A dark haired child no older than Mangetsu crashed against the trimmed grass of the training field, blood splattering out his nose as his head bounced off the dirt. Bloodstained, the boy gritted through and lurched at his opponent only to be slammed down again. A foot drove into his cheek, grinding his face into the earth. He thrashed, but his opponent—a white-haired boy, statuesque and silent—didn't waver.
"Kai!" Reina Yuki yelled, halting the match from her place at my side. The two children were pulled apart, the young dark haired and unfortunate loser taken back to sit on a bench with seven other children his age, all bearing similar features to him.
Uncle chortled at my right hand, he stuffed his mouth full of pastries while he watched with unrestrained fascination and a clear favouritism towards the impassive winner of the third match in a row. The boy was equally as young as his opponents but he was built differently, he was as tall as I was and though I didn't make for fair comparison it remained alarming that a nine-year old would look as physically mature as he did. It was almost unfair but the match ups were based on a select age bracket, the Yuki simply didn't have anyone living up to what the Kaguya had set forth.
A fourth Yuki clan competitor stepped forward against the Kaguya's second, she was much taller than her predecessor and tied a wealth of hair in a loose ponytail, brown eyes glistened with fear and aspiration. Her opponent's expression remained unchanged—stoic, unreadable. A psychic distance stretched between them, imperceptible but present.
"Hai!"
The Yuki girl bolted forward, opening with a downward palm strike to the temple as gravity improved her momentum. Her opponent vanished, appearing behind her landed form in a whirl before lashing out with the decisive punch that ended previous matches.
She caught it. An act counter to what everyone observing expected, all except Reina judging by the slight tug of her lip. The Yuki girl had formed a gauntlet of ice around her forearm and hands, it'd already begun to crack and was flaking but it withstood the Kaguya's KO punch long enough to give her the advantage. A leg sweep sent him falling to the ground. He reacted swiftly and caught himself in a kneel but she was waiting— another ice-gauntleted fist shattered against his jaw, sending the Kaguya prodigy flying across the training field.
The young girl blew her hair from her face and breathed out fog as she controlled her breathing. Her first ice-gauntlet crumbled away, the second shattered on impact with her opponent's jaw. Her eyes flickered to us, to Reina and then back to her now rising opponent who took the time to straighten his bleeding jaw while assuring the newly appointed Matriarch of his viability.
Sat at Uncle's right side, Akane Kaguya gave the boy a trusting nod he interpreted as permission to not hold back. For the first time since I'd set eyes on the child he showed emotion— a scowl. He whipped his forearm back and a Bone Sword jutted out of his wrist, elongating till it was as long and pointed as a rapier. The Yuki girl smirked.
He lurched forward and I stood, "I've seen enough," I said, my voice halting the two just before their first strikes. I walked away, ignoring Uncle's and Akane's confused cries. Reina and I locked eyes and she took the hint.
I strolled far and until I was well into the next training ground. My estate arranged training grounds the same way as all around Kiri and so one often led right into another, this one had a little pond beside a tree and a plethora of targets as well as idle equipment set out on the side for whomever chose to train, however minimally.
For a training ground it was decorated abundantly by floral arrangements, there was colour beyond the red of blood, there was the optimism of sunflowers and dahlias, the welcoming blues of hydrangeas and others I could scarcely recognize without a refresher course in botany and poisons.
It was likely Junichi's timidness that allowed the Funato's florists from going wild with the decorations but today it wasn't the Funato or Junichi's loss that bothered me, but the future Kirigakure was capable of providing for the buds growing within it. I walked up to and leaned against a severely punctured post, resting my head against it as I attempted to sort through the memories of the clones that just dispelled.
I'd returned from Kaizoku with a strengthened resolve and a smarter way to go about using my clones that wouldn't leave me with panging headaches for an entire day or two. The clones I sent out today would each last six hours overseeing tasks like the development of a new Sensor System by the Sensor Division or the plausible creation of a new way to fuel powerful jutsu with Tailed Beast Chakra, a project I worked exclusively with Harusame and the best of his students— we hadn't accomplished much on either but there was significant progress compared to where we were months ago when I first spawned the idea.
I had other clones managing things in the office as well as preparing the legal necessities involved in developing Midoriwara and Yureisen, the Funato and Hozuki clans couldn't act without consistent bureaucratic authority from my office even though a word should be enough. But, in the case of Yureisen especially the Daimyo was attempting some version of stingy machinations where Princess Hanako acted as a puppet meant to stand in the way with a list of boring and irrelevant permissions and requirements.
I'll need to have a strong word with her…and the Daimyo. I groaned, breathing in as the wave of nausea and confusion began to wash away with a fair bit of learned Fuuinjutsu knowledge. Even though my clones could well last longer than six hours I couldn't have any more than five running around now, instead of the seven I maximised when I first mastered the jutsu. Each clone's existence added hours to my perception of a passing day, making it so that unlike everyone else living a twenty-four hour day, I experienced at least two days of life everyday. Needless to say it was disorienting and exhausting.
Especially when none of it includes… I thought I would have gotten the chance to take Mei up on her threat of a date, I was more prepared now, excited and easily looking forward to it but my priorities were always shifting and suddenly it's been a week since I'd returned from Kaizoku and three days since I awkwardly sent her out on a mission to protect some extra wealthy merchant coming in from Tea Country— my investments with Hanako were paying off and biting me in the ass.
She won't be back for another two weeks at least. And that's being optimistic, merchant clients loved to meander and sell their wares, visit branch stores or even set up new businesses all while travelling to wherever hell of trade they return to. In that time I'd need to pay Kaizoku a visit for my Sea Sage Art training. The first session was a brief overview of what I could accomplish with my enhanced senses and I was hoping the next was how I could apply the time limited [Sage Mode] in a swift and lethal manner.
"You could have just said you weren't impressed," Reina Yuki said, finally approaching behind me with a disappointed look etched across her features. She caught sight of my tired gaze and stammered, "Not that...I just…those kids trained very hard to show you what they…and their clans were capable of."
I waved and she shut up, "I had to deal with something, the children are fine."
Reina Yuki had transformed as much as I had since the time I first instated her as the Yuki-Kaguya clan babysitter. Putting it blunt, she'd lost the straight edge that I remembered of her, she was…more obviously kind, if that made sense. Her cheeks seemed brighter and her shoulders lighter, it was a good thing to place her here and she'd taken as much a liking to the clans and children as they did her.
"You have a favourite though, don't you. Isn't this protest you're making really about her? How she barely got to showcase the skills and control you've taught her." I started to pace, my memories were still a jumble of mis-ordered sequences, I had three 8am's to sort. "What is the name of this prodigy you're so proud of?"
She chuckled, it was a buttery song escaping her lips as she shook her head and folded her arms, "I'm sorry to disappoint, Yagura-sama, but I don't play favourites."
I thought hard and long before successfully recalling the boy's name, "Kaguya Kishi doesn't look like he had a lot of your attention."
"Ah, him? Well, that's a true prodigy right there, I didn't have as much to teach him compared to Nagisa or any of the Yuki children, but I did show him as much attention as any of the others. He's simply too advanced and frankly, the maturity of his Kekkei Genkai doesn't help categorize him with students his own age."
I'd seen that, hell even a blind man could see it. This Kaguya was heads above any of the Yuki children, even those from the main clan if the Academy has anything to say about it. I hummed in thought of that and asked, "He's a C-tier at least, yes?"
The classifications Eiko had put in place during the Kaguya attack still applied now that they were a clan of Kirigakure. A C-tier was capable of not only strengthening and growing the bone within their body to form armour but also had the ability to generate external weapons from their bone.
Reina nodded, her eyes following me left to right as I continued pacing, a look of concern slowly growing, "He's technically a D-tier, that move he pulled with the Bone Sword, it's the second time I've seen him do it and let me just say, he's in a world of pain from it. He really only wanted to-"
I waved my hand, "Yes, to impress me. I get it and I am impressed." I said, offering a smile her way as I paced back and forth, "How are their relations?"
Reina shifted her weight, a brow raised in thought, "If you mean between my students, well, they are their characters and they are children." she shrugged like that told me all I needed to know, it did. "If you mean the Kaguya and the Yuki then, well, ever since Akane became their Matriarch things have progressed smoothly."
She fell into a pace as she spoke, going one way while I went the other, "The old Matriarch is still involved to an extent but she's just an old woman offering jaded wisdom from a time where they had to be on the run from Barons, village chiefs and town mobs."
The Kaguya Matriarch I'd first met became bedridden at some point this year, I was certain Junichi sent me the report and I'd responded with condolences and well wishing flowers and food.
Reina continued, "It's been good working with Akane, she sees that things have changed and she lets her people know. They've become willing to express their abilities and comfortably coexist with the Yuki during communal tasks."
That I remembered well, "And how did that go for the Yuki anyway? You demanded they have duties across the estate and…?"
She smirked at me as we paced past each other, her hand on her chin, "It worked! It was a great idea. It's helped many of the Yuki begin to let go of the hurt that…the execution inflicted and it brought them closer to many of the Kaguya who just usually don't know what to do with their days here. The community is being built, people know each other, help each other, this place…you should spend more time than you do here, Yagura-sama, you'd be…" she sighed at the look I gave as we met in the middle once again but rolled her eyes anyway and said it, "Impressed. You would be impressed."
I let out a breath and stopped pacing long enough to find a tree stump to sit on, Reina continued to stand, her presence expecting my approval and to be fair, I was impressed. "You've done well, Reina, very well in this position and for months on end without a word of complaint. It is unfortunate I haven't gotten to spend as much as I usually should with these clans, with any luck that will change soon. But first, I have a new task for you."
She straightened up in an instant, the hardened shinobi I'd relied on since the earliest days of my regime appearing as soon as the word 'mission' left my mouth. "Raiga, come."
He was at my side and knelt in just as swift an instant, his head was bowed with his mask shifted to the sides. Reina eyed her subordinate, they hadn't worked together in months but on paper she remained ANBU Commander and Raiga her Vice, each had experienced wild changes in their usual duties since I took over, Reina more than Raiga of course.
"Raiga, we might have discussed this before…" I couldn't be sure at the moment, the difference between the tens of thousands of thoughts I had between clones and the millions of past intentions, spoken plans and mission details. My mind was blurring but even so, I knew some things for certain, "There lies a gold mine in the Land of Rivers, find it and co-opt it. Assemble a team of your choosing and take your time carrying out this operation, I expect reports and gains every two months."
"Yes, sir!"
I looked up at Reina who was beginning to look confused even though she made every effort not to give away her thoughts through expression— it was pointless with me though, Kaizoku's training didn't only apply when I was in [Sage Mode]. "Reina, you'll be returning to your position as Commander, there is a criminal I need you to hunt."
Her lips dipped in a frown as she muttered, "The Masked Uchiha."
"Yes, we've already had a…subtle discussion about the security threats posed to Kiri and at the time, it wasn't clear who those figures were but now, I know all too well and you will too."
Reina's stony eyes glossed, she looked back at the training grounds we'd come from. The matches still continued with Uncle and Akane watching and judging in our absence. She looked back and found me waiting with a stare that questioned her as much as she was questioning herself. For a solid moment I thought she would request some sort of break leave or at least some alternative but no, her lip turned to a line and she nodded fiercely.
"We will show them what Kirigakure is made of, Mizukage-sama, leave it to me and he'll be dead in no time." She said without an ounce of doubt, fear or otherwise shaking her resolve.
"Good, good. It's good to have you back, Reina. Raiga, settle up with your Commander before you leave, I want her up to date in everything we've been up to sinc-"
"I have been in the loop, sir," Reina said, a sheepish smile forming on her lips, "I didn't think I wasn't meant to and neither did my subordinates."
I looked between a guilty Raiga and a proud Reina and shook my head as a laugh roused out of me, "Very well then, godspeed in your missions, I have an Uncle to talk to." I said just as Uncle burst through the thicket between the training grounds, he looked up and down with a scowl on his face and a document in his hand.
I knew he wasn't here just to spectate. I sighed and got comfortable on my stump.