I ended up renting a small villa, not a grand mansion, but it was still better than staying at an inn the entire time. I did enjoy that, since it meant we didn't have to think about cooking or cleaning, but given that we would be staying here a while, it just wasn't practical.
No, a private villa with its own courtyard for a little training for Karin was by far the best, plus it offered far more privacy. Already, I had noticed many eyes looking at us.
Truly, no matter where we went, we attracted plenty of curiosity, and here, even more so.
After all, these were nobles and rich merchants; they kept up with the news, and so they were well aware of who we were.
The last of the Uzumaki and Kaguya clans. That was the reputation we had after the Kaguya clan's failed coup and their total extermination. Though among shinobi, I had a far greater reputation, but that was secondary here.
These nobles saw shinobi as nothing but tools, or something to own; they didn't truly see a shinobi as something impressive, they cared not for genin or jōnin, to them, the difference between the two was just the price tag.
They never saw the countless amounts of sweat, tears, and blood it took to reach that level.
A-rank? S-rank? Just a difference in price, nothing more.
It was honestly surprising just how arrogant nobles in this world could be. An S-rank shinobi like Sasori could even take down a small country on his own, yet nobles never saw them as a threat; they truly saw themselves as above all of that.
Shinobi were but tools, they weren't dangerous; the real danger was the ones sending them. Or so they thought.
It was a fatal flaw, a shortsightedness that would one day be their undoing. I had seen it countless times throughout history. The powerful grow complacent, believing their walls and their gold can protect them from the world. They forget that true power, the power to reshape nations and rewrite destinies, lies not in their ledgers but in the hands of those they so casually dismiss.
Still, that was all something for the future; for now, we continued to spend our time going to the coliseum to watch the fights.
In these fights, I tried my best to offer Karin some commentary to help her learn as much as she could from watching them fight. While I knew the best way to learn was to do, there was plenty to learn from watching others fight as well.
As for Chino, her matches were no longer over in an instant, it was clear that her father, En Oyashiro, had wanted her to win the first match, since he liked collecting shinobi with Kekkei Genkai, but since that was done, he forbade her from using her dōjutsu for the next few matches.
He likely wanted her to get experience in taijutsu and ninjutsu.
And likely because he knew that the coliseum was a place for spectacle, a place for brutal fights, for flashy ninjutsu and taijutsu. The nobles and other guests watching didn't want to see a genjutsu fight.
Doing it once as a massive upset was fine, the shock of the sudden reversal had been entertaining enough, but for every match? Genjutsu just wasn't interesting enough. No one wanted to watch two people just standing still as they battled with one genjutsu after another.
So now she used Water Release ninjutsu as well as some taijutsu, though it was clear that she was relatively weak when it came to that, which was hardly surprising given how young and small she was.
If I recalled correctly, she wouldn't be all that much bigger than her current size in the future. And taijutsu was something that favored the large and strong, skill and technique could bridge the gap, such as my Gentle Fist, but in the end, the strongest users of taijutsu were people like Might Guy and the Raikage.
And the crowd loved a good ninjutsu fight, even if I had to admit they were heavily biased. After all, they were fighting inside, so there wasn't much earth to use for Earth Release, and not much water for Water Release.
Chino had to use extra chakra to condense her own water.
An unfair advantage to users of wind and fire, yes, but the fighters had little right to complain.
It was, after all, the rules they were forced to fight by.
Even so, I could see the nobles and rich merchants who owned the fighters getting quite excited when one of their fighters won a match, some even going as far as to shout orders at them, as if that would help.
It was a sad sight, truly.
"You seem bored, Kaguya-hime," Kanna said one evening as we sat in our villa's courtyard. The cool night air was a welcome respite from the stuffy, perfumed atmosphere of the coliseum. The moon, a perfect silver disc, hung in the inky black sky, casting long, ethereal shadows across the manicured garden.
I was tracing patterns on the surface of my sake cup, the condensation cool against my fingertips. "Perhaps, but it is to be expected; this place isn't built to cater to shinobi. Only children and the ignorant, willful or otherwise, would find the matches entertaining," I replied with a sigh as I took a sip of the clear liquid. It was a good thing that the island didn't skimp on quality, the food and sake were both excellent.
"Then why are we here?" Kanna pressed, her gaze unwavering. She had been patient, but I could see the question had been weighing on her.
"Karin is old enough to start training, and I am on a far too high level for her, she would learn far more from these fights than watching me fight my clones," I answered simply, turning my gaze to the girl in question. She was sparring with a training dummy I had bought the other day, her movements still clumsy, but her determination was fierce. Sweat plastered strands of her red hair to her forehead, and her breath came in ragged gasps, but she refused to stop.
"It's still cruel," Kanna murmured, her eyes softening as she watched Karin. "To make children fight like that."
"Perhaps," I conceded, "but the people there, many of them have little other choice, they can fight for nobles and merchants, put on shows to please their betters. Or they can become bandits, preying on the weak, until they annoy the wrong noble or merchant, and they send some shinobi after them," I explained. "And while cruel, these fights are still safer than being on a real shinobi team."
Kanna sighed. She didn't like it, but in the end, she just had to accept it. She had seen me kill countless bandits without a second thought; she knew that the world was a cruel place and that that was simply how it was.
The next morning, as I was enjoying my tea, I made my decision. "Karin," I said, my voice calm and even. "How would you like to fight in the coliseum?"
Karin's eyes widened in surprise. "Me? Fight in the coliseum?" she stammered, her fork clattering onto her plate.
"Yes," I nodded, "didn't you say you wanted to try?" I asked her with a smile.
"I... I do, but... can I?" she asked, her voice filled with a mix of excitement and trepidation. She looked from me to the kitchen, where Kanna was currently.
"You have been training for a while, and you have been watching them fight for a long time; by now, you should know all their secrets, right? And what did I say about Chino's first fight?" I asked her, reminding her of our earlier conversation.
Karin's expression shifted as she recalled our conversation. "Information... is an important weapon. Have it, and you can win... or at least know when to retreat," she recited, her voice gaining a little confidence.
"Exactly," I said, a small smile playing on my lips. "You have a weapon they don't. And you have a unique ability of your own. You can sense chakra, feel their presence, and even their emotional state. That is a powerful tool."
"Plus," I added, leaning forward a little, "you have a distinct advantage no one else in that arena possesses."
"What's that?" Karin asked, her curiosity piqued.
I leaned back, taking a slow sip of my tea. "That's a secret, but I promise you, you have nothing to worry about," I told her, my eyes sparkling with hidden knowledge.
She looked toward the kitchen again, clearly tempted, but worried her mother wouldn't agree, and for good reason, Kanna would never agree. She was the one who had been most vocal about how cruel it was for the children to fight, after all.
Which was why I was talking to Karin alone.
"You do not have to decide now, just think about it. I will be heading to the Coliseum today, and I have already signed you up. You have until this evening to decide," I told her as I stood up to leave.
-----
Later, in the hushed, perfumed air of our private booth, I watched Karin's reaction to my surprise. The arena below was a maelstrom of dust, shouts, and the crackle of ninjutsu. A boy with spiky, blonde hair had just sent a shower of flaming sparks toward a hulking opponent.
"So, what do you think? Will you do it?" I asked, my voice a low murmur against the roar of the crowd.
Karin tore her gaze from the fight, her amber eyes wide with a mixture of fear and a burgeoning, almost desperate excitement. The light from a nearby paper lantern caught the perspiration on her brow. "But... what if I lose?" she whispered, her hands clutching the silk cushion beneath her.
"Losing is a possibility, yes," I admitted, my tone unflinching. "But don't worry, you won't get hurt even if you lose." I paused, letting the weight of my promise settle in the air between us. "And no one gets better at fighting by never taking a risk. This is the safest way to learn how to handle a real fight, Karin. You'll have rules, a referee, and a medic. In the wild, you have none of those."
She looked down at her lap, where her small hands were twisting the hem of her dress. I could feel the turmoil within her, the churning mixture of Kanna's cautious nature and her own yearning to prove herself. The desire to be more than just the last Uzumaki, a girl who could only watch from the sidelines.
Finally, she looked up, her jaw set with a resolve that reminded me of another Uzumaki I once watched, Uzumaki Mito. "Okay," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "I'll do it."
A genuine smile touched my lips. "Good. I have already arranged everything. Your opponent will be a boy named Rikuto, not the strongest here, but he relies heavily on flashy Fire Release jutsu. The announcer hypes him up as a prodigy, but he is all style, very little substance."
I leaned closer, lowering my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "And remember your advantage. When he uses those grand jutsu, he will be shouting the name of the technique. He will be focusing all his attention on the fire, on the show. But you… you will be focused on him. You will feel the shift in his chakra before he even completes the first hand sign. You will know what he is going to do before he does. That is your weapon."
Karin nodded slowly, absorbing my words. The fear was still there, a shadow in her eyes, but it was now joined by the glint of a predator assessing its prey.
The announcement for the next match boomed through the coliseum. "And now, for a special treat! One of the last two Uzumaki left in the world, a priceless gem wearing the ID tag of Lady Kaguya-hime, Karin Uzumaki!"
(End of chapter)
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