"Shibuki, I… thank you, for this. It may be just what I need to survive." I say, surprising myself with how thick my voice was with genuine gratitude.
The young village leader is all smiles as he reaches up and claps my shoulder with a friendly grin.
"If it saves your life as you have saved mine, then it will be a price I'm more than willing to pay to settle the score between us."
'Forget saving princesses: saving village leaders and military dictators is clearly where it's at!'
Then the good mood was shattered when someone near the back stubbornly muttered, "What about the Beast?"
Fū flinched as Shibuki whirled around, looking furious.
"Enough," he snapped.
But before things could spiral again, I stepped closer towards newly minted Genin.
"Fū."
She looked over.
"If things are tense here for a while…" I scratched lightly at one ear. "You want to accompany me to the Fire Temple for a bit?"
Her eyes widened instantly.
"Really?!"
"Sure. Could be good training."
That enthusiasm spread across her face so quickly it almost gave me whiplash.
Shibuki watched the exchange quietly for a moment before something seemed to click into place behind his eyes.
"Fū. As you are now officially a shinobi of Takigakure no Sato, I am assigning you a C-Rank mission."
That snapped the young girl upright so fast you'd think she'd just been hit with a lightning jutsu.
"Escort Mizuki safely to the Fire Temple and ensure no harm comes to our honored ally during his recovery." Shibuki continued, the faintest hint of amusement creeping into his voice now as he took in the girl's awed reaction.
Still, I caught the real meaning behind the assignment immediately.
This wasn't just Shibuki rewarding Fū or thanking me.
It was an escape hatch.
A way to get her out of the village before the fear and rumors surrounding tonight had the chance to grow out of control. Time for people to cool their heads. Time for Fū herself to process the fact that she'd just turned a man into red paste against a cavern wall. And, likely influenced by what I told him back at the palace, time for somebody to finally teach her how to fight like an actual shinobi instead of relying on her bijuu to bulldoze every problem in front of her.
The crowd slowly began dispersing after that, the tension finally bleeding out of the shoreline now that Shibuki had managed to get ahead of the panic before it could properly take root. Villagers were already talking amongst themselves again, shinobi helping organize patrols and escort people back across the bridge, while the elders clustered around Shibuki with expressions ranging from relieved to deeply exhausted.
Fū, meanwhile, apparently decided the appropriate response to all of this was to slam into me at full speed.
I barely had time to brace before her arms wrapped around me in a crushing hug hard enough to make several of my injuries immediately flare up again like a fire jutsu.
Unfortunately, she was also still absolutely drenched in Suien's blood.
"Uh," I managed as something warm and sticky smeared across the front of my already ruined shirt.
Fū froze, then slowly looked down.
"Oh no-sorry! Sorry!" she yelped, instantly springing backward again with wide eyes.
"I forgot about the… the uhmm… blood…" she trailed off somewhat awkwardly.
Honestly, considering the night she'd had, the fact that that was what horrified her was almost endearing.
Before I could calm her worries by pointing out that I was also covered in blood (unfortunately my own for the most part) another figure stepped into front of me.
Tiger.
The ANBU captain stood there silently for several long seconds, arms folded behind his back as he studied me with the sort of expression usually reserved for particularly complicated bomb disposal.
Even Fū picked up on the sudden tension, nervously digging her heel in the sand.
"I'll… I'll just go pack then?"
"Sure thing Fū. I'll meet you at the top of the waterfall first thing in the morning, alright?" I respond with a smile, even deliberately leaning around Tiger's monolithic form and shooting her a reassuring nod, a small powerplay on my part.
He couldn't touch me, not here, not now and we both knew that. Additionally, he didn't know that, even as the mint-haired girl shot away for a well-earned (and much-needed) bath, she kept in contact with me.
'If this guy gives you trouble, just say the word and I'll give him a good smack!'
'It won't come to that Fū. I hope, at least. Go get some rest, I'll see you in the morning.' I thought back and with the knowledge that I had a whole ass seven-tailed Jinchūriki in my back pocket, I stared back into the porcelain ANBU mask, completely carefree.
Eventually, Tiger spoke.
"The Akimichi regained consciousness."
There it was.
"He provided his statement," Tiger continued evenly, his voice perfectly flat in that way ANBU always seemed to cultivate.
"Officially, his account fully supports your version of events."
'Officially? Interesting choice of words.'
"Meaning," he went on, "that both Konoha and Taki records will reflect that your… actions tonight were the result of implanted conditioning likely tied to Orochimaru."
I nodded slowly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the implication.
Tiger's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at that.
"I'm leaving two operatives behind with the injured guard," he continued. "Another pair will return to Konoha immediately to report the situation. I will escort you to the Fire Temple personally alongside my remaining ANBU, considering they'll likely be expecting us. Considering their ties to the Twelve Guardian Ninja and the very origins of ninjutsu itself, it's likely for the best not to keep them waiting."
Not 'protect' or 'guide'. Escort.
A very diplomatic way of saying escort under supervision.
"And after that?" I asked neutrally.
Tiger held my gaze for another moment.
"Then you return to Konoha."
He didn't elaborate further. Didn't need to.
Whether that return ended in debriefing, imprisonment or Danzo deciding I'd become too inconvenient to keep around was apparently a problem for future Mizuki.
'Dang, sucks to be him. Would hate to be that guy.'
Tiger stepped aside without another word, clearly deciding that continuing this conversation in public carried more risks than benefits, disappearing into the night, likely to debrief the rest of the ANBU still stationed at the bottom of the waterfall.
A moment later, Tsubaki reached me.
Unlike Fū, she hugged me carefully, one arm sliding around my side while the other settled briefly against the inside of my flak jacket. Subtle enough that nobody looking our way would notice anything strange about the movement.
"You look terrible," she muttered quietly against my shoulder.
"Feel worse."
That earned a faint laugh from her, though she couldn't quite disguise the genuine concern in her voice. When we pulled apart again, nobody paid attention to the slight extra weight now hidden inside her flak jacket.
Just a small sealing scroll.
Containing one very real gourd of Hero Water.
Water Clones may be looked down upon in combat scenarios for only having 1/10th of the original caster's strength, but that was still plenty to carry a small sealing scroll up the steps of the shrine while Suien was distracted and Shibuki was unconscious, containing the dummy that Tsubaki had been charging for the better part of a day and swap them out before Fū exploded into the room like a human missile.
'Step two: success.'
//
AN: Finally, finally we're done with this arc. I remember setting out to write this fic and thinking I'll have completed the entire story in 60k words. Now we're already past the 100k mark and we're still only getting started. Once Mizuki has the Infinite Armor and the Stone of Gelel, this build really starts coming together, but that will be a little while off for now. I'll hope to take what I learned from the past two arcs and make the next ones snappier and better paced. What did you guys think of the fight?