I took a sip of my coffee and let out a sigh of satisfaction.
"How time flies," I said to myself as I checked the seals on the barrier, making sure everything was in order and that no infiltrator had tampered with the formula.
It's been 10 days since I arrived here as acting commander, and I've just been informed that my days in this position are numbered.
Supposedly, Tsunade is arriving tomorrow to take her original position, passing me on as vice-commander.
But the reality is quite different since I was asked to go to the Kumo front lines shortly after my mother arrives, as the situation is more complicated than expected, with the Raikage acting recklessly alongside his son, the jinchuriki.
Now each brigade is established, and they're assessing the situation of each one; they're taking the backup units to begin mobilizing them.
Thanks to my less-than-commander-like behavior—which earned me a reprimand from higher-ups that I completely ignored—the situation in Suna is calmer than expected, as if the large-scale war has ceased and it's become a cold war.
Fearing that I might do something like what happened at the strategic point, the Sunaans have been keeping a low profile, flying under the radar; they're ready to attack or escape at any moment.
This has made their forces more uneven than possible, and they're afraid to attack, thinking I might do something even worse.
Here, the shinobi forces revered me as a goddess of war and fortune, while in Suna they referred to me as a demon king.
I just sat, watched, and did nothing.
In fact, she had asked me to attack the enemy ninjas again, but I simply said that I was a substitute commander and didn't want to keep taking the prestige of the real one, so I would be on the lookout in case Suna did anything. She also sends people out to monitor and patrol the area to check the anemometer; it's a joint effort between the intelligence and attack units.
Upon learning of my actions, they were moved to discover that I didn't care about fame, respected my superiors, and protected my men, earning me even more recognition from the entire brigade.
I don't know how they reached that conclusion based on what I said, but it worked for me, so I didn't correct anything; meanwhile, I did nothing. Well, not exactly.
I took the opportunity to experiment a bit with Malkia; working with the human brain was complicated, and since I didn't want to ruin her, I used other hostages, opening their skulls to experiment before doing it to her.
"It's a shame I have to stop my experiments, but at least I can take her home and leave her in a safe place, half-comatose, while I go back to recondition her," I complained as I dusted the room to examine the formulas more closely.
I immediately noticed that some things had been erased, making the barrier prone to failure.
I was at one of our strategic points, not far from the main base, so I wouldn't have wasted any time getting back and reporting this. But I won't be commander tomorrow, so I simply fixed the problem and decided to return.
When Tsunade arrives, I'll inform her of this situation so she can investigate and take charge of the case.
...
As I prepared my car to leave, determined to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique so I wouldn't have to do this again, I packed some scrolls and my prisoner.
Many looked puzzled, but I simply said that the hostage was suffering from brain shock, so I would send her to the village scientists for examination and to perhaps gather more information.
No one questioned my answer; they simply accepted it as the truth.
The atmosphere at the base was somewhat gloomy, as I was leaving. I simply explained the village's instructions and that I would return once the situation was resolved.
With that, everyone seemed a little more at ease, focused on surviving until my arrival.
"I see you've got everything taken care of here, Miyu." Hearing that voice, I turned to look at my mother, who had just arrived.
"Oh, you came. I was already prepared to stay here a few more days in case a casino magically appeared in your path," I teased her.
"Ha, how funny," she said somewhat disdainfully, since she's in this situation because of me, both in the hospital and here as commander, for not letting her escape from Konoha when she had the chance. "We'd better go inside and I'll report what happened."
With that, she left for the camp. Before following her, I noticed she arrived with a large number of ninjas; most likely they were the men needed to complete the brigade and the rest of the units.
...
"I see, a violent and direct approach, something none of those advisors would approve of. I liked how you handled things; it's a shame I can't do something similar," Tsunade said, settling into the seat where I was sitting.
"There's also the situation with the loyal ninjas working for those old men and the very likely spies in the area," I said, presenting her with all the evidence I had so she could then act as she saw fit. "You'll have your work cut out for you."
"Yes, especially since you set the bar very high; they treat you more like a nobleman than the daimyo himself," she complained, picking up the files but still looking at me.
"You're welcome," I replied simply, making her sigh.
"I recommend you find someone to head the attack unit while I'm gone, someone trustworthy," I suggested.
"I'll do that, since we don't know how long you'll be there," she said as she began to look through the files.
"He probably wants me to keep an eye on the jinchuriki while Pedumaru comes up with some plan; knowing him, I'll probably end up facing Squad AB," I told her, sharing my suspicion.
"Be careful; having Wood Release doesn't make you invincible." Hearing those words almost moved me.
"I know, since when have I been reckless?" I said, to which she only got a bead of sweat on her forehead.
"Here's a report that says otherwise," she said, showing me the report from when she attacked the strategic point.
"It's not that big of a deal," I said, turning away. "Well, I'm off; good luck," and with that, I left the camp to join a small squad that was going to the Hidden Leaf Village for supplies.
...
After a rather long journey, I arrived at the village, from which I was given three days to leave, as I had to go with another squad to the border with the Land of Snow.
With a few shunshin, I went to the Senju-Chinoike estate along with my already unconscious hostage.
Without wasting any time, I went to the secret bases in my lands where the experiments used to be conducted; with Kushina's and Minato's help, I repaired and modified the seals of the yfar so that neither Danzo nor Orochimaru could enter again.
Then, using chronotherapy tubes, I froze Malkia until she returned; meanwhile, I met with the clan's scientific section, which was researching the human body and DNA, along with a project I have in mind.
Taking three scientists aside, I told them about my idea, which was focused on testing something like psychomental reconfiguration, along with some biological alterations.
It would involve taking the body of a strong kunoichi, stripping away everything that made her who she was—both her physical and mental identity—and replacing it with another, one that could be controlled.
"..." I paused, thinking for a moment; that's not what Danzo does.
I think I need to adjust my approach a bit, but I'm not taking ninjas from other clans and families and modifying them to my liking, like those two pieces of shit do. Instead, I'm doing it with a kunoichi I should have technically killed a long time ago.
"Well, I want to know if it's possible first; then we'll see what we do next," I told the others.
"Understood, boss," the three scientists said, setting off to gather information on the matter.
I'm going to have to find guinea pigs for this, so I'll have to issue a mission request for my own ninjas to carry out and find bandits for the scientists.
...
"Hey, you little brats, how's life treating you?" I announced my arrival with a greeting.
"Sensei," Kurenai replied, a little excited to see her.
"Miyu-sensei, it's been so long," Raido said, a bandage covering his face.
Asuma just nodded in greeting and said nothing more; he looked annoyed.
"Sensei, Asuma, I had a little fight with the Hokage; he's been like this for a few days," he explained when he saw me looking at the little monkey.
"I see, family stuff; there's not much to be done," I said, turning to Raido. "And you? Did you get a nose job?"
"I tried to use a technique I invented, and while doing so, I almost died because I stepped wrong and tripped," he replied, somewhat embarrassed.
I, being the great sensei that I am, had to console my student.
"Ha, let me guess, it was that technique you said was going to be super cool, where you do a spin and slice your enemy in half, or the one where you make thousands of cuts in a second?" I can just picture you showing off and falling flat on your face before a kunai—I mean, falling flat on your face, hahahaha."
Raido could only lower his head and go to a corner to ponder his actions.
"Boo, sensei is so mean," Kurenai complained, her cheeks puffed out in dissatisfaction.
"Don't worry, this kind of thing builds character." "Well, tell me about your missions these past few days," I asked the three of them.
So I spent some time with the three kids, trying to understand a little.
...
The next day, I took some money I had and went to the brothel where Daiki used to live. Before going in, I did some undercover research to see how things were going.
So far, their progress has been faster than expected, thanks to the lower-than-usual number of ninjas, but not as fast as I'd hoped. And this had a name: Danzo Shimura.
While I was observing, I saw several Root ninjas patrolling and roaming the lawless area; they were only stopped by my own tools. Otherwise, Danzo would surely have ordered me to kill those two, since he knew what I was doing here. But I wasn't going to be that stupid, as I could have blown up their base at any moment.
I have no way to get rid of him, since he still serves as a scapegoat, but he can't do anything about the bombs and the evidence I have against him.
He's probably only doing this to hinder my plans, even if just a little; nothing more.
As long as he didn't kill any of my important subordinates, I didn't really care what he did, and since he didn't, I decided to ignore it for the time being, as I had something more important to do, like checking out those curvy ladies with skulls in the perfect places to squeeze.
...
I spent the last day studying the Flying Thunder God Technique.
I already understood the basics, the key aspects of this jutsu, but there were things I struggled to grasp. It was only a matter of time, though, before I could understand how the formula worked and be able to recreate it.
The only problem is that I won't have time for this or to practice it, since I won't be able to do it all in one day. So, at the end of the day, I decided to take the scroll with me, despite the risk of it being stolen. It didn't really matter to me, since I'd used the other seal on the scroll, so I could summon it at any time if someone managed to steal it, just like I do with my weapons.
With everything ready, I was set to head to the border to face the Kumonin.
...
When I arrived at the entrance to Konoha, there were already some ninjas waiting for me. They bowed in respect, and some were whispering about me.
I didn't know why, so I ignored them.
"Miyu, it's been a while," I heard a voice behind me, which sent a shiver down my spine. Instinctively, I drew a kunai and tried to stab the person behind me, only to hit thin air.
There was no one behind me anymore.
"Sorry, Miyu, my bad." I heard the voice again, but this time from the side and farther away.
I looked over to see Minato with an apologetic smile, waving.