Naruto: Tales of Ashihara
Prologue – Arc 2: The Daitengu
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Chapter 12 – Survivors of extinct clans
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Tsubai and Sasuke are walking together in empty plains along the shore of the land of Water. They are discussing Sasuke's plan to eliminate the Daitengu. The Uchiha wanderer explains precisely how they'll approach this yamabushi group.
"We'll have to kill as much of the tengu as possible to prevent the Daitengu from growing in power and achieving his complete reincarnation." he says.
"Sojobo…" remarks Tsubai. "The Daitengu said his name was Sojobo."
"… 'Sojobo' has the combined abilities of every tengu that is currently alive." continues Sasuke. "There are two ways for a tengu to die. Either we kill its yamabushi, which will also kill the tengu since they entirely depend on their host body. Or Sojobo absorbs the tengu into his own body. In the two cases, the tengu dies, but there's a major difference. If we kill it, Sojobo will lose all this tengu's powers. If he absorbs it, he'll keep the abilities without needing it alive. So we aim to kill the tengu before Sojobo makes up his mind and decides to absorb them. Of course, I know you won't give up on your own tengu…"
"Daikoku. My tengu is called Daikoku." interrupts Tsubai again.
"I have no intentions of killing you for now, so we'll spare at least Daikoku." adds Sasuke, a bit angry about being interrupted for the second time.
"For now?" asks Tsubai in a suspicious tone.
"For now." promptly answers Sasuke.
Tsubai just stares at Sasuke's serious face, walking and looking straight forward. He thinks of his strategy of killing the yamabushi to kill the tengu. Suddenly, the beautiful black haired woman he saw earlier comes to his mind again. She was in the room with Sojobo and all the others, which means she is one of the yamabushi.
"When you say we have to kill the tengu, you don't mean that we have to kill ALL the yamabushi too, right?" he asks, for a reason.
"I don't want to waste any time searching for a way to spare their lives, so yes, we'll kill them all." answers the Uchiha, promptly again.
"But what if there was a way to kill the tengu without killing the yamabushi?" suggests Tsubai, looking for a way to save a host.
"I'd say I'll consider this way only if it is truly reliable." says Sasuke, not much concerned by this possibility.
"You killed Akashita by keeping him out of any host's body. And Sojobo used a thing to separate him from Saori just before you came in." Tsubai wonders aloud. "So he has some jutsu that allows him to extract a tengu from its host. If we do the same, unsealing the tengu and letting it die, we can save the yamabushi."
"Why would you want to spare any of them?" asks Sasuke, now curious about this plan.
"Uh…" Tsubai tries to think of a good excuse. "I don't know. Why did you worry about saving me when we first met?"
"I wasn't there to save you. I was there for Katashiki. His chakra was intriguing." honestly responds Sasuke.
"Really? Then why do you say you want to spare me and not them now?" adds Tsubai, still trying to make his point.
"Because I know you. And not them." says Sasuke, still acting impenetrable.
"It's obvious that you won't get to know them if you kill them." Tsubai keeps insisting.
"Yes of course. Else, I could feel bad for killing them." explains the Uchiha. "If I avoid seeing them as human beings and only keep them as targets, taking their lives is way easier."
"Do you really think what you say?" says Tsubai, trying to touch Sasuke's humane side. "I'm sure some of the yamabushi can be taken to our side and help us. And you said that you could fight Sojobo alone. We don't need to take all his powers, just enough to make him easier to fight and unable to come back to life."
"Since you insist, I'll let you think of a way to spare them." Sasuke accepts, but not completely. "But if you don't find one in time, we'll just kill them."
Tsubai calms down and thinks with Daikoku of what happened in Ryuka. His dad died and he fainted immediately afterwards. Since his dad moved Akashita from himself to a sealing jar and then to his sister, he must know the jutsu to unseal and seal a tengu. If Tsubai had had more, he could have taken the jutsu from his dad's memories…
In the end, Sojobo saved his sister and Tsubai still doesn't know how to do it himself. He has to find this information before Sasuke meets the black haired woman again… His train of thought is interrupted by Daikoku.
"What the hell is he thinking? Why is he willing to save that woman so much?" yells the floating corpse.
Tsubai himself doesn't know,… or doesn't admit it. He refuses to answer and instead focuses on reality. He is currently following the Uchiha to an unknown location in the land of Water. He remembers Sasuke's words earlier about extinct clans.
"So, we're going to find people who'll help us?" asks Tsubai. "And you said something about dead clans?"
Sasuke briefly looks at him, looks back forward and prepares to tell the story of one of his adventures from these last 2 years.
"Clans are never truly extinct. Especially for clans as old as the two I will mention." he says. "Just to warn you, the story I'm about to tell is a bit shocking."
"I'm listening." says Tsubai, getting ready to ask plenty of questions.
"About half a year ago, people I know gave me information about a deal that Orochimaru was having with an unknown organization." tells Sasuke. "They said I should probably stop this as I wouldn't want him to get his prize out of the deal. So I went to see Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru?" exclaims Tsubai. "You casually went to see a global terrorist like he lives in the center of the capital?"
"I used to train with him, and he also happens to need my help sometimes. But anyway, I went to see what this deal was about. Sure he was upset that I found out, but had to tell me. It appears that this deal had already been made. A hidden scientific lab asked him to implant unique genes into two unborn babies to create kids gifted with specific Kekkei Genkai. And in exchange for his service, he would be gifted the genes of an authentic living Uchiha."
"So these scientists somehow got your genes?" suggests Tsubai.
"Here's the problem: it wasn't my genes." says Sasuke, in a thrilling voice. "Since the deal had been made, Orochimaru now had the Uchiha genes and the hidden lab had the two babies. So of course, I destroyed all the Uchiha material he had, and asked about where the other lab was. It was here, in this land. I informed the Mizukage about these illegal activities in her country and was tasked with putting an end to them myself, and also to bring back the two new born babies to Kiri. On my quest to find this lab, a mercenary from this land came to me and gave me precious information. What's special about this woman is her name: Naomi Yuki."
"And I guess Yuki must be an extinct clan?" suggests Tsubai again, trying his best to make this tell feel like a conversation.
"Precisely." responds Sasuke. "A clan from which I once fought a member, that I was told was the last survivor. This boy, Haku, died after our encounter. The Yuki clan was considered extinct after the people from Kiri, who used to persecute Kekkei Genkai users, massacred them. Some members survived and when I met Haku, the clan was already considered extinct. It turns out there were more people like him, who are the kids of hidden Yuki survivors. This mercenary, Naomi Yuki, is one of them."
"And so the same happened with an Uchiha clan member?"
"It is different for the Uchiha. The clan and the village made sure every single living member was at the village by the time of…" he stops before mentioning his brother's crime, and goes back to tell the story in order. "I'll get there very quickly. What Naomi told me is essential information about the hidden lab that I was looking for. It turns out that this lab was actually the remains of the scientific department of Kiri from the infamous age of terror that the village went through before the fifth Mizukage took the lead. This village, at the end of the 3rd war, made a deal for peace with Suna and with Iwa. Suna, about to lose the war, was asked to give away the life of Pakura, a legendary jonin from their village who could use Shakuton. Iwa, weakened after their defeat by Konoha and the huge offensive to kill the 3rd Raikage, had to ensure peace with Kiri by, just like Suna, giving away the life of a national hero: Gari, an Iwa-nin who could use Bakuton. This lab collected genes on the dead bodies of these two sacrifices. These are the genes that were given to Orochimaru."
"What about the Uchiha genes?" asks the Minamoto, getting impatient.
"This is different." He says as he takes a deep breath in, ready to tell the worst part of the story. "Around 5 years before the Uchiha massacre,… A team of konoha-nins, including an Uchiha woman with the Sharingan, was sent on a dangerous mission in the land of Water. They were all killed in an ambush by Kiri's hunter-nins. At least this is what was told. The Uchiha woman was actually kept alive and captured in secret. The hidden lab used her to run experiments on the Sharingan. As time passed, she was exhausted by the experiences and the lab felt the need to have other Uchiha subjects or even soldiers."
"So they expected Orochimaru to make new Uchihas with her genes." suggests Tsubai again.
"I wish it was just that. This happened 16 years ago. The people running the lab knew they couldn't use her as a soldier due to the consequences of the many experiences and mutilations they inflicted on her. So they forced her to get pregnant and give birth to a child. This child was raised as a soldier and trained to be their weapon. He was forced to go through mental trauma to make his eyes stronger. His mother, after the birth, destroyed her own reproductive organs, to make sure she wouldn't make another child. She was still kept alive until being left to die in front of her son. This is how they got him to awaken a fully grown Sharingan. Following these training conditions, he grew up to become totally numb to any emotion, keeping him from evolving his eyes any further. But to them, he was already powerful enough."
"... That's a depressing story." says Tsubai, feeling bad for the kid, not yet realizing that he'll be meeting him soon. "I hope you punished those scientists."
"They're dead. All of them." says Sasuke, with a serious voice. "Naomi told me that they were making weaponized children and hiring mercenaries to build up a private army. Together with her, we found the lab and dismantled it. I defeated the mercenary army, and found the two baby-girls made by Orochimaru, as well as Kobo, the Uchiha kid. Naomi found and killed all the leading scientists."
"… And the people we're recruiting to work with us are…" asks Tsubai now, guessing that the story is finished.
"Kobo and Naomi. And we're at the right place."
Sasuke stops near a cliff over the ocean. He looks around for a moment, and then at Tsubai.
"She should be here soon." he says. "You stay there and wait until she comes. I'll go to Kiri."
"What? So I just wait here and the Yuki girl will show up?" asks Tsubai, confused. "How does she know I'm with you?"
"You tell her. She's a person, Tsubai. She works like a normal human being."
Tsubai just makes a dumb face and looks at Sasuke who vanishes. He sits on the ground and does nothing but wait, as he was asked to.
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Sasuke, who just left, gets to Kirigakure in only a matter of seconds. He enters the village from above, regardless of the potential panic that could be caused in the sensitive team of the village. When he lands on the ground next to the Mizukage's mansion, he's immediately stopped by Chojuro.
"Sasuke Uchiha." says the Mizukage's bodyguard. "You could have warned us that you were coming if there's something you have to see here. Also, enter by the main gate rather than by the sky."
Sasuke calmly walks toward him and notices he's totally on his guard, holding the handle of his sword, ready to counter an attack. He just stares at the Mizukage's right hand with a bored face.
"Are you on your guard because you think I could potentially attack you?" he asks. "If this is the case, if I wanted to, don't you think I could have already destroyed this whole place without even setting foot near it?"
"I'm the Mizukage's most prized shinobi." answers Chojuro. "No matter what comes to threaten this village, I'll stand my ground against it."
"Hm" Sasuke slightly laughs and smiles. "I'm sorry for the intrusion. I'm sort of in a rush. I'm there to see the Mizukage."
Chojuro lets go of his sword and welcomes the Uchiha.
"Follow me. I'll bring you to her."
The swordsman guides Sasuke through the Kage's mansion, to the Mizukage's office. Every ninja on the way looks at Sasuke like he's an alien. He understands this reaction. He was a worldwide wanted criminal and shortly after, became an international hero. And still, it's obviously unusual to see him around. Once on the last floor, Chojuro knocks on a door and waits for permission to enter before opening it. The Mizukage is just sitting at her office and stands up as soon as she sees Sasuke.
"Chojuro, I told you, you don't have to wait before opening the door." she says. "You make so many in and outs in my office that it just becomes annoying."
"Sorry, Mizukage-sama, I'm just too used to it." the Kiri-nin apologizes. "Here's Sasuke Uchiha, who apparently wants to see you."
"Is it about the kid?" asks Mei Terumi to Sasuke.
"Yes." he simply answers.
The Mizukage stands up and signs for Sasuke to follow her. Chojuro stays in the office and just goes next to the office with the Mizukage's new assistant, the woman who took Ao's place after the war.
Sasuke and Mei leave the mansion and head to a training facility. In Kirigakure, until Mei became the Mizukage, the young ninjas who just finished their academy training were forced to fight to death against their classmates and only the winner of each class could grow to become a shinobi. The 5th mizukage changed this system and just sends the new genin to this facility where they can learn about different paths for a ninja and specialize in a field.
In this place, they also learn to work as well organized teams. At the end of their training, they are put in squads of three under direction of a jonin, just like in Konoha. In the end, it works the same way as in Konoha, except the academy students get the rank of genin a year earlier and have a much heavier final year program.
Kobo Uchiha, who's been sent to Kiri after Sasuke found him as well as the two genetically modified babies, has been sent to this training place to learn how to work as a shinobi and with a team. He was also trained to potentially recover his empathy. Mei is leading Sasuke here to find this young Uchiha.
"What about the two girls?" asks Sasuke.
"They were sent to an orphanage." answers Mei. "They'll be raised like any other child and grow to become ninjas of Kiri, treated like any other."
"Good."
"So what is this all about?" she asks. "You're not asking to see Kobo only to check on him, right?"
"I need him. He'll have to leave the village for a while." says the Uchiha.
"...And you expect me to just be okay with that?" exclaims the Mizukage, raising an eyebrow.
"Well… I…" Sasuke starts to say, not prepared for explanations.
"It's fine. Sasuke Uchiha, you're kind of the only family he has. Going around with you for a while, getting to see how you do it… It may help him to choose his own path. Just what exactly is it you'll do? Someone like you needing help is pretty uncommon."
"There's a menace in the mountain chain of the land of Fire that I need to take down. What I need isn't power, but number."
The Mizukage stops walking for a moment after hearing what Sasuke said.
"The mountains of the east coast?" she asks.
"Yes. Is something there?"
After a brief pause, clearly thinking about a past experience, Mei goes walking again while explaining this little moment.
"I lost a team of ninjas in this area shortly after the 4th war." she explains. "We never found them. They were sent to capture a former deserting ninja who escaped from prison. They all disappeared, including their target."
Sasuke, following Mei, looks at her from behind and tries to think of a link between what she just said and Sojobo's organization. Maybe this team was taken out by one of the yamabushi. Or maybe the one they were sent after is one of the yamabushi. Or it could even be that these ninjas are among the yamabushi now?
"There we are." says the Mizukage as she opens a sliding door to a dojo.
In this room, Sasuke and Mei arrive to see Kobo, a young man with the same physical attributes as most of the Uchiha: short dark purple hair, black eyes and slightly pale skin, wearing the same type of outfit as Chojuro, except it's red instead of blue. They see him in action with two short swords, still in their scabbard to avoid lethal damages, holding his ground, and even beating with not much effort, three ninjas at once.
"All three of his trainers are jonin." says Mei to impress Sasuke.
Once all three of them have their back to the ground, Kobo turns around to face the door, and sees the Mizukage with the man who had effortlessly beaten him 6 months ago in the scientific hideout. He looks at Sasuke directly in the eye for a short stare down, and the wanderer gazes back. After a few seconds, Kobo looks down and puts on a respectful smile.
"Hello Kobo." says Mei. "I'm here with Sasuke Uchiha whom you've already met before."
"I remember you, Sasuke." says the young man. "You're the one who brought me here."
"You're… Different from back then." says Sasuke, surprised by the kid's peaceful attitude. "I guess you like it in this village."
"I do. It's the first time I feel like the reason given to my actions is rightful. Only a few months in this place and I'm already willing to give my life for its safety."
"He'll be the next right-hand of the Mizukage if he keeps up that way!" says Mei, trying to advertise her leading strategy.
"Kobo, do you think you're ready for an important mission with a group of ninjas from all around the continent?" asks Sasuke, jumping straight to the main topic.
"Am I leaving?" asks Kobo to the Mizukage.
"Sasuke Uchiha needs you on a mission in the land of Fire." she answers, looking at Sasuke while still talking to Kobo. "But of course, it won't be for more than… 2 weeks. If it is, I'll send people to get you. And I'll consider this man a national enemy." she adds with a blank smile on her face as a light menace, but mostly as a given rule.
"You know very well that this would be more harmful to this nation than to me." answers Sasuke in an ironic tone.
"I'm just telling he's still a ninja of Kiri that will get back to Kiri in not too much time." she says, unamused. "Is that clear?"
"It is, don't worry."
Taken over by curiosity, Kobo steps toward Sasuke and pulls out his two swords from his back. Sasuke, curious as well, goes forward to join Kobo in the middle of the dojo. Suddenly, the younger Uchiha leaps forth to attack. Sasuke just leans on the right to dodge, then grabs Kobo by the ankle and throws him over his shoulder. He also uses this moment to take away one of the young ninja's blades.
Kobo lands directly on his knees and turns around to face Sasuke again, now with his Sharingan activated. He gets in a low fight pose, holding his remaining sword front, and waits for Sasuke to make a move. But the wanderer stays still.
So Kobo decides to move again and aims for the legs of Sasuke, who gets on his knees very quickly and blocks Kobo's sword with the one he holds. After the two blades collide, Kobo sneaks behind him but doesn't escape his gaze. He takes the exact same pose as Sasuke.
The elder one aims for the younger's hand with the wrong side of the blade to avoid hurting him, but Kobo does the exact same move and their two swords just collide again. Kobo goes on copying Sasuke's moves. In reaction, Sasuke accelerates until he can't keep up, gently kicks his leg to destabilize him and pushes him back with another kick to the shoulder. Kobo falls down, raises his head to see Sasuke, and simply smiles.
"I'm still nothing compared to you, huh?" he notes. "Maybe I didn't train enough."
"Don't compare yourself to me." blankly answers Sasuke. "You're putting the bar way too high."
"I'm following you, Sasuke." announces Kobo, suddenly answering Sasuke's request. "Where are we going?"
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Meanwhile, Tsubai is still waiting alone on a cliff, along the shore near Kiri. Bored, he complains about everything that he sees with Daikoku, who agrees with him about it all without much thought. While he's unfocused, a kunai reaches for his neck, held by a hand coming from behind his back. Before the kunai's holder even has the time to say anything, Tsubai vanishes from this place and is now holding the kunai under her neck.
"You're really using the time pause for nothing…" complains Daikoku.
"Impressive!" says the woman. "So it's you, Tsubai Minamoto, the man that Sasuke talked about. Nice to meet you, even if it would be nicer without a kunai on the neck."
"You started it." answers Tsubai. "I guess you're Naomi Yuki."
"I am. But we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other later. Though I'm really only here for the job. Right now, I want to see Sasuke."
"I'm here." says the Uchiha who arrives with Kobo by his side. "Naomi, you already know why I asked to see you. Why do you 'want to see me', as you just said?"
"Been a while, Sasuke. I have to see you, to ask if you know what my job is." says the mercenary with a mocking smile.
"Why?" asks Sasuke, who obviously knows.
"Well, you're hiring me for a job but didn't mention my paycheck even once, so I dare to ask about it first." explains Naomi, waiting for a job offer.
"I'm not hiring you. There's no paycheck. The prize for your help is to not be thrown in a cell."
"Fair enough… But why would you lock me up exactly?"
"You may have betrayed the lab, but you did work for them at some point, didn't you?"
"Haha!" Naomi laughs out loud with a mocking tone. "At no point did I work for them. All I did 6 months ago, I was just asked to do it. You know, just fulfilling another contract, like any mercenary and bounty hunter."
"Who was the employer?" asks Sasuke, a bit curious now.
"Another person who saw profit in this lab's downfall. Someone finding a way to earn their bread and butter. You know how this little world works, don't you? And who it is isn't really your problem."
"… You're right." admits Sasuke, who isn't curious enough to insist on it. "Still, there's no pay at the end of this job. Let's just say that in exchange for your cooperation, I won't go after your employer."
"… So we are making it about them?" Naomi keeps on arguing. "You won't earn anything from that, and I'm not the kind to be blackmailed into a job."
"... If you don't accept blackmail, maybe you'll take a bribe?" suggests Sasuke, coming up with a solution. "You're a freelance mercenary, which is already enough to make you an enemy to the Kage. But you've helped me once, in their interest. If you help me again, I'll support your cause and can get you on their good side. That would surely be helpful in the future."
"... I'll take it." the Yuki replies. "I'll see it as damage control. On another note, I'm not naïve enough to refuse to work with the one and only Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke nods in agreement, glad to hear her decision. Next to him, Kobo stares oddly at Naomi, who avoids his gaze. He then looks at Tsubai, whom he gently greets with a smile and nod. Tsubai greets him back, and takes a look at all the people present now. A one-armed war veteran, a freaky war-machine kid and a cold sassy mercenary. He is just eager to see the next people he'll get to meet on this crazy trip.
"So what now?" asks Kobo to Sasuke.
"There are three ninjas I want to recruit in the land of Lightning,…" answers the wanderer. "… But first, I asked two more people to meet me at the northern border of this same land. They're both swordsmen."
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End of Chapter 12 – Next chapter: The Samurai and the War veterans