It turns out that when adrenaline drops, the pain gets a lot worse,who knew?
At least I won't need to stay in the hospital this time, though the dull pain in my ribs disagrees.
I took off the poncho, which will need replacing...again. A good portion of its right side was cut up from the few times I had to use my reinforced body to block. My shirt and reinforced jonin vest did not fare much better; both were at least partially pierced and torn by the multiple water bullets I wasn't able to dodge.
"You know, I honestly thought it would be worse," Kurenai said as she helped me rebandage my arm.
"It's more annoying, really. A few cuts and a few cracked ribs. At least they're not broken." I shrugged, trying to ignore the dull pain in my lower ribs. "And what's another scar? It will just get lost among all the others." I laughed, looking at my right arm, which was still as scarred as I remembered.
"Is that why you bandage it?" Kurenai asked, wincing slightly at the damage she imagined my arm had endured.
"It's more about the tattooed seals; the scars are easy to explain," I replied. "But I have no idea how I would explain those tattoos to my mom." I roared with laughter, inadvertently triggering more pain from the cracked ribs.
Kurenai managed a laugh too; I guess moms truly are the most terrifying creatures, no matter the universe.
Once I got over my laughing fit, the pain subsided into what I expected: dull pain with sharp jolts whenever I breathed in too deeply.
At least Gai and Kurenai looked mostly undamaged, less beat up than I was, anyway. But to be fair, being less beat up than me wasn't that difficult. They didn't have to deal with curse mark-boosted Mangetsu on their own.
Then again, Gai could simply open more gates and punch Mangetsu out quite easily. I have a long way to go before I can claim to be the strongest in the village, much less in the world.
I really need to master more of Senbonzakura's new abilities. The bootleg Bankai I created was borderline impossible to control due to the sheer volume of petals it produced. If unleashed here, it would most likely kill or injure my allies.
The silver lining was that my mastery of self-crystallization had skyrocketed, at least in terms of speed and ease. I still struggled with crystallizing large portions of my body, but that would come with time.
"I really need to increase my physical training," I sighed as I got up, trying to ignore the destruction around me.
Honestly, it would have been smart to kill Mangetsu after our first fight. But I stand by what I said back then: he wasn't the kind of person I could kill without mercy.
I unsealed Hiramekarei from one of the storage seals on my right arm and inspected it. It had returned to its normal appearance, a fishlike shape that only vaguely resembled a sword.
But I sensed it drawing on my chakra. The drain was light, barely noticeable, but clearly there. It would take at least a few weeks to replenish what it held before I used it to cut an island in half.
I was so distracted by the blade that I almost missed Anko and Isaribi approaching, looking like they had just walked through a tropical storm.
Anko dropped a very beaten man on the ground, who I guessed was Amachi, but I doubted his own mother would recognize him now. Anko clearly had a grudge and decided to settle it with a beatdown.
"Fucker placed a curse seal on himself. Caused way more trouble than I expected," she grumbled while nursing her fist. She was clearly not telling the whole truth, but at this point, I was too injured and too tired to care.
"Well, that's our VIP, I guess. The hospital will fix him up enough for questioning." I sighed and fully enveloped his body in a pink prism, preparing him for transport. "I'll uncrystallize him back home. There's no way I'm letting him escape," I said, clarifying the purpose of my jutsu.
I turned to Isaribi, who was poking the prism with her finger curiously, almost like a toddler poking at a sandcastle to see if it would hold up.
"Hmm, good. I don't think he'd look good as a statue..." she hummed, coming back to reality. I snorted, glancing between the two purple-haired menaces in front of me.
A sudden feeling of dread washed over us when I noticed Anko smile. Her smile wasn't all that weird; it was the gleam in her eyes that made it look scary.
"I'm keeping her... Say hi to my cutest little student," she practically beamed. "And look who doesn't have one..." She grinned in my direction, still playing the one-up game we jokingly started while waiting to be promoted.
If only she knew. Hinata was clearly the cuter student.
I quickly banged my head against the flat side of Hiramekarei, trying to rid my mind of that particular thought process. I guess I'm entering puberty again already.
"Whatever you say, Anko... I still outrank you, though." I grinned back, sealing the large sword away before I had another urge to bang my head against it.
"I still call bullshit on that one. A kid outranking me? Ridiculous." She laughed, though there was no real bite in her tone.
"I'm sorry, didn't hear you over the sound of cutting an island in half." I feigned a yawn, hoping to end our little game for now.
Anko let out a hissing sound, clearly out of arguments for why she was supposedly better, at least for now.
"Still have a cute little student..." she muttered, pouting like an offended child.
"Let's return to somewhere we can rest," Kurenai said, her voice of reason cutting through our post-battle banter.
We quickly gathered our prisoners, all of them receiving the same treatment as Amachi, trapped in a crystal prism.
Being able to carry all of them on Senbonzakura's petals was a saving grace for our tired muscles.
"What will we do about all the other experiments? Those that are scattered across the country?" Anko asked as we made our way across the sea.
"I already have Yoru on the task. I don't think there will be any left before we are ready to leave," I shrugged, having full confidence in my summons. I figured it would be three days max until she hunted them all down.
"Do you think we got them all? That no one escaped?" I asked as we finally arrived at one of our hotel rooms.
"I doubt it. There were likely at least a few who escaped. The researchers, mostly," Gai replied, looking thoughtful.
I sighed, expecting such an answer.
"And now I might get Orochimaru after me... great, just what I need," I muttered, earning a sympathetic look from Anko. She knew better than anyone that I could become his target.
Orochimaru liked to go after young, talented, and ambitious individuals, luring them to his side with promises of power. He wasn't known for handling rejection well, either.
"Nah, we'll just kick his ass if he tries anything," Anko said, sounding almost giddy at the opportunity to fight her old teacher.
I was more realistic about our chances, though. Fighting Orochimaru would be a losing battle even if I had help.
If I had trouble with Mangetsu, who was barely at the kage level, there was no way I was strong enough to contend with someone in the upper tiers of it. As strange as it may sound, right now, Orochimaru was definitely a contender for the top ten strongest people in the world.
"Honestly, I'd rather avoid him if possible, but I guess I can't go down without a fight," I replied to Anko, hoping I wouldn't meet the snake for quite some time.
About a year and a half. That's all the time I had until the Chunin Exams, which Orochimaru infiltrated in the original timeline. Would his plan be different here? Why would it? In any case, it'd be wise to be prepared, and I would use that time to do just that.
Thankfully, the rest of the mission went by without any further incidents. Yoru and her squad of hit-cats finished hunting after a few days, and they looked very pleased with themselves.
Unfortunately, there were no experiments that retained their human minds, so they all had to have been eliminated. Sad, but unfortunately, necessary.
We departed shortly after, our injuries slightly mended by our limited medical ninjutsu capabilities.
All eight of our crystallized prisoners were carried by Senbonzakura's petals, greatly limiting our speed. Thankfully, we didn't have to rush.
I considered having Yoru take the prisoners to Konoha via reverse summoning but quickly realized that they would either have to wait for our return, or be decrystallized here, which would allow them an opportunity to escape once in Konoha. It wasn't hard to decide on the slower trip back home.
One fun thing came out of all this, though. With Anko bringing Isaribi to come with her as an apprentice, Gai suddenly became a little competitive, proclaiming that his student would quickly surpass Anko's.
The fact that he had no student at the moment was seemingly lost in the excitement. But this opportunity couldn't pass by without a little push from me.
"Well, a few interesting people are graduating this year..." I said casually, catching Gai's attention.
"Oh, that's right! Your old classmates will be graduating soon!" he exclaimed loudly, as if he had just pieced together an unsolved mystery.
"Are there really that many youthful people in the graduating class?" he asked, stroking his chin.
"There are a few. You should go see for yourself, though," I replied quickly, hiding a massive grin that threatened to split my face. "But I can tell you about a few if you want," I continued, capturing the attention of the others as well.
"Wait a minute. His graduating class? How come he's already a ninja?" Isaribi asked, looking somewhat confused.
"The kid graduated early. It doesn't happen all that much nowadays. He was one of the last to do so," Anko explained, not going into detail, for which I was thankful.
"Anyways, there's definitely someone you'd like, Gai," I said, turning my attention back to the green-clad man.
"There's a kid who has absolutely no talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu, but he does have a knack for taijutsu." I started my pitch. "I didn't really keep in touch, but from what I've seen, he dedicated all his time to training his body, and for someone like him, there's no better teacher than you." I recalled Lee's intense workout routine.
"Oho! He does sound like the most youthful individual!" Gai exclaimed, making Anko widen her eyes in slight horror.
"By the sage, are there... two of them now?" she whispered to me, torn between amusement and pure terror.
"Not yet. But knowing Gai, it's only a matter of time before he has a mini-me running around," I chuckled, already picturing Lee copying Gai's look almost perfectly.
A maniacal laughter escaped me as I reveled in Anko's distress.
"I see Anko-san is already scared! My future student will no doubt surpass Isaribi in no time!" Gai yelled loudly. If there were any enemies within the same hemisphere, they probably heard him.
I couldn't help but breathe a massive sigh of relief as I saw the walls of Konoha appear before us. We were finally home. All that was left was to give a report to Hiruzen.
I quickly found the nearest Anbu team and turned over the prisoners to them, carefully decrystallizing them. It was easier than hauling them all across the village.
We entered the Hokage's office together, immediately capturing his attention as he looked us over, momentarily forgetting his paperwork.
"Ah, you're back. And you even brought a... friend," he said slowly, unsure how to identify Isaribi.
"A lot has happened, Hokage-sama," I sighed, allowing Gai to present the overall report first as our team leader.
After Gai, it was Kurenai's turn, followed by Anko, leaving me for last. Anko at least deposited all the documents she had stolen from the laboratory's archive, saving us a lot of explaining.
Throughout the entire process, Hiruzen's expression darkened with each graphic detail he received.
I wasn't about to ease his mind. I unsealed my notes and a replica of Isaribi's seal.
"I think either you or Jiraiya-sama should look through this," I suggested, unfurling the scroll to reveal more notes and a recreation of the curse seal used on the unfortunate people.
Hiruzen sighed, appearing even older than he was.
"And I see you've used the Evil Sealing Method on the young lady here," he said, browsing through my notes with inhuman speed. "I'll have Jiraiya look through it and examine her seal as well." After a brief silence, he closed the scroll. It looks like Isaribi would be allowed to stay in Konoha. Cool.
I then proceeded with my own report, explaining the first fight against Mangetsu, the destruction of the lab, and finally, my second battle against the swordsman.
After concluding, I unsealed the Hiramekarei and placed it on Hiruzen's desk.
"I believe you could trade it to the Kiri Rebels for a truce," I told him, observing a thoughtful look on his face.
"I see..." Hiruzen mused, his fingers tracing the blade. "And what makes you think it's a good idea to give such a powerful weapon to the rebels?" he asked, his eyes glinting slightly.
"Well, there's clearly no use negotiating with Yagura, judging by his blatant disregard for any deals you've tried to make with him," I replied bluntly, taking a moment to organize my thoughts. "And if we can strike a deal with the rebels, we'll free up at least some of the Anbu to go on their usual missions," I continued, explaining my reasoning briefly.
"Plus, Mangetsu didn't want his sword anywhere near the current Mizukage," I added, leaving the most personal reason for the last.
"And if they refuse our terms?" Hiruzen asked, puffing on his pipe.
"Then I'll gladly keep the sword and find the new wielder for it here," I shrugged. I didn't want to hurt the chances of the rebels in their civil war, but if they didn't were too pig-headed, I would not deal with them at all. Or beat some sense into them, one of the two.
"I wish it were that easy, Ryuuzaki-kun. But if Yagura gets wind of a Konoha envoy in the rebel camp..." Hiruzen trailed off, exhaling a generous amount of smoke.
"Who says it has to be delivered by an envoy? I can easily send one of my summons to deliver the sword along with a missive from you." I shrugged, fully aware that I could do this only because my summons were not common knowledge.
It seemed that Hiruzen's curiosity won out over his caution, as he gave me a short nod and began writing on a small scroll. After finishing, he rolled up the scroll and tossed it to me.
"I will trust your plan then, Ryuuzaki-kun. But I truly think you're being too optimistic." He sighed, either testing me once more or trying to make up for his earlier mistakes.
I couldn't tell which it was, but as long as I got to execute my plan, I wouldn't argue.
The old man wasn't a bad person. He was old, slightly paranoid, and set in his ways, but far from the evil many in my past life regarded him as.
"I'll make sure you'll have their reply in your hands by the end of the week, Hokage-sama," I said, already planning to visit old Tsuki to recruit her best messenger.
My plan was certainly reckless, motivated by my respect for a dead man, but it cost me nothing to honor his last wish.
Fortunately, we were quickly dismissed with a standing order to compile a report or allow Inoichi to create a copy of our memories. I already knew which option I preferred. There was no way I was spending hours writing a report.
I decided to take care of my healing first and headed toward the hospital.
Thankfully, my injuries weren't too severe. I had managed to heal the cuts myself, but I didn't have confidence in properly merging the cracks in my ribs. The medical ninjas at the hospital had no such issues, fixing me up in less than ten minutes.
Finally, breathing heavily didn't hurt; maybe hospitals weren't so bad after all.
I decided to leave the hospital as quickly as possible and get the memory logging out of the way. I made a Shadow Clone to visit my summons and deliver the missive along with Hiramekarei.
Meanwhile, my original body headed to the Yamanaka house, where I found Inoichi trying to train Ino in some of their family jutsu.
"Hello there, sorry to interrupt, but I need my memory logged for Hokage-sama," I said, sending an apologetic look to Ino.
"Huh, a memory log? Those are only used for the super classified stuff..." Ino said, clearly confused.
I figured it must have been hard for her to imagine someone only slightly older being involved in something so high-profile.
"Exactly. And there's no way I'm going over all of that again to write a report. Can we, Uncle Inoichi?" I asked, hoping to expedite the process.
He gave me a quick nod, placing his hand on my head as he always did when using his mind-walking jutsu.
"Can I see it too?" Ino asked eagerly, bouncing with excitement. The chance to get to see some real mission info to gossip about was too tempting.
I winced slightly, unsure how to explain to her that it was a horrible idea without breaking the secrecy of the mission.
How bad is it this time?" Inoichi asked, noticing my expression.
"S-Rank security clearance required. All I can say is that it involves an old snake and… science." I shrugged, the airquotes around the word 'science' palpable. Inoichi's expression turned to disgust before we even entered the memory.
"It is… not a pleasant sight, to say the least," I explained in simpler terms to Ino.
"Hmph! You act like I can't handle seeing a little blood," she pouted, annoyed at the perceived slight.
Just… let your dad see it first before jumping in," I suggested, receiving a dirty look from her and a grateful one from Inoichi.
"Alright, you know what to do." He activated the jutsu, and the entire mission flashed before my eyes again. Every death, every mutated experiment, every detail, even a few I missed in the heat of the moment.
Inoichi finished the jutsu, turning to Ino with a mixture of determination and barely concealed anger at what he'd just witnessed.
"No… You're not watching that. Not before you experience some of the outside world for yourself," he said with finality in his voice.
It was an appropriate reaction, if I do say so myself.
"But Dad! I'll have the clearance one day; why can't I see it now?" she protested, still missing the point.
"Because there are things we all would rather not see," I added before her dad could offer another explanation.
I had a feeling I would have her on my ass about mission details in the near future.
With some luck, she might annoy Inoichi into showing her something different, one of his own missions from the war, perhaps.